A very little boy stood upon a heap of gravel for the honor ofRum Alley. He was throwing stones at howling urchins from Devil'sRow who were circling madly about the heap and pelting at him.

His infantile countenance was livid with fury. His small bodywas writhing in the delivery of great, crimson oaths.

"Run, Jimmie, run! Dey'll get yehs," screamed a retreatingRum Alley child.

"Naw," responded Jimmie with a valiant roar, "dese micks can'tmake me run."

Howls of renewed wrath went up from Devil's Row throats. Tattered gamins on the right made a furious assault on the gravelheap. On their small, convulsed faces there shone the grins oftrue assassins. As they charged, they threw stones and cursed inshrill chorus.

The little champion of Rum Alley stumbled precipitately downthe other side. His coat had been torn to shreds in a scuffle, andhis hat was gone. He had bruises on twenty parts of his body, andblood was dripping from a cut in his head. His wan features worea look of a tiny, insane demon.

On the ground, children from Devil's Row closed in on theirantagonist. He crooked his left arm defensively about his head andfought with cursing fury. The little boys ran to and fro, dodging,hurling stones and swearing in barbaric trebles.

From a window of an apartment house that upreared its formfrom amid squat, ignorant stables, there leaned a curious woman. Some laborers, unloading a scow at a dock at the river, paused fora moment and regarded the fight. The engineer of a passive tugboathung lazily to a railing and watched. Over on the Island, a wormbuilding and crawled slowly along the river's bank.

A stone had smashed into Jimmie's mouth. Blood was bubblingover his chin and down upon his ragged shirt. Tears made furrowson his dirt-stained cheeks. His thin legs had begun to tremble andturn weak, causing his small body to reel. His roaring curses ofthe first part of the fight had changed to a blasphemous chatter.

In the yells of the whirling mob of Devil's Row childrenthere were notes of joy like songs of triumphant savagery.The little boys seemed to leer gloatingly at the blood uponthe other child's face.

Down the avenue came boastfully sauntering a lad of sixteenyears, although the chronic sneer of an ideal manhood already satupon his lips. His hat was tipped with an air of challenge overhis eye. Between his teeth, a cigar stump was tilted at the angleof defiance. He walked with a certain swing of the shoulders whichappalled the timid. He glanced over into the vacant lot in whichthe little raving boys from Devil's Row seethed about the shriekingand tearful child from Rum Alley.

"Gee!" he murmured with interest. "A scrap. Gee!"

He strode over to the cursing circle, swinging his shouldersin a manner which denoted that he held victory in his fists.He approached at the back of one of the most deeply engagedof the Devil's Row children.

"Ah, what deh hell," he said, and smote the deeply-engaged oneon the back of the head. The little boy fell to the ground andgave a hoarse, tremendous howl. He scrambled to his feet, andperceiving, evidently, the size of his assailant, ran quickly off,shouting alarms. The entire Devil's Row party followed him. Theycame to a stand a short distance away and yelled taunting oaths atthe boy with the chronic sneer. The latter, momentarily, paid noattention to them.

"What deh hell, Jimmie?" he asked of the small champion.

Jimmie wiped his blood-wet features with his sleeve.

"Well, it was dis way, Pete, see! I was goin' teh lick datRiley kid and dey all pitched on me."

Some Rum Alley children now came forward. The party stood fora moment exchanging vainglorious remarks with Devil's Row. A fewstones were thrown at long distances, and words of challenge passedbetween small warriors. Then the Rum Alley contingent turnedslowly in the direction of their home street. They began to give,each to each, distorted versions of the fight. Causes of retreatin particular cases were magnified. Blows dealt in the fight wereenlarged to catapultian power, and stones thrown were alleged tohave hurtled with infinite accuracy. Valor grew strong again,and the little boys began to swear with great spirit.

"Ah, we blokies kin lick deh hull damn Row," said a child, swaggering.

Little Jimmie was striving to stanch the flow of blood fromhis cut lips. Scowling, he turned upon the speaker.

"Ah, where deh hell was yeh when I was doin' all deh fightin?"he demanded. "Youse kids makes me tired."

"Ah, go ahn," replied the other argumentatively.

Jimmie replied with heavy contempt. "Ah, youse can't fight,Blue Billie! I kin lick yeh wid one han'."

"Ah, go ahn," replied Billie again.

"Ah," said Jimmie threateningly.

"Ah," said the other in the same tone.

They struck at each other, clinched, and rolled over on thecobble stones.

"Smash 'im, Jimmie, kick deh damn guts out of 'im," yelled Pete,the lad with the chronic sneer, in tones of delight.

The small combatants pounded and kicked, scratched and tore. They began to weep and their curses struggled in their throats withsobs. The other little boys clasped their hands and wriggled theirlegs in excitement. They formed a bobbing circle about the pair.

A tiny spectator was suddenly agitated.

"Cheese it, Jimmie, cheese it! Here comes yer fader," he yelled.

The circle of little boys instantly parted. They drew awayand waited in ecstatic awe for that which was about to happen.The two little boys fighting in the modes of four thousand years ago,did not hear the warning.

Up the avenue there plodded slowly a man with sullen eyes.He was carrying a dinner pail and smoking an apple-wood pipe.

As he neared the spot where the little boys strove, heregarded them listlessly. But suddenly he roared an oath andadvanced upon the rolling fighters.

"Here, you Jim, git up, now, while I belt yer life out,you damned disorderly brat."

He began to kick into the chaotic mass on the ground. The boyBillie felt a heavy boot strike his head. He made a furious effortand disentangled himself from Jimmie. He tottered away, damning.

Jimmie arose painfully from the ground and confronting hisfather, began to curse him. His parent kicked him. "Come home,now," he cried, "an' stop yer jawin', er I'll lam the everlastinghead off yehs."

They departed. The man paced placidly along with the apple-wood emblem of serenity between his teeth. The boy followed adozen feet in the rear. He swore luridly, for he felt that it wasdegradation for one who aimed to be some vague soldier, or a man ofblood with a sort of sublime license, to be taken home by a father.