OUTO J ICE TEN C E IST ^r S . ■♦••♦- JOHN JUSTIFIED: A REPLY TO THK %\Vm fawe '^urtipa'iS li)c5 to €btx]) ^Jucstioit." "FLOREAT JUSTITIA." 1 > . I - « • • * ■ • . THE CANADIAN NKWS AND PUBLISHING CO. < ■ I PRICE, TKS CKXTS. TORONTO: THE DAI1.T TELEORAPU PHINTINO HOl'SK. , » • I » • * • * ♦ • • # • 3 — ■ That sumo evening Mrs. Europa IvnX invited jiuold friend and confidante to take tea witli her in iiei- private room. The good Danio was so full of the events of the morning, that she fidgeted and .fidgeted until a })reak in the conversation enabled her to un- burden her mind and enter into a minute detail of all that was passing in the School, but as her friend .i!iaart of a very little boy who was in danger of having his n Rqdy to <' The Fi(jUt at ^tirden run ovtu-, if not taken from liirn, by Willijiin or Lou 18. ** Exartl/ HO ; and doew Ikj not always take tlit* part of the weakest, if Im thinks liim in tho right? and when lie does interfere, does lie not do &o heartily never snaring the money you say he is so fond of, or oaring for hard knocks and kicks, of which he niMn- age;-« to get plenty, although I must say he generally gives uj) good as he gets ?" " Vea, that is very true, and I rcmemher now, that wJien some years ago there was a terrihle scamp in the Hcjhool, who took possession of the garden that Louis now lias, and set himself up for a monitor, and no* content with that, wanted to make all tho other moni- itors obey him, and made such a disturbance in the school that I was nearly driven wild, ho also attacked tho monitors who then held the places that William and Joseph now have, and so drubbed them that they could not show themselves for a long time. ITe then cast a longing eyo on John's garden, but found he co\dd not get across the water to it, and even if he could he saw plainly that he would never be able to get >)ack agiiin, for John is, I must own, a sturdy fellow, and ho keeps such a fierce bulldog that every one is afraid to venture into his garden against his will. Now Naj% JJame Europns School'* 7 for that was tlio name of this bully of a hoy, fiiuling .folin'H garden was not to ho had, Buddenly htartcd ott* and attacked a big, burly, boariHh boy, who held the garden Aleck now has; but there he burnt hi« tingerg, for tho big boy net firo to his suninier-h(nis(; rather than let Nap have it, and so singed tho scamp that ho was never worth much afterwards. All this time John had been helping the other monitors with all his might, he gave and lent them his money and attacked Nap so fiercely, pummelling him in the back to draw him olf from his attacks upon the others, and then fighting him face to face and giving him such a drubbing that blaster Nap had to run from the school and never troubled it again ; oh, I remember it all well now, and John certainly did behave like a man then." " And was not j^our school quieter after that than it had been for many long years before ] And did it not keep (piiet until Aleck's successor in his garden wanted to bully that little dark boy, when John came forward and with the help of Louis gave that ^ rough cub of a boy such a licking as has kept him quiet ever since, though 1 hear he is beginning to get nnruly again V "Yes," said the Dame, ''that is true also." *• Then," rejoined her friend, " you must admit 8 Jieply to " Tke Fight at that you owed tlie quiet tliat reigned in your school for so many years, and which saved you from so much trouble and anxiety, chiefly to John, did you not r " I am willing? to admit," replied Mrs. Europa, *' but why did he allow the disturbance in the school to break out again now'^ that's why I blame him." "Softly, my good friend," said her comjianion " you admit that it was owing to John's exertions that yonr school was so orderly for so many years, but do you forget what it cost John to do all he did for the peace of the school? Thinking so much of his money as you say he does, you can- not deny that he spent it liberally then, and scattered it in all directions, wherever he thought it might 1)0 of use, and, in fact, that he did not hesitate to get greatly into debt, so reckless was he of what he spent; but he did it with a good will, and took cuffs and blows with a good will, too ; and what did he get for it 1 Not ninch thanks, I imagine ; for wdien all the row was over, the other monitors soon forget what John liad done for them, and [began to envy him his good name and the position he had rightly earned to hold among tliem, and they abused him and Dame Europas School." 1' wanted very much — at least one of tlieiii did — to take his garden from him ; but they were afraid of his bulldog, who began to show his leeth when he saw them stalking about on the other side of his stream and making as though they wished to cross over. Now, just think, my good Mrs. Euro- pa, was this the way to make John interfere in their quarrels and tight their battles for them again, and spend more of his money that he and his class work BO hard for, and get more cutis and knocks, and then be abused for his pains, and possibly, when he had worn himself out by helping others, and l)ccanu' weak and tired, some of the others, who had taken it easily, would come on and pitch into him, and even perhaps try and get into his garden and rob his tool-house and his money-box \ No, John — for I know the boy well, and like him for all his rough ways — has got wiser than that now, and does not see why he is to b(! al- ways interfering in other boys' (piarrels and get no thanks for it. He is willing to take his share in keep- ing the school quiet, and that is all you have a right to expect of him, and he w^as willing to do so in this last quarrel." " Then why didn't he 1 tell me that." ^* He did try to persuade them not to tight ; but 10 Reply to ** The Fight Louis told him it was a ^;Wi'a^e quarrel of long stand- ing between him and William, and had nothing to do with the rest of the school, and that he liad no busi- ness to inter*fere." "Yes, he did that ; but when he found that they would fight, why did lie not step in w^ith his great broad back and make them give up fighting 1" '• Wliy did not ivho do this V " Why, Jolm, to be sure ; who else was to do it ?" " Oh ! I thought there were Jive monitors, and that only two of them were fighting, so there must have been three looking on." ''Well, what of that?" " Why, if there were three monitors looking on, of whom John was one, why were the other two not to interfere as well as John f " Why why why because, of course, it was John's business to interfere ; he always did so be- fore, and the others would have been sure to have done so now if he had set them the example." " I think T have heard you say," replied the Dame's friend, "that for some time past John had lost all his infl^uence in the school ; that he was supposed to care only for his turning-lathe and his money-box, that lie had become sluggish and stupid, lost all his activity, Dame Europas /School." 11 and got fat and flabby and quite unfit to fight (although they would find their mistake if they dared to molest him, for he can fight as well as ever if forced to do so) and that none of the other monitors cared for or feared him r " Yes, I have often heard them say so." " Then wliy was he to put himself more forward tlian the others u this instance I If they did not think it tlieir business to interfere, and j)revent Louis and William fighting, why was it John's business more tlian theirs 1 When two boys have got a grudge against each other, and are determined to fight, fight they will some time or other, do wliat you will to pre- vent them. No, my good Mrs. Europa, I think yoii are unjust in this case, and hard upon John ; you should at least have called up Aleck and Joseph, and lectured them also ; they have been lookers on, or neutrals, as they call themselves, as well as Jolm." " Well, but why has he helped Louis by sending him over those stones to pelt William with ?" '* You must remember that John and his chiss are very industrious boys, and make a number of things which you allow them to sell to the other boys. 80 as John could not prevent the quarrel, he said, ' I can't stop from selling either of you anything you want to 12 Reply to *•' The Fhjht at buy from ine, merely because you arc fighting vvitli each otlier, it -svould be unkind ; so either of you may liave wliat you require.' Louis wanted some stones ; so John sent him a few, for he had very few at hand ; and William has been very angry at this, as he says it is hol])ing Louis to pelt liim. But it so happened that William did not want anything just then from John, and if ho had done so, he could not have got it, for you see Louis has much the larger boat of the two, and obliges William to keep his boat locked up in his boat-house, wliilst Louis can fetch anything he wants ; so that had John made a fresh rule now, Louis would have complained that he was favoring William at his expense, and that it would not be acting fairly to both parties. If when tiiis tight is all over, all the moni- tors agree to make a rule that if there is a tight among any of them, none of the others shall supply either of the combatants witli anything they may want, it Avould be a very just rule ; but to alter an old-estab- lished rule noiL\ which would etfect one party and not the other, would not be fair, and 1 think William will see this when the fii^jht is over. But for one stone that John sent, those sharf) boys in the school across the water sent him a cart-load, yet they call themselves neutrals also. But I hear no complaints against them; Dam". Enroms School" 13 it is always Johi should have done this, and John should not luivo done that. Poor John ! ho is al- ways the one to be blamed. Fortunately, ke has good broad siioulders and can bear it. He goes on in his own quiet way, and does what he thinks right, whether he gets abused for it or not ; raid even in this case, althougli he could not interfere, he has done his best in * using the sponge ' and binding uj) the wounds of both parties." " Well,'' said Mrs. Europa at last, " you have put the case very strong for John. I had no idea ho had so staunch a friend. I have been so in the habit of always hearing him abused, and of being told that everything he saitl or did was wrong, even by parties in his own class, that I supposed it must be so ; but I fear, in this instance, I have done him wrong, and been hard Tipon him, and so I will tell him to-morrow before all the other boys, and I will make what amends to him I can by replacing him in his former position, of, if not the first, at all events one of the most honest, and disinterested, and well-meaning monitors in the school ; for, as you justly observed, my dear friend — " ' There are always two sides to every question.^ " " Now," said her friend, " since you have done justice to lionest John, there is one other little point 1 4 RepUi to " The Fight at ill the story you told me on mHiIcIi I wisli to say a word or two. You said that William had long coveted two little plots in Louis's garden, and that almost from the time when Nap gave him such a licking, he had j)ut himself in training and taken lessons in boxing, so that ho might take these two coveted plots by force whenever he felt strong enough to do so, and that he had put his cousin up to take that S]»are garden near Louis's for the express purpose of })icking a quarrel with Louis. Now, I don't qidte know how you liave found that out ; but surely you must be aw are that ever since Nap's time his class ha\ e always coveted a little water-course that runs through a ])art of Wil- liam's garden, and that Louis has lon^r been waitin^^ for an excuse to quarrel with William and take it from him ? You say that Louis was in a gi-eat rage even after William had said thit his cousiu should not take that spare garden, and pretended to be insulted. Of course he was in a rage, because William had taken away the cause of offence, and Louis fea<'ed that the opportunity of quarrellin:^ with him would i)ass away : for it so happened that Louis had also been in train- ing, and thought he had found out souie wonderful new way of hitting, which was so severe and dreadful that no one could stand up against it. He was so Dame EuropoHs School." , 15 proud of tliis, so certain of its deadly effects, un stone of these walls, or one Incli of ground on which they stand.' So what is to he done? William has ])een terriblv bruised and hurt in this fifTrht, and now that he has beaten Louis, who was the aggressor, he cannot ]>e expected to let him off scot free, or not to secure himself from being again molested, or fi-om having his watercourse, and that part of his garden through which it runs, taken from at any future time ; for you know he and his class rave about their watercourse, they make'songs upoii 'it'are sofonc^of re thjit I believe they would rather all fight till they ,(\ied so.oner than Jiavo it taken iro'ii tJ-iem.-: »s'o"uniril * Louir's successors find they must give in, or can manage to take the stone walls back again from William, I fear there is no hope of the lighting ending, or of any peace and quiet for you my good Mrs. Europa ; for here again, you see, — " There aie always two sides to every question." ^ §m gllmtx&ua §imm^. THR WEDDING BELLS : A MAGAZINE roa THR MARRIED AND SINGLE OF CANADA. EDWIN J. BRETT, Publisher, London, England. ■^-"»"^Fi"»