"I have, and I know you will be sorry to hear it—not on account of the young rascals themselves, but on Mr. Parker's account. Leon and his cousin, Frank Fuller, have run away from home."
Oscar withdrew his arm, and stopped and looked at his friend, who backed off and put his hands in his pockets.
The two gazed into each other's faces for a few seconds, and then locked arms and walked on again.
"I hope there is some mistake about it," said Oscar, as soon as he could speak.
"I wish there was, from the bottom of my heart!" replied Sam earnestly.
Oscar was silent for several minutes. He recalled all the favors for which he was indebted to the kind-hearted lawyer, thought of the numerous indulgences which he knew Mr. Parker had granted his scapegrace son, and then broke out fiercely:
"Leon deserves to be thrashed within an inch of his life! He is a mean boy who will run away from such a father as he has."
"Just what I have remarked a score of times," answered Sam. "But Mr. Chamberlain says that the punishment he will receive before he gets through with this business will be worse than thrashing. They packed up and cleared out on the very night that you went to Yarmouth."
"Go on and tell me all about it," said Oscar.
"I don't know much to tell," answered Sam, "for, of course, Mr. Parker and his family have had very little to say about the matter. The amount of it is that Leon has been in trouble ever since his cousin came here. Frank led him into all sorts of scrapes, and finally induced him to run away from school—a thing Leon had never done before in his life. On the same day Mr. Fuller arrived from Boston to see how Frank was getting on with his studies, and the first thing he learned in regard to him was that he had been playing truant. The general impression seems to be that the young men were disciplined, and that they got angry about it."