'Then it may remind you a little too much of home; your father has been here, and was pleased to hear you were gone on the party, and said you would be in your element in the woods. I told him I was glad that he was not uneasy at our letting you go away, for a whole day, with so many wild fellows'—he said 'no, he believed he might trust to his son's discretion; at least, he should never know, till he had put him to the trial.'
These words were daggers to Frank's heart; but he was obliged to command himself, and Mrs. Reed perceiving that the mention of his father, had affected him, changed the subject, and inquired about the manner, in which they had passed the day.
Albert Lawrence and William Gardiner were the spokesmen. They gave an animated and amusing account, of their journey to the wood, and various little adventures in cutting down, and cutting up the trees, and roots—of their feast on the flat-rock, &c. They told nothing that was not strictly true; and with this degree of honesty, appeared to satisfy their consciences, and to feel no compunction for the important part, which they had entirely omitted. They made out incident and occupation enough apparently, to fill the day. Mrs. Reed listened with interest and pleasure, to the account, and bestowed on them a smile, to which Frank wished from the bottom of his heart, that he could feel himself entitled.
Frank retired to his own room, before his companions, and his first impulse was to get his talisman, which he had not looked at for ten days. But a strong disinclination to open the box, arose in his mind. When at last he got resolution to do this, the sight brought compunction to his heart, such as he had never known before.
'It is deception that I have been guilty of,' was the distinct feeling of his mind. 'I never have deceived before. I am not as my mother has often called me, an honest boy; nobody deserves that name, who is not above all deception. Why am I alone here, without a friend? what can I do? it will weigh upon my mind, and I have no one to consult; if Tom Blanchard was not so much older than I am, I could consult him; yet he is such a stranger. If I write about it to mother, it will grieve her too much. If we are found out, I shall never be willing to stay here another day. I will repent of my fault; I will pray for pardon; I will be more watchful of myself; I will never omit to consult my talisman again.'
These ideas, passed rapidly, and some of them indistinctly, through Frank's mind, in much less time, than it would take any one, to read them. He heard the steps of the boys, coming up to bed, shut his trunk, assumed a more composed aspect, and began to undress.
'Don't go to bed yet,' said William Gardiner, as he entered the room, 'we are going to set in Albert's chamber a little while, and talk over things.'
Frank followed, almost unconsciously.
'Did not we make a good account of our day,' said Gardiner.