t hand almost out of the rope.

Soon he saw that the Crows were about to begin on him. He thought the
whole performance an outrage on the dignity of an American citizen,
and he gave the cords one last fierce jerk that wrung his right hand
loose, though it left not a little of the skin on the cords; and the
first Crow to lay a hand on his shoulder thought he must have touched
a live wire, for Tug's hand came flashing from behind his back, and
struck home on the fellow's nose.

Then Tug warmed up to the scrimmage, and his right and left arms flew
about like Don Quixote's windmill for a few minutes, until two of the
two dozen Crows lighted on his back and pinioned his arms down and
bore him gradually to his knees.

Just as the rest were closing in to crush Tug,--into mincemeat,
perhaps,--History, who had been lying neglected on the ground near the
fire, rose to the occasion for once. It seemed as if he had, as it
were, sat down suddenly upon the spur of the moment. He rolled over
swiftly, caught up the two pokers which had been restored to the fire
after they had been used to frighten him, and, before he could be
prevented, thrust the handle of one of them into Tug's grasp, and rose
to his feet, brandishing the other like a sword.

Tug lost no time in adapting himself to the new weapon. He simply
waved it gently about and described a bright circle in the air over
his head. And his enemies fell off his back and scattered like
grasshoppers.

Tug now got quickly to his feet, and he and History shook hands with
their left hands very majestically. Then they faced about and stood
back to back, asking the Crows why they had lost interest so suddenly,
and cordially inviting them to return and finish the game.

They stood thus, monarchs of all they surveyed, for a few moments. But
dismay replaced their joy as they heard the words of the first Crow:

"They can't get back to their rooms before their pokers grow cold, and
it is only a matter of a few minutes until they chill, anyway, so all
that we have to do is to wait here a little while, and then go back
and finish up our work--and perhaps add a little extra on account of
this last piece of rambunctiousness."

Tug saw that they were prisoners indeed, but intended to hold the fort
until the last possible moment. He told History to put his poker back
in the fire and to heat it up again, while he stood guard with his
own.

To this stratagem the first Crow responded with ano