"Why—I—I"—replied Felix, looking very much confused, and very much ashamed, and very sorry—"I knew about her being shut up, and I meant to—to have let her out that very night; but every thing happened about then, and—and we've been to the Harbor every day, and I haven't come across Jack since, and so I—I forgot all about it. I'm awful sorry, uncle Frank: I never once thought of having her stay there; I got sort of put out with Julia, and I thought I'd like to tease her a little; and so, when Jack spoke of doing something with the kitten, I just helped him for fun, and I proposed shutting her up, instead of drowning her, as he wanted to."
"We shall have to hold another court, to-day, Felix," said Mr. Le Bras gravely: "didn't you say you knew nothing of what had become of the kitten?—Johnny, run to the house at once, and get a saucer of milk."
"I said," replied Felix, looking still more ashamed, "that I knew nothing about Julia's kitten; and when she asked me if I knew where her kitten was, I said 'No;' because this was not her kitten at all, but Jack's."
"This is very much like the other case, in some aspects," replied Mr. Le Bras gravely,—"another plain instance of prevarication. I had hoped, Felix, that after our previous talk in regard to the real nature of truth and falsehood, you would avoid prevarication as much as you would avoid a direct falsehood."
Felix hung his head, and made no reply.
Sue, who had remained picking berries, on seeing Johnny come out of the house with a saucer of milk in his hand, called out, "Have you found a cat, Johnny?"
"Yes," called back Johnny: "we've found Julia's kitten!"
Sue at once put down her pail, and, without coming to the barn first, ran directly across the pathway through the strip of woods, to the back part of the next cottage, and rushed into the first door she came to, calling out, "Where's Julia? They've found her kitten!"
So, while Sue waited at the door, the girl went to tell Julia the good news; and a moment afterwards, Julia appeared, in a high state of excitement, exclaiming, "Where is it?"
"In the barn, I guess," said Sue: "that's where Johnny was carrying the milk."