"Did you have a pleasant evening, Fred?" asked Mrs. Fenton. "Are you not home earlier than you expected?"
"Yes, mother. There was as an accident that broke up the party."
He described the affair, but said nothing of his own part in it.
The next morning, after Fred had taken breakfast and gone to business, a neighbor came in.
"I congratulate you, Mrs. Fenton," she said. "You have a right to be proud of Fred."
"Thank you," said the widow, puzzled. "I'm glad you think well of him."
"There's few boys that would have done what he did."
"What has he done?" asked Mrs. Fenton, stopping short on her way to the pantry.
"You don't mean to say you don't know? Why, it's in all the papers."
"I am sure I don't know what you are talking about."