"Come now, tell me what led to the fight? Why were you fighting with
Peter?"

Robert would not speak, and Mr. Clapper, being of an explosive
temperament, with little tact, was fast losing his temper. He turned to
question some of the other boys, finally calling them all into the
school, and putting Robert into the teacher's room, so that he might
"get to the bottom of it."

Mr. Clapper, whatever good points he may have possessed, was not at all
fitted for the teaching profession, for he lacked the sympathy necessary
in dealing with children, and he was a rigid believer in the doctrine of
punishment.

After a time he came into the room where Robert sat, and began once more
to question him. But Robert was still obdurate, and stolidly kept
silent. Mr. Clapper recognized at once that this was a clear case of a
dour nature in the wrong. It needed correction, and that of a severe
kind. That spirit he felt must be broken, or there would be trouble
ahead in after years for Robert Sinclair. Mr. Clapper was determined to
do his duty, and he believed that Robert in later life would probably
feel grateful for this thrashing. He thrashed the boy soundly and
severely upon the most sensitive parts of his body, so that the pain
would help to break his spirit. He saw no indignity heaped upon a
high-spirited, sensitive soul. It was all for the boy's own good, and so
the blows fell thick and heavy upon the little back and hips.

Robert bit his lip to repress the roar of pain that wanted to escape. He
would not cry, and this was another spur to the efforts of Mr. Clapper.