There he would screw their arms and kick them, just for the pleasure of seeing their faces and hearing their howls.

Generally, indeed, he managed to invent some pretext for his chastisement.

This one had made a grimace at him across the room yesterday; that one had spilt some ink on his desk; poor Jack Flighty had had the cheek to laugh outside his door while he was reading; or Joe Tyler had bagged his straw hat instead of his own.
One day, I remember, I, a little unfortunate of ten summers, fell into his awful clutches.
"Come here, you young beggar!" I heard him call out.
I dared not disobey, and stood before him shaking in my shoes.
"What are you laughing at ?" he says.
"I'm not laughing," I said, feeling anything but in the humour for jocularity.
"Yes, you are, I tell you--take that!" and a smart box on the ear followed.
I writhed, but tried hard to suppress my ejaculation of pain.
"What's that you called me ?" demanded the bully.
"Nothing," I faltered, rubbing my head.
"Yes, you did," he said; "take that for telling a cram, and that for calling me names!" and suiting the action to the word he bestowed one cuff and one kick on my unoffending person, each of which I acknowledged by a howl.
"Now then," said he, "what did you mean by borrowing Tom Groby's _Gulliver's Travels_ yesterday when you knew I wanted to read it, eh ?" And he caught hold of my hand and gave my arm a suggestive preliminary screw.
"I didn't," I said.
"Yes, you did," said he, tightening the pressure, so as to make me catch my under lip in my teeth.

"You knew well enough I was half through it." "I mean, I _didn't_ borrow it.

I never saw the book," I shrieked, truly enough too, for this was clearly a case of mistaken identity.
"Yes, you did, for I was told so." "I didn't; oh, let me go!" I cried, twisting under the torture; "it wasn't me!" "I tell you it was;" another screw, and another dance and howl from me; "and what's the use of you saying it wasn't ?" "Indeed it wasn't!" I yelled, for by this time I was on my knees, and half dead with agony.