"Then it's time you started in!" exclaimed a voice just back of Danny, and the bully turned suddenly to see Bert standing near him. Danny's face flushed, and then grew pale. Before he could make a move Bert grabbed away from him the rope of Freddie's sled, which Sim had not yet taken, and passed it back to his small brother.
"Don't you try that again," warned Bert.
"I will if I want to," said Danny, meanly. "I'm not afraid of you."
"Maybe not," said Bert, quietly, "and I'm not afraid of you, either. But if you take my brother's sled for some of your friends you'll have to settle with me. You leave Freddie alone; do you hear?"
"I don't have to mind you!"
"We'll see about that. Go ahead, Freddie. You and Flossie coast as much as you like, and if Danny bothers you any more let me know."
Danny, with an uneasy laugh, turned aside. Some of his particular chums gathered about, him, and one murmured:
"Why don't you fight him?"
For a moment it looked as though there
