"We can lick Philip at any rate!" said Oscar, with a furious look at poor Phil. "He brought it on us."
But Nahum Sprague was more prudent. He had heard the threat of Bill and Joe to repeat the punishment if Philip were attacked, and he thought it best to wait.
"Leave it to me," he said. "I'll flog him in due time."
"Ain't you going to do anything to him, dad?" asked Oscar in disappointment.
"Yes. Come here, you, sir!"
Phil approached his stern guardian with an uncomfortable sense of something unpleasant awaiting him.
Nahum Sprague seized him by the collar and said, "Follow me."
He pushed the boy before him and walked him into the house, then up the stairs into an attic room, where he locked him in. Just then the bell rang for dinner.
Poor Phil was hungry, but nothing was said about dinner for him. A dread suspicion came to him that he was to be starved. But half an hour later the door opened, and Oscar appeared with two thin slices of bread without butter.
"Here's your dinner," he said.