what was popularly known as the baby class,
and consequently escaped from school a half-hour before the other
children. They halted abruptly at sight of the figure on the box.
Jimmie waved his hand with the air of a proprietor.

"There he is," he said.

"O-o-o!" murmured all the little boys--"o-o-o!" They shrank back, and
grouped according to courage or experience, as at the sound the
monster slowly turned its head. Jimmie had remained in the van alone.
"Don't be afraid! I won't let him hurt you," he said, delighted.

"Huh!" they replied, contemptuously. "We ain't afraid."

Jimmie seemed to reap all the joys of the owner and exhibitor of one
of the world's marvels, while his audience remained at a
distance--awed and entranced, fearful and envious.

One of them addressed Jimmie gloomily. "Bet you dassent walk right up
to him." He was an older boy than Jimmie, and habitually oppressed him
to a small degree. This new social elevation of the smaller lad
probably seemed revolutionary to him.

"Huh!" said Jimmie, with deep scorn. "Dassent I? Dassent I, hey?
Dassent I?"

The group was immensely excited. It turned its eyes upon the boy that
Jimmie addressed. "No, you dassent," he said, stolidly, facing a moral
defeat. He could see that Jimmie was resolved. "No, you dassent," he
repeated, doggedly.

"Ho?" cried Jimmie. "You just watch!--you just watch!"

Amid a silence he turned and marched towards the monster. But possibly
the palpable wariness of his companions had an effect upon him that
weighed more than his previous experience, for suddenly, when near to
the monster, he halted dubiously. But his playmates immediately
uttered a derisive shout, and it seemed to force him forward. He went
to the monster and laid his hand delicately on its shoulder. "Hello,
Henry," he said, in a voice that trembled a trifle. The monster was
crooning a weird line of negro melody that was scarcely more than a
thread of sound, and it paid no heed to the boy.

Jimmie: strutted back to his companions. They acclaimed him and hooted
his opponent. Amid this clamor the larger boy with difficulty
preserved a dignified attitude.

"I dassent, dassent I?" said Jimmie to him.

"Now, you're so smart, let's see you do it!"

This challenge brought forth renewed taunts from the others. The
larger boy puffed out his checks. "Well, I ain't afraid," he
explained, sullenly. He had made a mistake in diplomacy, and now his
small enemies were tumbling