In spite of himself, Mr. Boniface laughed too. That laugh settled the matter, for it won Max completely. The boy put both elbows on the table, rested his chin in his hands and remarked with a frankness which took away the teacher’s breath,—
“Mr. Boniface, now see here: I’m sorry for what I did, and I won’t do it again—if I can help it. I’m willing to say I’m sorry before all the boys, if you want. It’s no use for me to promise not to do that kind of thing again, though, for I shall most likely forget and do something just as bad, in a week or two. You see, when you just came, I sort of got into the habit of teasing you, and I’ve kept on. I promised Lieutenant Wilde that I wouldn’t any more, but I’ve broken my promise. Now I’ll try again. You said we might talk together like two men, so I thought ’twas fairer to tell you this, than to keep saying it about you.”
During this clear, but surprising statement, Mr. Boniface had looked first perplexed, then annoyed. At length his face brightened and, with a smile as cordial as Lieutenant Wilde’s own, he held out his hand to the boy, saying,—
“Thank you, Eliot, for being so honest; now I know just how we stand. I don’t see but we mean to do the fair thing by each other, only, once in a while, we both make mistakes. Shall we shake hands on it, and try again in the future?”
What need to ask? As he put the question, Max’s brown hand lay in his and the pressure of the boy’s fingers upon those of the man told an eloquent story of a newly-gained friend. No direful punishment, no long, solemn lecture could have done the work which this pleasant talk had accomplished, and as Max sat there, he was resolving, in his boyish soul, “to stand by Bony” in the future.
Meanwhile in Louis’s room, the boys were restlessly lounging about, while they waited for the reappearance of the young sinner.
“He must be having a bad time,” said Jack, taking out his watch for the twentieth time in the last half hour.
“I’m afraid Bony’s giving it to him strong,” added Paul.
“You don’t suppose Bony’d whip him, do you?” suggested Leon, in an awed tone.
“Whip Max? Nonsense!” responded Harry.