ght hold, roamed the woods during the
afternoon, but to Larry what in other circumstances would have been a
day of unalloyed joy, brought him only a present misery and a dread for
the future. The question of school for the afternoon was only mentioned
to be dismissed. They were too dirty and muddy to venture into the
presence of the master. Consequently the obvious course was to wait
until four o'clock when joining the other children they might slip home
unnoticed.

The afternoon soon began to lag. The woods had lost their first glamour.
Their games grew to be burdensome. They were weary and hungry, and
becoming correspondingly brittle in temper. Already Nemesis was on their
trail. Sick at heart and weighted with forebodings, Larry listened
to the plans of the other boys by which they expected to elude the
consequences of their truancy. In the discussion of their plans Larry
took no part. They offered him no hope. He knew that if he were prepared
to lie, as they had cheerfully decided, his simple word would carry him
through at home. But there the difficulty arose. Was he willing to lie?
He had never lied to his mother in all his life. He visualised her face
as she listened to him recounting his falsified tale of the day's doings
and unconsciously he groaned aloud.

"What's the matter with you, Larry?" inquired Mop, noticing his pale
face.

"Oh, nothing; it's getting a little cold, I guess."

"Cold!" laughed Mop. "I guess you're getting scared all right."

To this Larry made no reply. He was too miserable, too tired to explain
his state of mind. He was doubtful whether he could explain to Mop or to
Joe his unwillingness to lie to his mother.

"It don't take much to scare you anyway," said Mop with an ugly grin.

The situation was not without its anxieties to Mop, for while he felt
fairly confident as to his ability to meet successfully his mother's
cross examination, there was always a possibility of his father's taking
a hand, and that filled him with a real dismay. For Mr. Sam Cheatley,
the village butcher, was a man of violent temper, hasty in his judgments
and merciless in his punishment. There was a possibility of unhappy
consequences for Mop in spite of his practiced ability in deception.
Hence his nerves were set a-jangling, and his temper, never very
certain, was rather on edge. The pale face of the little boy annoyed
him, and the little whimsical smile which never quite left his face
confronted him like