“He made me feel small somehow,” said Ralph, the largest boy of all.  “I suppose I could have stopped the row if I’d thought, but I was afraid the fellows would be angry at me for spoiling their sport.  I’ll not let them tease him any more, though;” and at a sharp word from him the boys ceased their rude fun.

Master Sunshine was quite late for school that morning, and when he did arrive he was so flushed in the face, and so muddy in his dress, that Mr. Sinclair the teacher guessed that something was amiss; and a few quiet questions at recess brought out part of the story from Tommy, who was but too delighted to sing his friend’s praises.

That afternoon when lessons were over, Mr. Sinclair gathered his pupils about him.  “Boys,” he said, “something that happened to-day makes me afraid that some of you do not know what manliness means; and, if there is a boy among you who does not wish to grow into a manly man, I would like him to leave the schoolroom now.”

Tommy Dane turned around and looked very hard at Dick, who had been the chief of Billy’s persecutors; but the boy, though looking very shame-faced, made no effort to move.

“Some of you,” continued the master, “have been making Billy Butler very unhappy.  Do you think the boy has too much pleasure in his life?”

Every boy there made a picture to himself of Billy’s life, and wondered what the master could mean.  Billy’s home was the worst in the village, his parents were often unkind to him, his clothes were always in rags, he had no friends to play with, no one ever thought of asking him to a party or a picnic or even to play quietly in the back yard.  He had never even had a chum.

The teacher read their thoughts very easily.  “Then,” said he, “if he has no pleasures, why do you not try giving him a few instead of making his life a burden.  A manly boy tries to do what good he can to his fellow-creatures, and it seems that the manliest boy among you is one of the youngest pupils.”

The boys looked at Master Sunshine as he spoke, for they knew that his words could have but one meaning.  Some of them smiled as they did so; but Dick looked away again quickly, as if there was something in the sight that he could not bear.

Master Sunshine was sound asleep.  His head, all a glitter with its yellow curls, was cradled on his arm.  There were bits of the dried mud still clinging to the back of his coat.  Even the boys who smiled were deeply touched.  They remembered then what a very little boy he was, and they did not wonder that the excitement of the morning and the work of the day had quite exhausted him.

There was something like a tear in Dick’s hard gray eyes.

“Boys,” continued the teacher, “tell me what is your idea of a hero.”

“A man who does what is right whether he likes to or not,” said Ralph, who was feeling much ashamed of his share in the morning’s doings.