"I saw him looking at my—my hump yesterday. He laughed at me," cried the boy fiercely.
David's hand fell from his bloody cheek. "Laughed at you?" he cried. "I never did such a thing. You are mistaken."
"What were you laughing at, then?" demanded the unfortunate boy, made over-sensitive by his dread of ridicule.
"I don't remember that I laughed," said David, perplexed and distressed.
"Well, you did," defiantly.
David caught the look of profound embarrassment in Dick Cronk's face. He felt a sharp pity for him, though he could not have explained why.
"I'm sorry you think that of me," he said. "And I am happy to have come to your assistance just now. Let's be friends."
Dick pushed Ernie forward, gently but firmly. The hunchback extended his hand grudgingly.
"All right," he said sulkily.
"Come on!" said Dick, suddenly alert. "The cops will be along here directly. Let's get back to the lot. I'm not particularly anxious to get pinched just now."