“I see it. I did it. But say, kid” turning to the boy, “what did I do it fur. Look up at me; say, what did I do it fur?”
“For nothin’,” came a faint reply.
“Come off, I hain’t going ’round doin’ things fur nothin’. Answer me, you kin talk, what did I do it fur?”
No reply.
“Didn’t I punch you fur swearing at a lady?”
It was some moments before the boy answered, and he drawled out, “yes.”
Firetop then told the story. The boy was selling papers on the street, he asked a lady to buy a paper, and because she refused he swore at her, using language seldom seen in print.
“I heard it, an’ I told him it was against the rules, an’ if he didn’t cut it out I would punk him. What did he do but swore at me. He violated the rules before my face. I punked, gently at first, an’ then I punked him again. He ran into the alley, I followed him, an’ de boys come from the street, I told them he was my game, an’ I punked him again. I told all the boys I would punk de gang ef they came to help him. Say, pres., wasn’t I right in punking him?” The boy acknowledged he swore and Firetop kept at him until he promised he would never do it again. This was accomplished with very little trouble. The boy’s face was washed and as there was no traces of a wound the matter was amicably settled. The boys left the office, good friends.