"An' I got it now," added Bulldog Smouder with a leer. "Here ye are, paper! Wuxtry!" he added as a man came up and bought a _World_. It made Jimmy angry to see profits that he thought should be his going into the pockets of his enemy, for Bulldog Smouder was an enemy to all the newsboys excepting those he could not whip. He was a fighter and a bully, and he lost no chance to impose on those weaker or younger than himself. Still, he had no particular grudge against Jimmy, and he would just as quickly have taken the place some other boy regarded as his own as he had preëmpted that recently occupied by our hero. "Git on off there!" cried Jimmy. "Dat's me place, an' youse knows it." "I don't know nuttin' but what I sees. I seen this corner an' nobody holdin' it down an' I took it. If youse wants t' keep a good place, what makes youse leave it?" "I had t' git more papes." "Den youse ought t' have a partner in business wid ye. He could go after papes while youse held de corner. I'll go in whacks wid ye if ye likes. But youse got t' give me half what youse made t'-day." "I will like pie!" It had been a good day for Jimmy, and with the quarter Mr. Crosscrab had given him he had more than he had possessed in a long time before. He was not going to divide with Bulldog, even if the latter, from a physical standpoint, was a desirable partner. For Bulldog was lazy. Jimmy knew if there was a union formed he would have to do all the work, while Bulldog would take half the profits and do nothing. "Ain't ye goin' t' git off me corner?" demanded Jimmy again. "Naw, I ain't. Now chase yerself. I want t' sell me papes an' go home. Skiddoo fer yours!" "I'd like t' punch yer face in," muttered Jimmy. "Try it," advised Bulldog with a grin. "I'll tie youse up in a knot if ye do." "What's de matter, Bulldog?" asked another newsboy, coming up at that juncture. He had no papers. "Aw, de kid says I swiped his corner." "An' so ye did!" cried Jimmy. "Why didn't ye stay here den?" asked Bulldog. "I told youse. 'Cause I had 't go after papes." "Well, youse know what I said. Git a partner." "Don't youse give him de corner, Bulldog! Youse got as good a right t' it as he has." "Sure I have, Mike, an' I'm goin' t' stay here, too." All this time Bulldog was busy selling papers, while the new stock Jimmy had obtained was still undiminished. "What ye buttin' in fer, Mike Conroy?" asked Jimmy of the newcomer. "It's none of your funeral." "Aw, g'wan! Guess I kin speak t' Bulldog if I want t'. I'll punch yer nose fer ye if youse gits too fresh." "I'd like t' see ye do it!" cried Jimmy, but at the same time he took good care not to get too near Mike, who was a worse bully than Bulldog. The latter would not attack smaller boys than himself without some provocation, but Mike Conroy used to beat and kick them every chance he got. He had often hit Jimmy.