[Sidenote: Knocks Down a Boy]
Willard Helm, an eighth grade boy in the Parkington School, found the
most of his sport in teasing smaller boys. He was too lazy to get much
fun out of the games on the schoolground.
Friday on the way home from school, he fell in with Dee Longmans of the
sixth grade and soon found occasion to knock him down. Dee pulled
himself together and immediately reported the incident to Willard’s
teacher. On Monday morning the following conversation occurred between
Miss Frederick and Willard:
“Did you walk home with Dee on Friday?”
“Yes, I did,” said Willard with a forced frown.
“You knocked him down at the park corner, didn’t you? What did you do
that for?”
“Well, he said I was—”
“Never mind what he said. I want to know why you pick on smaller boys
and treat them so meanly,” said Miss Frederick, with a rising tone of
scorn.
“Well, we were just having some fun.”
“Yes, I know you; you’re just a little tough, aren’t you? You want to be
a sort of bully, don’t you? You’ll make a pretty sort of a man.”
“Well,” said Willard, a smile breaking over his face. Then he began to
laugh. He couldn’t help thinking how Dee had tumbled off into the
gutter. He began to think by this time that Miss Frederick’s talk was
“just talk” and so he grinned and then fairly rocked in laughter,
glancing at her with rolling eyes to see how she would take it.
Of course she made no impression on him after this state of affairs was
reached. But this was her parting shot.
“Willard, I don’t want to hear of your doing anything like this again.
Do you hear me?” and she shoved him toward his seat.