Robert and Henry were two friends in the same class. They always played together and went home together. One day Robert and Henry were going home from school, when, on turning a corner, Robert cried out, "A fight! Let's go and see！" "No," said Henry. "Let us go quietly home and not meddle with (插手) this quarrel. We have nothing to do with it and may get into mischief (trouble). Also our parents are expecting to have dinner with us together at home and I don't want them to worry about me."
"You are a coward, and afraid to go, "said Robert, and off he ran. Henry went straight home, and in the afternoon went to school as usual.
But Robert had told all the boys that Henry was a coward, and they laughed at him a great deal. From then on, they looked down upon Henry and didn't want to play with him together.
Henry was sad but he wasn't angry with Robert for his rude behavior, because he learned that true courage is shown most in bearing misunderstanding when it was not deserved, and that he ought to be afraid of nothing but doing wrong. Thus, he just ignored the other boys' laughter and continued to go to school and study as well. However, Robert didn't invite Henry to go home with him anymore. Instead, he had some other boys who also thought Henry was a coward. Every day after school, they didn't go home directly but went to the river or somewhere to play games and had a lot of fun.
A few days later, Robert was bathing with his new friends in a river, and got out of his depth. He struggled, and screamed for help, but all in vain. The boys who had called Henry a coward got out of the water as fast as they could, but they did not even try to help him.
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Robert was fast sinking.
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Thus, Robert's life was saved. Robert and his new friends were ashamed at having called Henry a coward.
