What if I was one to a dozen?
Look at _me!_" His little hands did not for a second unclinch.

He was really very young, probably no more than ten.

He was scarcely past his babyhood, but he was fairly impressive, not the slightest maturity of mind, but of spirit.

He could never take a fiercer stand against odds than now if he lived to be a hundred.
Anderson approached him, in spite of himself, with a certain respect.
"What is the matter, young man ?" he inquired, gravely.
The boy regarded him with silent resentment and scorn; he did not deign an answer.

But the big boy replied for him promptly: "He--he said his father kept a tame elephant when they lived in New York State, and he--he used to ride him--" He spoke in a tone of aggrieved virtue, and regarded the other with a scowl.