"I won't let any of you run me down!" roared Gus Plum. "Now, just you remember that! If any of you say a word about me or my father, I'll make it so hot for you that you'll wish you had never been born. My father has lost a little money, but it ain't a flea-bite to what he is worth, and I want everybody in this school to know it."
"And I want you to know that you cannot continue to insult me," blazed out Dave. "I am not as rich as most of the boys here, but——"
"He is just as good as any of us, Plum, remember that," finished Phil. "It is an outrage for you to refer to Dave as a pauper."
"Well, didn't he come from the poorhouse, and ain't he a nobody?" sneered the bully.
"He is a better fellow than you will ever be, Plum," said Roger, warmly. He and Phil were both holding Dave back. "Don't listen to him, Dave."
"Yes, but, fellows——" Dave's face was white, and he trembled all over.
"I know it cuts you," whispered Roger. "But Plum is a—a brute. Don't waste your breath on him."
"Ho! so I am a brute, am I?" blustered the big bully, clenching his fists.
"Yes, you are," answered Roger, boldly. "Any fellow with a spark of goodness and honor in him would not speak to Dave as you have done. It simply shows up your own low-mindedness, Plum."
"Don't you preach!" shouted the bully. "Say another word, and I'll—I'll——"