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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: title to the honors he had assumed. Probably some who felt able
to contest the palm with him, did not care to dirty their fingers
upon the bullying cub.
Sensible people, whether men or boys, invariably despise the
"fighting character," be he young or old. Nine times out of ten
he is both a knave and a fool, a coward and a bully.
On the other hand, Tommy Howard was one of those hearty,
whole-souled boys, who are the real lions of the playground. He
was not a "fighting character;" and being a sensible boy, he had
a hearty contempt for Johnny Grippen. He was not afraid of him,
and though he never went an inch out of his way to avoid a fight
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