“Yes, that’s so,” said Jack, “but then he had no business to take it for granted that we did it on purpose.”
And Jack went about his chores, trying to think of some way of writing to the master an address which should be severe, but not too severe. He planned many things but gave them up. He lay awake in the night thinking about it, and, at last, when he had cooled off, he came to the conclusion that, as the boys had been the first offenders, they should take the first step toward a reconciliation. But whether he could persuade the angry boys to see it in that light, he did not know.
When morning came, he wrote a very short paper, somewhat in this fashion:
Mr. Williams:
Dear Sir: We are very sorry for what we did yesterday, and for the trouble we have given you. We are willing to take the punishment, for we think we deserve it; but we hope you will not think that we did it on purpose, for we did not, and we don’t like to have you think so.
Respectfully submitted.
Jack carried this in the first place to his faithful friend, Bob Holliday, who read it.
“Oh, you’ve come down, have you?” said Bob.
“I thought we ought to,” said Jack. “We did give him a great deal of trouble, and if it had been Mr. Ball, he would have whipped us half to death.”
“We shouldn’t have forgot and gone away at that time if Old Ball had been the master,” said Bob.
“That’s just it,” said Jack; “that’s the very reason why we ought to apologize.”