That look of Forbes, however, almost choked Jack. He was eating the last mouthful, but I do not think he could have eaten another, certainly not with Forbes' eyes upon him.
He was glad when it was time to go to bed. He went up to Geoffrey who kissed him as usual, but Forbes waved him away, and Jack stumbled out of the nursery with his eyes full of tears, and feeling himself to be the meanest little wretch alive.
Jack slept in a bed in the night nursery, in the opposite corner to Dodie's crib, which was close beside Nurse's big bed, and as a rule, he fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow, but tonight he could not sleep. He lay awake, longing to hear Nurse's step on the stair outside, he longed for the comfort of her motherly presence. When, however, she came up at last, Jack, afraid lest she should ask him questions, feigned to be asleep at first, and then when she had smoothed his pillow and tucked him up for the night, he opened his eyes, and amused himself by watching her shadow on the ceiling as she moved about the room. But this amusement soon came to an end, before long he saw her blow out the candle, and heard her get into bed, and all was still.
Then Jack's burden, in the silence and dark, grew so heavy and large that he could bear it no longer, and sitting up in bed, he cried out "Nurse! Nurse!"
In a moment the candle was lit again, and Nurse by his side.
"What is it, dearie?" she asked, putting her arms round him. "Have you had a bad dream, dear heart?"
"I've told a lie," sobbed Jack. "It was me that spoilt Dodie's doll, I was pretending to ha-ha-hang her for fun, and she dropped and br-br-broke her face, and I tried to mend it, so that no nobody should know. I broke it, and I thought the fire would make the cr-cr-crack all right again, but it did-did-didn't, it made it worse. So I hid it away in the sch-sch-schoolroom, and I have told two lies to Geoff and Forbes, and I don't think God will ever forgive me, and Forbes will ha-ha hate me."
"You're a good boy to tell me," said nurse, "and don't you cry no more, there's a darling. You just tell God about it. You may get out if you like, and kneel down now and pray, and I'm certain sure that if you are really sorry, the good God will forgive you," and kind old Nurse wiped away a tear or two herself, and after tucking him up in bed again, and kissing him, she knelt down by her own bedside to pray for her boy.
Jack confessed to Forbes next morning, and the latter gave him a slap on the back, saying:
"That's right old boy, stick to the truth though another time, that's all."