But he never
boasted of his strength, nor sought occasions to display his skill,
being content with their mere possession.
His sense of fairness and self-respect, however, would not allow him to
become the butt of other people's ridicule, and when the need arose for
putting forth his energies in a good cause, he held nothing in reserve.
Such an occasion occurred the first time he paid a visit to Boston, the
metropolis of his State. He was roaming about in rustic fashion, when he
attracted the attention of a youth twice his size, who began to "make
fun" of him. Young Putnam bore the insult as long as he could, then he
"challenged, engaged, and vanquished his unmannerly antagonist, to the
great diversion of a crowd of spectators."
There were very few diversions for the youth of Putnam's time, so long
ago; but the boys, like those of modern times, indulged in
bird's-nesting now and then. Climbing to a tree top one day, in his
endeavor to secure a nest, "Young Put" had a fall, owing to a branch
breaking in his hands. He was caught by a lower limb, however, and there
he hung, suspended by his clothes betwixt heaven and earth.
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