not infrequently add the insult of
stones; and the down-roaders return the hooting and the missiles with
interest.

Often there is open war, and the boys meet and have regular battles. A
few years since, the boys of two rival towns on opposite sides of the
Ohio River became so belligerent that the authorities had to interfere.
Whenever an Ohio boy was caught on the West Virginia side of the river,
he was unmercifully beaten; and when a West Virginia boy was discovered
on the Ohio side, he was pounced upon in the same manner. One day a
vast number of boys, about one hundred and fifty on a side, met
by appointment upon the ice and engaged in a pitched battle. Every
conceivable missile was used, including pistols. The battle, says the
local paper, raged with fury for about two hours. One boy received
a wound behind the ear, from the effects of which he died the next
morning. More recently the boys of a large manufacturing town of New
Jersey were divided into two hostile clans that came into frequent
collision. One Saturday both sides mustered their forces, and a regular
fight ensued, one boy here also losing his life from the encounter.

Every village and settlement is at times the scene of these youthful
collisions When a new boy appears in the village, or at the country
school, how the other boys crowd around him and take his measure, or
pick at him and insult him to try his mettle!

I knew a boy, twelve or thirteen years old, who was sent to help a
drover with some cattle as far as a certain village ten miles from his
home. After the place was reached, and while the boy was eating his
cracker and candies, he strolled about the village, and fell in with
some other boys playing upon a bridge. In a short time a large number of
children of all sizes had collected upon the bridge. The new-comer was
presently challenged by the boys of his own age to jump with them. This
he readily did, and cleared their farthest mark. Then he gave them a
sample of his stone-throwing, and at this pastime he also far surpassed
his competitors. Before long, the feeling of the crowd began to set
against him, showing itself first in the smaller fry, who began half
playfully to throw pebbles and lumps of dry earth at him. Then they
would run up slyly and strike him with sticks. Presently the large
ones began to tease him in like manner, till the contagion of hostility
spread, and the whole pack was arrayed against the strange boy. He kept
them a