"Here, old ’un, mind my toes," said the lad, not ill-temperedly, at the same time sticking out his elbow to ward off Noakes’s obstructing bulk. His action was as a spark to powder.  With the impulse of an angry, ill-conditioned man to vent his wrath on the nearest object, Noakes swung round and brought his umbrella heavily down upon the lad’s shoulders.