"Do you understand the reasons," he at length asked, "why I cannot and will not continue our life of study, this life that we pursue together, in a place of amusement?"
"I do not understand them," said the boy, perversely.
"Shall I explain them?"
"It is not necessary," replied the boy, sullenly.
Eric said nothing, and the silence enabled the boy to realize how he was behaving; but there was something in the soul of the youth that rebelled against anything like subjection. Taking up a different topic, Roland asked:—
"Have I not been diligent and obedient?"
"As it is proper that you should be."
"Do I not deserve now some amusement?"
"No. The performance of duty is not paid for, and certainly not by amusement."
Again there was a long silence, the boy turning up and down the corners of the biography of Franklin, which he had just been reading. Without saying anything, Eric took the book out of his hand and laid it down. With his hand upon the cover, he asked,—