In The Outsiders, why does Johnny consider Dally to be a hero?

In chapter five, while Johnny and Pony are in the church, Johnny starts talking about Dally in a tone that really surprises Ponyboy. Pony always knew that Johnny really looked up to Dally but for the first time he begins to realize why.

As Johnny is reading Gone With the Wind, Johnny asks lots of questions about the contents and starts to really get excited about the southern gentlemen. He equates Dally with them, even goes so far as to say that he was “gallant.”

Johnny is impressed that Dally would take the rap for Two-Bit when the cops picked him up for breaking windows in the school. Pony, on the other hand, really dislikes Dally and thinks that he is just too real, too normal. He realizes as he thinks about Dally that he really likes the super-human qualities of Darry and Soda and Two-Bit.