"Oh!" Papa Jack seemed to see light. "And then he struck you?" A nod once more. Mr. McAllister looked out the window and his fingers closed tightly around Bob's. "When was this, Bob--before school?" "Mm." "And you came right home?" A nod. "Did you strike him back?" Bob's eyes widened. "No." Papa Jack's eyes widened also. "Why?" "Because." "Because what, Bob?" "Because mama said not to fight." "And you promised?" Bob nodded again. "I see." Papa Jack's eyes suddenly lighted with something Bob did not understand, and he sat looking down at Bob for a long minute. "I see," he said again, and then he turned and called to mother. "Helen!" And mother came in, with a piece of white sewing in her hands. "Helen," said Papa Jack, "it's a case of bullying. The boy promised you not to fight, and he didn't. It's a mistake, mother. He's been set upon by some young bully, and couldn't defend himself because of his promise." Mother looked at Bob; there was distress in her eyes, but something else came into them, too. "It's only the beginning, dear--the beginning of battles," said Papa Jack, and he put his other hand on mother's. "Bob," he said, "mother doesn't mean you're not to defend yourself. Understand? By fighting, mother only means beginning fights, picking fights, provoking other boys to fight. We _have_ to defend ourselves. It isn't right to pick a fight; that's what mother means." Bob saw tears come into his mother's eyes. Papa Jack saw them, too. "There's only one way among boys, Helen dear. The bullies must be fought, you know. Our boy's got to be a boy's boy if he's to be a man's man by-and-by." Suddenly mother bent over and kissed Bob, and held him, with her arms thrust under and about him--held him hard. "The only thing, Bob, is to be a man always. Be square and white. Do the right thing. I can't tell you what it will be every time; neither can anybody else: but you your own self will know. It may be right even to fight sometimes, for yourself and for others who are bullied; but every boy knows for himself when it's right and when it's wrong. If he does as he _knows_, he'll do right."