“Maw said I was to allers do my duty. Oh, I can't tell him a lie!”
“You've got to lie, Ozzie B. They's times when everybody has got to lie. Afterwards when it's all over an' understood they can square it up in other ways. When a man or 'oman is caught and downed it's all over—they can't tell the truth then an' get straight—an' there's no come ag'in! But if they lie an' brazen it out they'll have another chance yet. Then's the time to stop lyin'—after yo' ain't caught.”
“Oh, I can't,” said Ozzie B., trying to pull away. “I must—must go to school.”
“Rats”—shouted Archie B., seizing him with both hands and shaking him savagely—“here I am argu'in' with you about a thing that any fool orter see when I cu'd a bin yonder a huntin' for that squirrel nest I wus tellin' you about. Now what'll happen if you go to school? Ole Triggers'll find out where you've been an' what a-doin'—he'll lick you. Paw'll know all about it when you git home—he'll lick you.”
Ozzie B. only shook his head: “It's my duty—hate to do it, Archie B.—but it's my duty. If the Lord wills me a lickin' for tellin' the truth, I'll, I'll hafter take it—” and he looked very resigned.
“Oh, you're playin' for martyrdom again!”
“There was Casabianca, Archie B.—him that stood on the burnin' deck”—he ventured timidly.
“Tarnashun!” shouted his brother—“an' I hope he is still standin' on a burnin' deck in the other worl'—don't mention that fool to me!—to stay there an' git blowed up after the ship was afire an' his dad didn't sho' up.” He spat on a mark: “Venture pee-wee under the bridge—bam—bam—bam.”
“There was William Tell's son,” ventured his brother again.
“Another gol-darn id'jut, Ozzie B., like his dad that put him up to it. Why, if the ole man had missed, the two would'er gone down in history as the champion ass an' his colt. The risk was too big for the odds. Why, he didn't have one chance in a hundred. Besides, them fellers actin' the fool don't hurt nobody but theyselves. Now you—”