“How long have you been a nurse-maid?” asked a boy, older than himself, one day.
Jack's fingers itched to get hold of his derisive questioner, but he had a duty to perform, and contented himself with saying, “Just wait a few minutes, and I'll let you know.”
“I dare say,” was the reply. “I rather think I shall have to wait till both of us are gray before that time.”
“You won't have to wait long before you are black and blue,” retorted Jack.
“Don't mind what he says, Jack,” whispered Ida, fearful lest he should leave her.
“Don't be afraid, Ida; I won't leave you; I guess he won't trouble us another day.”
Meanwhile the boy, emboldened by Jack's passiveness, followed, with more abuse of the same sort. If he had been wiser, he would have seen a storm gathering in the flash of Jack's eye; but he mistook the cause of his forbearance.
The next day, as they were again going to school, Ida saw the same boy dodging round the corner, with his head bound up.
“What's the matter with him, Jack?” she asked.
“I licked him like blazes, that's all,” said Jack, quietly.