And Mr. Middleton drove slowly while he read the circular to his wife.
"Well, we can call by the hut as we go home, and you can get out and get it, and you will not forget to reward the poor boy for his honesty. He might have kept it, you know; for there was nothing in it that could be traced."
"Very well; I will do as you recommend; but I have a quarrel with the young fellow, for all that," said Mr. Middleton.
"Upon what ground?" inquired his wife.
"Why, upon the ground of his just having sold the book I gave him last August as a reward of merit."
"What did he do that for?"
"To get money to buy tops and marbles."
"It is false!" burst out Claudia, speaking for the first time.
"Claudia! Claudia! Claudia! How dare you charge your uncle with falsehood?" exclaimed Mrs. Middleton, horrified.
"I don't accuse him, aunt. He don't know anything about it! Somebody has told him falsehoods about poor Ishmael, and he believes it just as he did before," exclaimed the little lady with flashing eyes.