“I haven’t any father. He’s dead.”
“Have you any brothers?”
“No.”
Dan’s knowledge of life was limited, but he thought he saw plainly the training which Carlton had received. Doubtless, he surmised, the boy’s mother in her loneliness and grief had devoted herself to the only child she had. His every wish was granted, his will never was thwarted, and he ruled his mother as a tyrant might have done.
“Carlton,” Dan said quietly, “what do the fellows call the boy that runs away or cries when he has something hard to do?”
“I don’t know what they call him and I don’t care. I won’t stand it to have that big bully pull my ears or let the boys pour water in my bed! My mother——”
“Did you know my father is dead too?” broke in Dan.
“No. Is he?”
“Yes. I’ve got a lot of hard things to learn too. I am sure I shall feel just as you do many times, but I’m not going to run. The boys all think the fellow that runs away is a coward.”
“But you’re big and strong.”