Perceiving, as he believed, at a glance, that Alec Forbes was totally unobservant, he gave her an ignominious push from behind, which threw her out on her face in the middle of the floor.

But Alec did catch sight of him in the very deed, was down upon him in a moment, and, having already proved that a box on the ear was of no lasting effect, gave him a downright good thrashing.

He howled vigorously, partly from pain, partly in the hope that the same consequences as before would overtake Forbes; and therefore was still howling when Mr Malison re-entered.
"Robert Bruce, come up," bawled he, the moment he opened the door.
And Robert Bruce went up, and notwithstanding his protestations, received a second, and far more painful punishment from the master, who, perhaps, had been put out of temper by his visitor.

But there is no good in speculating on that or any other possibility in the matter; for, as far at least as the boys could see, the master had no fixed principle as to the party on whom the punishment should fall.
Punishment, in his eyes, was perhaps enough in itself.

If he was capable of seeing that _punishment_, as he called it, falling on the wrong person, was not _punishment_, but only _suffering_, certainly he had not seen the value of the distinction.
If Bruce howled before, he howled tenfold now, and went home howling.
Annie was sorry for him, and tried to say a word of comfort to him; but he repelled her advances with hatred and blows.