“Humph!”
“But if you think it was he, uncle—”
“I do think it was, Tom. I feel sure of it, my boy.”
“But you won’t punish him, uncle?”
“I have punished him, Tom.”
“What, you knew, and you have done this?” cried Tom excitedly, as he sprang from his seat, and caught his uncle by the arm.
“I have punished him, Tom, and most severely.”
“Uncle! I’d sooner have given up the money a dozen times over. I wish I’d never known of it. Think what it means. Why, a magistrate would treat him like a thief.”
“Well, he is a thief,” said Uncle Richard sternly.
“Yes; but oughtn’t we to hide it from the world, uncle? He is only a boy, and it will spoil his whole life. I’d give the money, I say, a dozen times over sooner than he should be punished. Boys are stupid and thoughtless, uncle; they often do things in haste that they would not do if they considered first, and such a little thing sometimes means so much afterwards.”