Page:Upbuilders by Lincoln Steffens.djvu/324

 "I was brought up in the fear of the poor," U'Ren says, "the terrible fear of poverty." But not in hate; at least, not in the hatred of men. "Things make men do bad things," he says. He does not believe in bad men and good men, and, as we shall see, he deals placidly with both kinds. "Conditions are to blame for all evil," he pleads patiently, "conditions that can be changed." His father, who pointed out conditions to him, taught him also to fight. But he was to fight for justice, not for hate.

Since the family moved about so much, William seemed always to be "the new boy" at school. The others picked on him. He was still a child, quick-tempered, but not aggressive. And the first time he was tempted to fight, when he was seven years old, he took his mother's counsel that only

William didn't fight. But when, not long after that, at Nevadaville, Colorado, Davie Radcliffe called Willie U'Ren a liar, Willie consulted his father. The father reflected a moment, then said in a way the boy never forgot:

"Never hunt a fight, boy, but never run from one; never suffer wrong or injustice.

The next day Willie U'Ren hunted the fight