“I’m not going back,” said Bobbie quietly.
His father stared at him with glassy eyes.
“Not going back? Why? What’s happened? You haven’t been expelled?”
“No. But I’m not going back to a place where I have to be ashamed of my father.”
Johnny took hold of his arm.
“Who did you ask if you could come?” he demanded. “What reason did you give? Does your Headmaster know that you came to see your father fight for money?”
“I didn’t ask,” said Bobbie. “I ran away.”
There was a moment’s heavy silence.
“You ran away?” his father said at last. “How? Who paid your fare?”
“I did. You gave me much too much money. You thought I needed far more than I did. I never spent half of it. I saved it up; and it brought me here and paid for my seat.”