"Try to get the best of me will you?" the man cried, savagely, as he picked up a heavy cane which lay near by, keeping his eye meanwhile on the boy.
Jet knew he must do his best, or suffer for what had been done.
He could see nothing which would serve as a weapon, and was thinking it might be best to make a break for freedom, when the man sprang upon him.
Luckily he succeeded in avoiding a blow from the cane, by seizing with both hands the tramp's right arm, and then came a desperate struggle.
Not for a moment did he dare to release his hold lest the fellow should be able to use his weapon, and in the meanwhile he was pummeled soundly.
The man's left hand was at liberty, and with it he showered blow after blow on the boy's body.
Jet managed to screen his face by using the tramp's arm as a shield, and, finding that he was getting the worst of it darted forward at the same time he kicked with all his strength.
This sudden attack sent the man to the ground, and as he fell Jet wrested the cane from his grasp.
"It's my turn now!" he cried, as the fellow scrambled to his feet in a rage. "Make tracks out of this mighty fast or I'll break every bone in your body!"
The man glared at him fiercely for an instant, and then, stepping back a few paces, shouted loudly in a peculiar tone.