A boy, much larger than himself, had offended him.

David decided not to attack him near the school-house, lest the master might separate them.
He therefore slipped out of school, just before it was dismissed, and running along the road, hid in a thicket, near which his victim would have to pass on his way home.

As the boy came unsuspectingly along, young Crockett, with the leap of a panther, sprang upon his back.

With tooth and nail he assailed him, biting, scratching, pounding, until the boy cried for mercy.
The next morning, David was afraid to go to school, apprehending the severe punishment he might get from the master.

He therefore left home as usual, but played truant, hiding himself in the woods all day.