"Who was it, ma?" the boys asked in chorus when Mrs. Stout returned to the dining-room, but their mother ignored them.
"Peter Stout," she began in a tone that made him jump, "Henry didn't go to school this afternoon, and Paul and Wendell told Miss Wallace that he was sick."
"What!" exclaimed Peter, turning on his three sons, who sat trembling before him.
"Yes, she came to see if Henry was any better, and that let the cat out of the bag. They've got to be 'tended to," replied Mrs. Stout. "Tended to" in the Stout family meant something painful. The boys looked at each other in dismay, and then at their parents.
"I ain't got time now," said Peter, "but in the mornin'—" With that terrible, unspoken threat on his lips Peter put on his hat, and went back to the store. Mrs. Stout began clearing the table, and the boys silently filed out of the house and sat down on the front door-steps to talk it over.
"You've got to give me back that five cents I give you for sayin' I was sick, Paul," said Henry, "and you too, Wendell."
"I guess not," replied Paul and Wendell, quickly.
"I got found out, didn't I?"
"We said you was sick, didn't we?"