"No, we didn't. We talked about it, but Christopher was afraid, and wouldn't go."
"But where were you all the time, Osric?" asked his father. "You must have been gone from the school-house almost two hours, according to Elsie's account."
"I wasn't gone near so long," said Osric, reckless of consequences, and with a burning desire to be revenged on Elsie. "I got back just after school was out. I walked a little way with Christy, and then came right back to the school-house. Elsie was playing with some girls on the meeting-house steps, and she would not come for ever so long."
"Why, Ozzy!" exclaimed Elsie, perfectly aghast at this new falsehood.
"Well, you were, and you know it! Everybody thinks you are so good, and you tell more lies than any girl I know. You made me wait ever so long, and you wouldn't come at all till I said I'd tell mother."
"That does not agree very well with the story you told me when you first came home—that Miss Hilliard had kept you after school, and that Elsie waited for you," said his mother. "Which are we to believe?"
Osric was silent. He had forgotten that story. It is inconvenient for liars to have short memories.
"You may ask any of the girls about it, mother," said Elsie.
"Now, Osric, tell us the exact truth, for it is very important that we should know," said Mr. Parsons. "Where did you part from Christopher?"
"In the woods," replied Osric.