lubberly 'prentice-work found but a poor market
for itself when pitted against an arm which had been
trained by the first masters of Europe in single-stick,
quarter-staff, and every art and trick of swordsman-
ship. The little king stood, alert but at graceful
ease, and caught and turned aside the thick rain of
blows with a facility and precision which set the
motley onlookers wild with admiration; and every
now and then, when his practised eye detected an
opening, and a lightning-swift rap upon Hugo's
head followed as a result, the storm of cheers and
laughter that swept the place was something won-
derful to hear. At the end of fifteen minutes, Hugo,
all battered, bruised, and the target for a pitiless
bombardment of ridicule, slunk from the field; and
the unscathed hero of the fight was seized and borne
aloft upon the shoulders of the joyous rabble to the
place of honor beside the Ruffler, where with vast
ceremony he was crowned King of the Game-Cocks;
his meaner title being at the same time solemnly
canceled and annulled, and a decree of banishment
from the gang pronounced against any who should
henceforth utter it.

All attempts to make the king serviceable to the
troop had failed. He had stubbornly refused to
act; moreover, he was always trying to escape. He
had been thrust into an unwatched kitchen, the first
day of his return; he not only came forth empty-
handed, but tried to rouse the housemates. He
was sent out with a tinker to help him at his work;
he would not work; moreover, he threatened the
tinker with his own soldering-iron; and finally both

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