"No, I am not hard; but I see his faults, and I want him to correct them. It is you who have been too indulgent."
"If I have been, it is because you and your father have been too much the other way."
There was a brief pause, then Mrs. Brandon said, "Can you think of any place, Mary, where Ben would be likely to go?"
"Yes, I suppose he went to Philadelphia. When a boy runs away from home, he naturally goes to the nearest city."
"I have a great mind to go up to-morrow."
"What good would it do, mother?"
"I might meet him in the street."
"There is not much chance of that. I shouldn't wonder if by this time he had gone to sea."
"Gone to sea!" repeated Mrs. Brandon, turning pale. "What makes you think so? Did he ever speak of such a thing to you?"
"Yes, he once threatened to run away to sea, when I did something that did not suit him."