of school boys out for a holiday; but when Jake Elliott suggested a
revolt, Sam, the good natured companion, became Captain Sam, the stern
commander, at once.

The other boys saw at once the necessity and propriety of the rebuke
he had administered. They believed Jake Elliott to be a coward and a
bully, and they were glad to see him properly and promptly checked in
his effort to give trouble.

It was growing late and the boys presently threw themselves down on
their beds of soft gray moss and were soon sound asleep.




CHAPTER IX.

JAKE ELLIOTT GETS EVEN WITH SAM.


Jake Elliott was a coward all over, and clear through. He had always
been a bully and pretended to the possession of unusual courage. He
had tyrannized over small boys, threatened boys of his own size and
sneered at boys whom he thought able to hold their own against him in
a fight. He had had many fights in his time, but had always managed to
get the best of his opponents, by the very simple process of choosing
for the purpose, boys who were not as strong as he was. As a result of
all this he had acquired a great reputation among his fellows, and
most of the boys in his neighborhood were very careful not to provoke
him; but he was a great coward through it all, and when he first came