`I shan't,' said Bob, holding it tight in his pocket.
`Then I'll make you - see if I don't,' said Tom.
`You can't make me do nothing, you can't,' said Bob.
`Yes, I can.'
`No, you can't.'
`I'm master.'
`I don't care for you.'
`But I'll make you care, you cheat,' said Tom, collaring Bob and shaking him.
`You get out wi' you,' said Bob, giving Tom a kick.
Tom's blood was thoroughly up: he went at Bob with a lunge and threw him down, but Bob seized hold and kept it like a cat, and pulled Tom down after him. They struggled fiercely on the ground for a moment or two, till Tom, pinning Bob down by the shoulders, thought he had the mastery.
`You say you'll give me the half-penny now,' he said, with difficulty, while he exerted himself to keep the command of Bob's arms.
But at this moment, Yap, who had been running on before, returned barking to the scene of action, and saw a favourable opportunity for biting Bob's bare leg not only with impunity but with honour. The pain from Yap's teeth, instead of surprising Bob into a relaxation of his hold, gave it a fiercer tenacity, and with a new exertion of his force he pushed Tom backward and got uppermost. But now Yap, who could get no sufficient purchase before, set his teeth in a new place, so that Bob, harassed in this way, let go his hold of Tom and almost throttling Yap, flung him into the river. By this time Tom was up again, and before Bob had quite recovered his balance after the act of swinging Yap, Tom fell upon him, threw him down and got his knee firmly on Bob's chest.
`You give me the half-penny now,' said Tom.
`Take it,' said Bob, sulkily.
`No, I shan't take it - you give it me.'
Bob took the half-penny out of his pocket and threw it away from him on the ground.
Tom loosed his hold and left Bob to rise.
`There the half-penny lies,' he said, `I don't want your half-penny; I wouldn't have kept it. But you wanted to cheat: I hate a cheat. I shan't go along with you any more,' he added, turning round homeward, not without casting a regret towards the rat-catching and other pleasures which he must relinquish along with Bob's society.
`You may let it alone, then,' Bob called out after him. `I shall cheat if I like - there's no fun i' playing, else. And I know where there's goldfinch's nest, but I'll take care you don't... . An' you're a nasty fightin' turkey- cock, you are... .'
Tom walked on without looking round, and Yap followed his example, the cold bath having moderated his passions.