One day John and I were coming home along a straight road when we saw a boy trying to make a pony jump over a gate. The gate was too high, and the pony would not jump. The boy whipped him and kicked him and beat him about the head, but still the pony refused. When we were nearly there, the pony put down his head, threw up his back legs and sent the boy into a thorn hedge. Then he galloped off home.
John laughed out loud. “Serves him right.”
“Oh, oh!” cried the boy, struggling among the thorns. “Come and help me out!”
“No, thank you,” said John. “I think you are in the right place. A few scratches may teach you not to make a pony jump a gate that is too high for him.” And he rode on to Farmer Bushby’s house.
The farmer was hurrying out into the road, and his wife stood at the gate, looking very frightened.
“Have you seen my boy?” asked Mr Bushby. “His pony has just come back without him.”
John told him what he had seen. “The pony did nothing wrong, sir. And your son has no broken bones, only a few scratches.”
The mother began to cry. “Oh, my poor Bill!”
“Go into the house, wife,” said the farmer. “Bill needs a lesson, and I shall see that he gets it. This is not the first time he has been cruel to that pony. Thank you, Manly.”
At home John told James about it.
“Serves him right,” said James. “I knew Bill at school. He bullied the little boys. One day I found him at the window, catching flies and pulling their wings off. I hit him so hard that he fell on the floor, and the schoolmaster came running. I showed him the flies and the wings on the window sill. I never saw him so angry. He talked to all the boys about how cowardly it is to hurt the weak and the helpless. And he said that cruelty is the devil’s own trademark. When we see someone who enjoys being cruel, we know who he belongs to.”
“Your schoolmaster never taught you anything truer,” said John. “There is no religion without love. People may talk about their religion as much as they like, but if it doesn’t teach them to be kind to people and animals, it is only a show.”