"Only you were talking about giving
your death, which isn't half so valuable."
George looked blank for a moment. The others laughed at his puzzled
face, but he recovered himself promptly.
"I don't see why fighting isn't a good way to settle disputes," he said.
"So everybody used to think," said Jack. "If a man quarreled with his
neighbor, it was the proper thing to have a duel. We don't have duels
nowadays, and I think we are better off. Don't you remember, George,
that day when we fought over the bag of marbles we found in an old
cellar? It was years ago, when we were little fellows. Father found us
fighting and sent us home. The next day he divided the marbles between
us. I'm sure that was a better way than if I'd held you down a minute
longer and got them all."
George had still a lively recollection of that fight.
"You were bigger than I was," he began.
"I know it," said Jack, "and because I was bigger, I should have got the
marbles if father hadn't stopped me. But that wouldn't have made me the
rightful owner of them. You had as much right to them as I had. Father
talked to me, and made me see how silly our fighting was."
"Do you truly think that a man who stays at home can be as good a
patriot as a soldier who goes to fight for his country?" asked George,
feeling a little ashamed of his friend.
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