“Not exactly. You’d have to think up different ways of punishment to suit the person. You wouldn’t punish each other—you’d punish yourselves. I read all about such a club in a story-book. You try it and see how it works.”
“Let’s,” said Faith; and when Jem was gone they agreed they would. “If things aren’t right we’ve just got to make them right,” said Faith, resolutely.
“We’ve got to be fair and square, as Jem says,” said Jerry. “This is a club to bring ourselves up, seeing there’s nobody else to do it. There’s no use in having many rules. Let’s just have one and any of us that breaks it has got to be punished hard.”
“But how.”
“We’ll think that up as we go along. We’ll hold a session of the club here in the graveyard every night and talk over what we’ve done through the day, and if we think we’ve done anything that isn’t right or that would disgrace dad the one that does it, or is responsible for it, must be punished. That’s the rule. We’ll all decide on the kind of punishment—it must be made to fit the crime, as Mr. Flagg says. And the one that’s, guilty will be bound to carry it out and no shirking. There’s going to be fun in this,” concluded Jerry, with a relish.
“You suggested the soap-bubble party,” said Faith.
“But that was before we’d formed the club,” said Jerry hastily. “Everything starts from to-night.”
“But what if we can’t agree on what’s right, or what the punishment ought to be? S’pose two of us thought of one thing and two another. There ought to be five in a club like this.”
“We can ask Jem Blythe to be umpire. He is the squarest boy in Glen St. Mary. But I guess we can settle our own affairs mostly. We want to keep this as much of a secret as we can. Don’t breathe a word to Mary Vance. She’d want to join and do the bringing up.”
“I think,” said Faith, “that there’s no use in spoiling every day by dragging punishments in. Let’s have a punishment day.”