“What does all this mean, Harry? You cannot give away what does not belong to you.”
Harry felt that it was time to explain, and he did so. It was necessary to begin with the account of Philip’s treatment of him in the wood.
Mrs. Gilbert was very indignant, and she spoke warmly.
“It was shameful!” she said. “To leave you there alone in the dark wood, tied hand and foot! The boy ought to be served in the same way himself!”
“Wait till I get through my story, mother,” he said, “and perhaps you will find that Philip got into a little trouble of his own.”
So he continued his story, and told, finally, of how he found Philip Ross bound, and trembling for his life, in the cabin of Ralph Temple.
“Served him right,” said Mrs. Gilbert, satisfactorily.
“As things have turned out, I can afford to overlook his past meanness. He has suffered punishment, though not at my hands.”
“If I had known that you were mixed up with burglars, I should have felt very anxious, Harry.”
“I know it, and that is why I didn’t tell you. However, all’s well that ends well. The tin box is found, the robbers are caught, and I have a rich mother.”