"You have promised--whom, Theodore?"
"Promised myself--but I don't know nothin' much 'bout what is the right thing," he added, in a discouraged tone.
"You'll soon learn if you're in earnest, my boy. This Book will tell you all you need to know. Can you read?"
"Some."
"Then read this verse for me, will you?" Mr. Scott held out his Bible and pointed to the verse.
Slowly and stumblingly the boy read, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves," and again,
"Recompense to no man evil for evil."
Seeing that Tode did not understand the meaning of what he had read, Mr. Scott explained the passages to him. The boy listened attentively, then he exclaimed in a tone of dismay,
"But does it mean that a feller can't never strike back?"
"That's what it says."