The King of the School, or, Who will Win? — page 110: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

104 THE KING OF THE SCHOOL; OR, WO WILL WIN? eee “ Here, Bill, Mike!” shouted Black- whiskers, as he waved his hands. Frank put his back to a lamp-post and prepared to resist a desperate attack, as he saw all the pack charging at him. | On they came. Frank struck one to the earth and grappled with another, but the mob was being increased every second by fresh arrivals, He was very soon thrown to the ground, and would no doubt have been severely handled had not his assailants at that moment heard a shout of— “¢ Forward, boys, at them.” Instinctively they all looked up. Sixteen or eighteen boys were rush- ing towards them, armed with sticks, cricket-bats and other missiles. The momentary pause enabled Frank to regain his legs and recover his stick, which had been wrested from him. In another instant, the two opposing bodies met, and fierce was the con- flict. Sticks were used freely on both sides, and blood was seen trickling down many a face. But the enemy had the advantage in numbers, as Frank soon found; and Marsham’s body of reserve had not yet arrived on the scene. The King of the School performed prodigies of valour; but he and his companions were being gradually driven back by the heavy masses of their foes, who were constantly being recruited by fresh forces from neigh- bouring courts and lanes. “Where’s Black-whiskers?” asked Frank of the earl, who was close by his side, in the thick of the fray. ‘“¢ Here, to the right.” Frank immediately edged off to get at the ringleader of the roughs. That individual was engaged in pro- tecting his head from.a succession of heavy blows aimed at it by Freddy Webber, who wielded a heavy stick, and was burning to avenge the injuries he had received the previous day. at this chap!” said Frank, trying to push Webber away. - Having planted himself exactiy opposite his man, Egerton threw down his stick, clenched his fists, and ex- pressed a most decided determination to give Black-whiskers a good dressing. _ Black-whiskers gave a contemptuous smile, and lunged out with his left. The blow fell short, and Frank, diving under his foe’s arms, delivered a sounding hit on the mouth, which made Black-whiskers’ teeth rattle and his eyes water. | It also made him grow very savage, and rash in his fighting. | A minute and a half had sufficed to convince Black-whiskers, as we must call him till is name is divulged, that his opponent was a strong, well-built lad, and a capital boxer. | He began to funk, especially as his companions were getting very roughly handled. JSBesides, he was getting separated from them. And what means that shout in the distance which is so loudly echoed by those who oppose him? A muttered exclamation from a young costermonger informs him that—. There’s another lot o’ them young devils coming down the street behind us. Black-whiskers growls an oath, and while so doing receives a blow in the throat, which knocks him backwards upon the costermonger, and both fall to the ground together. The timely arrival of Marsham and his band turned the tide in favour of the school. Still the roughs fought hard. At the corner of a little lane, before- mentioned, in which most of them lived, they made a desperate stand, and began to throw stones at the school-boys, who immediately returned the compliment. | Suddenly a body of new rivals appeared on the scene of conflict, Dr. Whackley had been walking in the town when he heard that a “Stand aside, Freddy. Let me get | desperate fight was going on between ECOMMICL OC SS EO mn