he said I was staying in the house because I wasn't to be trusted outside. He thought it would be a lesson to them, too.
"And, so when at last I did come out, I found that I had the reputation of being a regular tough. The boys had told their folks, and their folks had forbidden them to play with me. At first I didn't know what to do. It hurt and I was ashamed and miserable and just about wanted to die; and then, by and by I noticed that the other kids looked at me with a sort of awe and admiration, and I found that everything I did was made ten times worse, because I was supposed to be so bad; and so I thought it over and decided that if I was going to have the name of being tough, I might as well have the fun of it. I was just a little kid, you know, less than nine years old.
"And that way, I got to doing things just out of daring,—to make the boys open their eyes,—not because I wanted to,—and I've done that sort of thing ever since. You see, that one little incident, that was only thoughtlessness, that I never meant at all, has grown to where it has put every fellow's hand against me,—and put me where I deserve to have them against me."
