When Mr. Gaston had read it he went to the open window and stood for many minutes, looking away, thoughtfully and sternly, to the distant hills.
“Father,” sobbed his wife, “you will go after Joe, won’t you? You’ll find him, and bring him back, won’t you?”
It seemed to her a long time before he answered her.
“I believe,” he said at last, “that when a boy runs away from a good home, it is better, as a rule, to let him go, and find out his mistake; he’s sure to find it out in a very short time. If he is followed and threatened and forced, he will come back sullen and angry, and will make up his mind to go again at the first chance.”
“But if he’s followed and reasoned with and persuaded?” said the mother, appealingly.
“If he is followed and reasoned with and persuaded,” answered the father, “he will get a great notion of his own importance. He will believe that he has gained his point, and will come back impudent and overbearing.”
“But think what harm may come to him,—what suffering!”
“Probably he will suffer. There’s no easy way to learn the lesson he must learn. If I could save him from the suffering that his folly is sure to bring on him, and at the same time feel sure that he has really repented and is bound to do better, I would go to the end of the earth to find him. But we’ll talk about that later. There’s no doubt now that Joe’s gone. Let us see if we can find out anything about the horse. It will make a difference if he has taken him.”
But the good woman could not yet give up her appeal in behalf of her boy.