When he had gone a short distance he passed a yard stocked with poultry, where a large cock was strutting about defiantly, as if throwing down the gage of battle to any new comers. A boy was standing near the fence. “Will your cock fight?” asked Dan. “He can whip yours,” was the reply. “Are you willing to try it?” “Yes, come along.” The trial was made, and Dan’s new purchase maintained his reputation, by giving a sound drubbing to his feathered rival. Dan surveyed the result with satisfaction. “I guess he’ll do,” he said to himself. He kept on his way till he got within sight of home. “What brings you home so soon, Dan?” asked Zeke. “See here, Zeke!” said Dan eagerly.” Here is a cock that will whip Mr. ——’s all to pieces.” “Don’t be too sure of it!” “I’ve tried him once, and he’s game.” The boys did not have long to wait for the trial. Over came the haughty intruder, strutting about with his usual boastful air. Dan let loose his new fowl, and a battle royal commenced. Soon the tyrant of the barnyard found that he had met a foe worthy of his spur. For a time the contest was an open one, but in ten minutes the feathered bully was ignominiously defeated, and led about by the comb in a manner as humiliating as had ever happened when he was himself the victor. Daniel witnessed the defeat of the whilom tyrant with unbounded delight, and felt abundantly repaid for his investment of all his spare cash, as well as the cutting short of his visit. Probably in the famous passage at arms which he had many years after with Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, his victory afforded him less satisfaction than this boyish triumph. CHAPTER IV. AN IMPORTANT STEP. “What are you thinking about, Dan?” asked his mother one evening as the boy sat thoughtfully gazing at the logs blazing in the fireplace. “I was wishing for something to read,” answered the boy. Indeed that was his chief trouble in those early days. Libraries were scarce, and private collections equally scarce, especially in small country places. So the boy’s appetite for books was not likely to be satisfied. Daniel’s words attracted the attention of his father. “I have been speaking to some of our neighbors to-day,” he said, “about establishing a small circulating library which we could all use. I think we shall do something about it soon.” “I hope you will, father,” said Dan eagerly. “If we all contribute a little, we can make a beginning. Besides we can put in some books we have already.” A week or two later Judge Webster announced that the library had been established, and it may be easily supposed that Daniel was one of the first to patronize it. It was a small and, many of my boy friends would think, an unattractive collection. But in the collection was the “Spectator,” in reading which Daniel unconsciously did something towards forming a desirable style of his own. He was fond of poetry, and at an early age could repeat many of the psalms and hymns of Dr. Watts.