This was all very strange, and seemed like the beginning of a lecture, but Tom felt better, and he liked the Vicar—at least at other times, but not now.
“Will you be honest with me, my lad?” said the visitor at last.
“Oh yes, sir,” was the reply, for “my lad” sounded so much better than formal Thomas Blount.
“That’s right. Ahem!”
Another cough. A pause, and Tom coloured a little more beneath the searching gaze that met his.
“Were you out last night?” came at last, to break a most embarrassing silence.
“Yes, sir.”
“Out late?”
“Yes, sir; quite late.”
“Humph!” ejaculated the Vicar, who looked now very hard and stern. “One moment—would you mind lending me your knife?”