“Now for Chuck Witham,” shouted Will Edibean. Chuck took to his heels with three boys after him, but Edward Conly cried,—“He’s had enough; he’s only an understrapper,” and they came back.
The boys had formed a ring round Orcutt, and whenever he would attempt to break through, one would trip him, another pull him over backwards, and while on his back others would pelt him with great chunks of snow and crust, or push three or more smaller boys on top of him; and even the girls took part and flung snowballs, so much was his conduct detested. In the morning before school, it being a thaw, the smaller boys had rolled up several great balls of snow, meaning at noon to make a fort. With these they buried him, and stuck up over him, this inscription, printed with a smut coal on a piece of fence-board,
“JUSTICE.
Administered by the Scholars of District No. 2.”
They next formed a cordon around him, snowballs in their hands, and the moment he attempted to move pelted him anew, and kept watch till the master was so near that he could not but notice the inscription, and then all went into the schoolhouse and were seated when he entered.
Morse having washed himself at the spring, came in late, in company with Riggs, while George Orcutt crawled out of his prison, and sneaked home.
The face of Morse was discolored, and his lips swollen, and Riggs exhibited two red stripes on the back of both hands, and one across his face, extending from the roots of the hair across the forehead and face to the lower jaw. They tried to attract the attention of the master. Morse displayed a bloody handkerchief, and Riggs snivelled occasionally, but the master was too much occupied to notice them, and asked no questions. As for James, he was commended by nearly the whole school.
“Is he not a noble, manly fellow,” said Emily Conly, “to bear so much from those mean creatures, while he might at any time have done what he has done to-day?”
“Yes,” said Mary Nevins, “and when at last he did turn upon them, it was not upon his own account, but Albert Whitman’s, and our Arthur and Elmer both say they don’t believe he would have touched them, let them have done what they might to him, if William Morse had not struck Albert.”
“What a different spirit he manifested,” said Emily, “from Morse, who after hiring Witham to stick the awl into James, stayed in at recess to see and enjoy it, but Renfew didn’t stop and look on when the other scholars were punishing George Orcutt, but went right back to his books. Oh, I do like him.” Then feeling she had gone too far, and seeing the rest of the girls begin to titter, she blushed to the roots of her hair, and stopped short.