"I shall tell master, and see what he'll say!" she overheard Jane exclaim, and then came Theodore's quick retort, in enraged accents—
"You're a nasty sneak, and I'll do as I like!"
"What is it?" Mrs. Barton demanded, as she came forward, her usually gentle voice severe and peremptory.
Theodore turned a flushed, angry face towards her, whilst Jane changed colour, and hesitated to explain.
"What is it?" she asked again. "Theodore, how dare you speak to Jane in that way?"
"She is a sneak," the child declared passionately; "a sneak! a sneak!"
Mrs. Barton laid a firm hand on the boy's shoulder; and Jane burst into a storm of tears as she sobbed out:
"I'm sure I've done nothing to make Master Theodore so angry. I always try to do my duty!"
"I am sure you do," Mrs. Barton assured her. "Now, tell me what is the meaning of this scene?"
Whereupon Jane explained that Theodore had intended going out fishing with Tom Blake, and she had tried to prevent him. Mrs. Barton listened in silence. The case was just as she had imagined; and she now saw the time had come for her to put a check upon her stepson.