even then I thought superior
to all the rest. Well, it was a good long walk, over fields and hedges
and ditches. I had some trouble to keep up with the others, for you
must remember I was a very small boy then, and once, in jumping a ditch,
I gave my ankle a little twist which made it still more difficult to go
along fast. However, no one noticed me, and I was determined not to be
beaten.

"At last we came to a large field, where some cattle were grazing which
we had to cross.

"`There's a mad bull in this field,' said one of the boys; `he chased
Farmer Jones the other day.'

"`We can run for it,' said another coolly, `if he comes after us.'

"Now, I knew I could not run with my sore ankle, and the idea of the
bull terrified me. `Can't we go another way?' I asked.

"Fear must have been written on my face, for some of the boys burst out
laughing.

"`Little Morrin's afraid,' said one mockingly. `Sit down under the
hedge, dear: then the bull won't see you.'

"`Go on,' said another; `never mind the little milksop.'

"But my hero, the biggest and strongest of all, looked at me kindly and
said: `Is anything the matter, little Morrin?'

"And, reassured by his kind tones, I told him I had hurt my foot a
little, and did not think I could run.

"`Get up on my back then,' said he, and, before I could say a word, he
stooped down and lifted me up with his strong arms, then strode on as
before.

"The others began to taunt and mock me.

"`Let him alone, you fellows,' said my champion. `He's a plucky little
chap to come at all with such pleasant companions as we've been.'

"We got through the field without attracting the attention of the bull.
The place of the meet was just beyond, and we were in good time to see
the gay scene. We went back by a different road, and my hero made them
all march slowly so that I might be able to keep pace with them.

"It was a little thing, was it not, Bob? I say: a little thing.
Perhaps you will hardly believe that one little act of kindness altered
my whole life. It taught me lessons which I might never have learned
otherwise. It showed me how we can help one another by the simplest
kindness and sympathy. All through my life his influence has helped and
encouraged me--though, as I tell you, I never saw him again."

"Is that all, Grandpa?" asked Maud.

But Bob did not speak. He was thinking of what he had said about Harry
Moore.

"I think," he said to Maud that evening,