"Oh, no! I'm sure she doesn't!"
"I don't think I shall ever be good, Jack; and I do want to be."
"Jesus will help you, Theo. You know that, don't you? I'll tell you a verse out of the Bible that mother told me to remember, when I wanted to do something wrong, shall I?"
"Yes, do. What is it?"
"'Thou God seest me.' You know, Theo, you wouldn't have liked father, or mother, or even me to have seen you smoking with Tom Blake this morning, would you, now?"
"No," Theodore answered truthfully.
"God saw you, only you didn't think of Him, did you?"
Theodore sighed deeply, and was silent for a long while. It was quite dark, so that the children could not discern each other's faces, but Jack held Theodore's hand firmly in his thin little fingers.
"You must never think anyone hates you, Theo," Jack said at length. "No one could—you are so kind! I think you will be a hero when you are a man—brave and strong, and I—"
Jack paused abruptly. He could picture a future for his stepbrother, but not for himself.