Bronson and Jinks ranged up alongside of him as though to assure him of their support, and it looked as if trouble were coming.
“Give it to him good and plenty, Tom,” said Bronson.
“The whole bunch of them need a licking,” added Jinks.
“It will take more than you to give it to us,” blazed out Fred defiantly.
The bullies were much larger and stronger than any of the boys opposed to them. On the other hand, the smaller boys had a larger number, so that if a tussle did come, the forces would be about equal.
“What is this valentine you’re making all this fuss about?” demanded Bobby.
“Here it is,” cried Hicksley furiously, thrusting it forward. “And I’m going to make the fellow that sent it pay for it.”
The boys crowded round and looked at it curiously, at the same time keeping wary eyes on the bullies.
The picture was fairly well done, and had evidently taken a great deal of work and time on the part of the one who had made it. It represented a boy taking a dead mouse from a blind kitten. The boy was grinning, and the kitten was pawing wildly about, trying to get back its mouse.
To make sure there could be no mistake, the kitten had a card around its neck bearing the words, “I am blind,” and under the figure of the boy was scrawled the name, “Tom Hicksley.”