t hand and then said:

"I didn't exactly learn it."

"Oh, indeed? And wh-why, pray?"

As though deploring such tactless persistency, Penny pursed up his
mouth, laid his head on one side, shrugged his shoulders, and held
his peace.

"Had you, too, no time?"

"Well, not a great deal, sir."

There were some titters, and Penny looked deprecatingly in the
direction whence they came. Fillet passed judgment so severe that
Penny made a shocking grimace and said: "Thank you, sir. It shall
not occur again," which, to be sure, might have meant anything.

I think the characters of both my friends stood out, clearly
defined, in the words with which they referred to this incident
afterwards. Doe was generous in his praise. "Golly," he said, "I
wish I could feel I had done it as you can now. I cursed my luck
that my name didn't come after yours, so that I could have stood by
you, as Penny did. I could have throttled him with jealousy. Do you
know, I almost wished the other boys had mobbed you a bit, so that I
could have stuck by you." And Penny said: "You didn't really think I
was going to throw the weight of my trade union on to the side of
that foul, caitiff knave of a Carpet Slippers? Why, the man's a low
fellow--the sort of person one simply doesn't know. He'd drink his
own bath-water."

Sec.6

"If you succeed in doing what is right, come and see me again." I
decided to stay away. Many times that morning I passed Radley in the
school buildings, and, pretending not to have seen him, went by with
a hum or a whistle. In the afternoon he came and coached our game at
cricket; and after tea he bowled at the Bramhall Nets where I was
practising. When he instructed me he spoke as though there were
nothing between us. But he was watching me, I knew; wondering why I
had not come, and longing for me: and I rather overplayed my part.

It had been a grey, dull day, but, just before retiring, the sun
came out and shamed the clouds into a sullen withdrawal. Then it
went under, leaving behind it a glorious red glow and the hope of
better things in the morning. All this I was in the mood to notice,
for, though trying to be indifferent to destiny, I was heavy and
dispirited. I did not see how I could ever do right again, since
Radley's determination and my own had been insufficient to brace me
for the onslaught. It was evident that mine was the stuff from which
criminals were made.

And, as the red glow departed and the darkness g