"No: papa can tell you, since he couldn't let me do it my own self."
"I don't see what bad news could possibly come to me in a letter."
"But there has, and that's all I'm going to say about it: papa can tell you," replied Sue resolutely.
"Don't tease Sue to tell you," said his mother. "If it were good news, you would naturally be anxious to hear it; but since Sue assures you that it is bad news, the longer you are ignorant of it the better."
"Only it rather keeps me in suspense," said Johnny, smiling.—"Come, Sue, tell me, please."
"No, I sha'n't," said Sue, shaking her head resolutely.
Mr. Le Bras gave Johnny a look which meant, "Don't ask her to tell;" and nothing more was said about the bad news that noon. Johnny went off to school in quite good spirits: and when he got home, and found Alec there, and his sister Belle with him, he was wholly forgetful of the calamitous news in store for him; so that he had quite a little respite between the first hint of the coming misfortune and the bitter realization of it which arrived shortly afterwards.
After talking upon ordinary topics with his visitors for a little while, Johnny said, "Since you wanted to see some little experiments, if you will go up in my laboratory I will perform a few. As I haven't any but the very simplest apparatus, and besides don't know much about chemistry and philosophy, I can't show you much; but I'll do the best I can."
"You know a good deal more than I do," replied Alec. "I expect to study chemistry and philosophy at the high school next year; but I don't know any thing about them now, and, of course, Belle don't; she just came over with me out of curiosity, when I told her you had promised to show me how to do a few experiments if I would come over to-day."
"Is there any particular subject you would like to have illustrated?" asked Johnny politely.