But suddenly it came to Mun Bun that he must be brave. If Russ were badly hurt Mun Bun must do something about it—just what, of course, Mun Bun did not know. But he felt he must not cry. So he “squeezed back” the tears, as he said later, and then he did what perhaps was not just right, but what, I think, most children would have done had the boy who started the fight been a big boy, as was the peddler lad. Mun Bun caught up a stone and threw it at the peddler boy. “You let my brother alone!” cried Mun Bun angrily. “I’ll throw another stone at you if you don’t. And I’ll call my father! I’ll go get my father now—and Farmer Joel and Adam! That’s what I’ll do!” Usually Mun Bun was not a very straight shot with a stone or a baseball. Generally, when Mun Bun threw, Russ would laugh and say the safest place was right in front of the little fellow. For Mun Bun seldom hit the thing he aimed at. However, this time, as luck would have it, the stone he threw struck the peddler boy on the shoulder. And then the peddler boy ran away, leaving Russ lying there. I think the peddler boy ran more because of what Mun Bun said about Mr. Bunker being called than because of the stone, for it was a small one and could not have hurt him much. “There! He’s gone, Russ!” cried Mun Bun, as he ran to his brother. “You needn’t be ’fraid any more!” “Pooh! I’m not afraid!” boasted Russ, as he arose. He had been stunned by the blow and the fall, and really was not much hurt. “I was going to get up and punch him,” went on Russ. “He hit me too sudden, or he wouldn’t have knocked me down. I was just getting up to hit him.” “He ran away. I made him run!” cried Mun Bun. “I hit him with a stone and he ran away!” “Good for you!” exclaimed Russ, and then Laddie came back from down the stream where he had gone to fish. “What’s the matter?” asked Laddie. “Oh, that mean peddler boy was around again,” said Russ. “He hit me and knocked me down. He hit me before I had a chance to fight him.” Laddie dropped his pole and line. “Where is he?” cried the little fellow. “I’ll fix him!” “Mun Bun fixed him,” chuckled Russ, telling what had happened. “I wonder what’s the matter with that fellow, anyhow?” asked Laddie, when he had looked around among the bushes and made sure the ugly peddler chap was not to be seen. “What’s the matter with him, stealing things and knocking folks down?” “I don’t know,” answered Russ, with a shake of his head. “That’s like one of your riddles, Laddie, only it isn’t so easy to answer. He didn’t have any good reason for hitting me.” “We’ll tell Farmer Joel on him,” said Mun Bun. And this was done when the boys went back to the house after each catching a few more fish. They really did very well, and Mrs. Bunker said they had enough for what Norah called a “mess,” meaning enough to cook so all would have some to eat.