nds issued from human throats.
Coincidentally, Marjorie, quite baresark, laid hands upon the largest
stick within reach and fell upon Penrod with blind fury. He had the
presence of mind to flee, and they went round and round the caldron,
while Mitchy-Mitch feebly endeavoured to follow--his appearance, in
this pursuit, being pathetically like that of a bug fished out of an
ink-well, alive but discouraged.

Attracted by the riot, Samuel Williams made his appearance, vaulting a
fence, and was immediately followed by Maurice Levy and Georgie Bassett.
They stared incredulously at the extraordinary spectacle before them.

"Little GEN-TIL-MUN!" shrieked Marjorie, with a wild stroke that landed
full upon Penrod's tarry cap.

"OOOCH!" bleated Penrod.

"It's Penrod!" shouted Sam Williams, recognizing him by the voice. For
an instant he had been in some doubt.

"Penrod Schofield!" exclaimed Georgie Bassett. "WHAT does this mean?"
That was Georgie's style, and had helped to win him his title.

Marjorie leaned, panting, upon her stick. "I cu-called--uh--
him--oh!" she sobbed--"I called him a lul-little--oh--gentleman!
And oh--lul-look!--oh! lul-look at my du-dress! Lul-look at
Mumitchy--oh--Mitch--oh!"

Unexpectedly, she smote again--with results--and then, seizing the
indistinguishable hand of Mitchy-Mitch, she ran wailing homeward down
the street.

"'Little gentleman'?" said Georgie Bassett, with some evidences of
disturbed complacency. "Why, that's what they call ME!"

"Yes, and you ARE one, too!" shouted the maddened Penrod. "But you
better not let anybody call ME that! I've stood enough around here for
one day, and you can't run over ME, Georgie Bassett. Just you put that
in your gizzard and smoke it!"

"Anybody has a perfect right," said Georgie, with, dignity, "to call a
person a little gentleman. There's lots of names nobody ought to call,
but this one's a NICE----"

"You better look out!"

Unavenged bruises were distributed all over Penrod, both upon his body
and upon his spirit. Driven by subtle forces, he had dipped his hands in
catastrophe and disaster: it was not for a Georgie Bassett to beard him.
Penrod was about to run amuck.

"I haven't called you a little gentleman, yet," said Georgie. "I only
said it. Anybody's got a right to SAY it."

"Not around ME! You just try it again and----"

"I shall say it," returned Georgie, "all I please. Anybody in this town
has a right to SAY 'little gentleman'----