," said the sergeant, "that he was discharged, and he
stationed himself outside with a pile of rocks."

"You've no right to do that," the captain told Danny.

"They all do it," asserted Danny.

This was so near the truth that the captain thought it wise to dodge the
subject.

"Of course, if no one else will take a man's place," he explained, "the
employer will have to take him back or--"

"There wasn't nobody tryin' to take my place--not while I was there!"
asserted Danny belligerently.

"That's no lie, either," laughed the sergeant. "He had the office tied
up tight."

Danny swelled with pride at this testimonial to his prowess. Then it
suddenly occurred to him that the sergeant did not act as he talked.

"What'd you butt in for, then?" he demanded.

"It was his duty," said the captain.

"Ho!" exclaimed Danny. "It's your business to protect the public, ain't
it?"

"Of course," admitted the captain.

"Well, ain't we the public?"

The captain laughed uneasily. His experience as a policeman had left him
very much in doubt as to who were the public. Both sides to a
controversy always claimed that distinction, and the law-breaker was
usually the louder in his claims. Danny's inability to see anything but
his own side of the case was far from unusual.

The captain took Danny into his private office and talked to him. The
captain did not wish to lock up the boy, so he sent for Danny's father
and also for the manager of the branch messenger-office. Meanwhile he
tried to explain the matter to Danny, but Danny was obtuse. Why should
not he do as his father and his father's friends did? When they had a
disagreement with the boss, they picketed the plant, and ensuing
incidents sent many people to the hospitals. Why was it worse for one
boy to do this than it was for some hundreds or thousands of men? Danny
was confident that he was within his rights.

"Dad knows," he said in conclusion. "Dad'll say I'm right. You got no
business mixin' in."

"Dad's coming," the captain told him.

The manager came first. "The boy ought to be punished," said he. "He hit
me with a rock."

"I wish you'd seen him," said the beaming Danny to the captain, for the
recollection of that victory made all else seem trivial. "Say! he
doubled up like a clown droppin' into a barrel."

"If he isn't punished," asserted the glowering manager, "he'll get worse
and worse and end by going to the devil."

"Perhaps," replied the captain. "But j