“Oh! that was the way, was it?” said his father. “Indeed!”
Here there was a short pause. William waited to hear what his father would say next.
“Well, William,” said his father, at length, “you are a very good boy to come and tell me. Now go back to your bed, and go to sleep. We will see all about it in the morning.”
So William went out; but, just as he was shutting the door, his father called to him again.
“William!” said he.
“What, sir?” said William.
“Get up as early as you can to-morrow morning, and go to Thomas’s, and tell him how it was. He thinks that he must have set the tool-house on fire, and he is quite troubled about it.”
“Yes, sir, I will,” said William.
Then he went back to his room, and reported to John what he had done, and what his father had said. The boys were both very much relieved in mind from having made their confession.
“I am very glad I told him,” said William; “and now I only wish I could tell Thomas about it without waiting till morning.”