"Unless what?"
"If Ben will say that he is sorry that he struck me, I will say the same to him."
"Ben will do nothing of the kind," said Mrs. Oakley, promptly. "I should be ashamed of him if he did."
"Catch me apologizing to such a whipper-snapper as you!" muttered Ben.
"Then I have no more to say," said John.
"But I have," said Mrs. Oakley, angrily. "You have chosen to defy me to my face, but you will bitterly repent of it. I'll break your proud spirit for you!"
John certainly did not feel very comfortable as he left the room. He was not afraid of what his stepmother could do, although he knew she could annoy him in many ways, but it was disagreeable to him to feel at variance with any one.
"If my poor father had only lived," he thought, "how different all would have been!"
But it was useless to wish for this. His father was no longer on earth to protect and shield him from the malice of Ben and his mother. Trials awaited him, but he determined to be true to himself, and to the good principles which he had been taught.