“No, she didn't either,” I said. “All she did was to get Tom Burton to bestir himself, so Dad Veek wouldn't go to jail or anything. She didn't know he was going to bestir himself against me and Swatty. My mother don't want me to go to reform school. And Fan don't.”
So then Herb asked Swatty if, for goodness' sake! he couldn't sit still without knocking his heels against his chair. Then he said to me:
“Is it possible that your sister believes you are capable of regeneration?”
“I don't know what it is,” I told him, “but I guess so.”
“I mean,” Herb said, “she thinks there may be some good in you after all, does she?”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
So then he laughed and shook his head as if it was funny. I guess I knew why. I guess it was because the reason Fan had thrown his ring at him was because he said I was some good and she said I wasn't, and now she thought the way he thought.
Then Herb sobered up and asked about the fire and we told him everything, even about the Red Avengers. He asked questions and we answered them, and he seemed to know almost more about it than we did. He knew about what we told Toady Williams when we were just bragging and that we had bragged that we had set the barn afire.
“But that was just pretend,” I said.
“A mighty bad kind of pretend,” Herb said, and he asked us some more questions. He would look at some papers on his desk and then ask some more questions. When he got through asking he said: “Well, if the case has to go into court Mr. Rascop will defend you two young rascals, and if the case comes before Judge Hannan I think you'll have every chance that can be hoped for, but I don't like the looks of things. Judge Hannan knows what boys are, but if the case goes before some old stiff it is going to be hard to make him think your brag to Toady Williams was just pure brag. At the best it looks as if one of you two must have dropped a com-silk cigarette stub in the shavings. You two had better walk straight and keep out of trouble from now on. I'll do what I can for you.”