as the bully of Ashley village.

He had a reputation as a bad boy that served him in place of fighting;
and as a rule an angry word from him was sufficient to command
obedience.

Besides, Nature had made him so ugly that when he scowled it was enough
to send a shiver down the spinal column of most boys.

Darry came to a pause. Indeed, he could not well have continued along
the path he was taking without walking over the bully, so completely had
Jim blocked his way.

"Looky here, didn't yer hear me tell yer last night ter get outen this
place?" demanded the wrecker's son, thrusting that aggressive chin of
his forward still more, and glaring at his prospective victim in his
usual commanding way.

"I believe you did say something like that. Are you Jim Dilks?" asked
Darry, and to the surprise of the other he did not seem to show the
customary anxiety that went with hostile demonstrations by the bully.

"When air yer going, then?" continued Jim.

"I haven't decided. In fact, I like my present accommodations with Mrs.
Peake so well that I may stay there right along," replied Darry,
steadily.

Jim caught his breath, and in such a noisy way that one would think it
was a porpoise blowing in the inlet.

In all his experience he had never come across such an experience as
this.

"I see yer want takin' down," he cried. "I've run this ranch a long time
now, an' there ain't no new feller comin' here without I say so. Yer got
ter skip out er take a lickin' on the spot. Now, I give yer one more
chanct ter say yer'll hoof it."

Darry knew what it meant, for he had not knocked around so long without
learning the signs of storm and fight.

He had thought seriously over this very matter, after being warned that
he might sooner or later have trouble with Jim; and as a result his
decision was already formed.

When Jim Dilks saw him deliberately taking off his jacket he stared,
with a new sensation beginning to make its presence felt around the
region of his heart--the element of uncertainty, even fear.

"Wot yer doin' that fur?" he demanded, shaking his head after the manner
of a pugnacious rooster about to enter into combat for the mastery of
the barnyard.

"Why, you said you were going to lick me, and as this is a very good
coat Mrs. Peake gave me, one that used to belong to her boy, Joe, I
thought she might feel bad if she saw it dusty or torn," replied Darry,
solemnly.

"Say, you bean't goin' ter fight, be yer?" g