"Pretty bad, sometimes," was the reply.
"I'm awfully glad." Jack really looked pleased.
"You little sinner! I suppose you have a fellow feeling."
"Did you have brothers, and were their scrapes never so bad as yours?"
"I must confess to being the one who was generally in a pickle, and my brothers never did manage to get into such holes as I did."
"Good!" cried Jack. "Then you were just like me and I like you better than ever."
"That is some compensation," laughed the old gentleman. "Perhaps if I had known in those long ago days, what the future held for me in the frank liking of Jack Corner I might not have been as disturbed as I often was."
"Did they—did they ever put you to bed without your supper?" Jack asked after some thought.
"Often and often."
Jack snuggled closer to him. "Did they ever—spank you?" she said in an awed whisper.