"I shall never be happy till father knows. I can't laugh or smile or talk or play while I remember it. Do let me tell him."
"Now, look here, don't make an ass of yourself! You had to do it! I'm sure the Squire would be awfully waxy if he knew you had debts you couldn't pay. You'll see what he says. I'll ask about it at breakfast."
Accordingly Puggy began, when he and Christina were seated at the breakfast table with Mr. and Mrs. Maclahan:
"Squire, isn't it a bad thing to run into debt?"
"Very bad. I hope you have not been doing it."
Puggy shook his head virtuously.
"No. I never mean to. But it's better to sell all the clothes off your back, isn't it, than to run up a bill you can't pay?"
His sister looked sharply at him.
"Not in your case," she said, "because your clothes aren't your own to sell."
Puggy shook his shoulders impatiently.