ke.

"But you go all the same," said Uncle Ike, taking down a leather strap
that he sharpened his razor on, and driving the boy outdoors. "Bring
back this boy's clothes, also," and he sat down and waited for the boy
to return. He came back after awhile with the tobacco and the clothes,
followed by a lot of other boys, and after the two had changed clothes,
and all had enjoyed a good laugh, Uncle Ike said: "Boys, playing
practical jokes is a good deal like jumping on a man when he is down.
You will notice that the weaker boy always has the joke played on him.
Boys always combine against the weak boy. The boy that can whip any of
you never has to wear a flour sack home from the swimming hole, does he?
Any joke that you can take turns at having played on you is fair, but
when you combine against the weak, you become a monopoly, or a trust.
When I was a boy we used to tie the clothes of the biggest and meanest
boy in knots, and if he couldn't take a joke we all turned in and mauled
him. After this, if there is to be any jokes, let the biggest boy take
his turn first, and then I don't care how soon the others take their
dose, but this trust business has got to be broke up," and Uncle Ike
patted the boys, on the head and said they could go and have all the fun
they wanted to.

"Speaking of trusts, Uncle Ike, I thought you said, a spell ago, that
the trusts would be brought up with a round turn," said the red-headed
boy, reading, as he glanced at a heading in a morning paper, "but here
is an article says that a thousand million billion dollars have been
invested in trusts in New Jersey, and the manager of one of the biggest
trusts says nobody can do anything to stop them. He says: 'What are you
going to do about it?'"

"Well," said Uncle Ike, as he filled the air with strong tobacco smoke,
and his eyes snapped like they did when he was mad, "you wait. I am
older than you are. I remember when old Bill Tweed, the great robber of
New York, who had stolen millions of dollars from the city, and was in
his greatest power, became arrogant, and asked the people what they were
going to do about it. When people think they are invincible they always
ask what anybody is going to do about it. When a bully steps on the foot
of a quiet and inoffensive man, purposely to get into a row, he looks
at his victim in an impudent manner and says, 'What are you going to do
about it?' and the victim gets up deliberately and thrashes the ground
with