I'm goin' to a picnic."
"Ah, indeed!" said the Captain. "You looked as if you were
meditating on some fresh mischief, or sorrowing over some old--which
was it?"
Bunty turned a little pale, but remarked again he "wasn't doin'
nothin'."
The Captain felt in a lazy, teasing mood, and his little fat, dirty
son, was the only subject near.
"Suppose you come here and confess every bit of mischief you've
done this week," he said gravely. "I've the whole morning to
spare, and it's time I saw to your morals a little."
Bunty approached the arm of the chair indicated, but went whiter than
ever.
"Ah, now we're comfortable. Well, there was stealing from the pantry
on Tuesday--that's one," he said, encouragingly. "Now then."
"I n--n--never did n--nothin' else," Bunty gasped. He felt certain
it was all over with him, and the cricket ball episode was discovered.
He even looked nervously round to see if the riding-whip was near.
Yes, there was Esther's silver-topped one flung carelessly on a chair.
He found time to wish fervently Esther was a tidy woman.
"Nothing at all, Bunty? On your word?" said his father, in an
impressive tone.
"I was p--playin' marbles," he said, in a shaking voice.
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