And Tom and the Slogger shook hands with great satisfaction and mutual respect.

And for the next year or two, whenever fights were being talked of, the small boys who had been present shook their heads wisely, saying, "Ah! but you should just have seen the fight between Slogger Williams and Tom Brown!" And now, boys all, three words before we quit the subject.

I have put in this chapter on fighting of malice prepense, partly because I want to give you a true picture of what everyday school life was in my time, and not a kid-glove and go-to-meeting-coat picture, and partly because of the cant and twaddle that's talked of boxing and fighting with fists nowadays.

Even Thackeray has given in to it; and only a few weeks ago there was some rampant stuff in the Times on the subject, in an article on field sports.
Boys will quarrel, and when they quarrel will sometimes fight.

Fighting with fists is the natural and English way for English boys to settle their quarrels.