“Cad!” exclaimed Tom, between his teeth. “He ought to have been expelled for that. And then Joe shinned up the conductor—and you know the rest.”
Mother Fisher shivered, and leaned over involuntarily toward her boy.
“Mamsie,” exclaimed Joel, “you don't know what Tom is to me, in that school. He's just royal—that's what he is!” with a resounding slap on his back.
“And I say so too,” declared Mother Fisher, with shining eyes.
“What?” roared Tom, whirling around so suddenly that Van this time got out of the way only by rolling entirely off from the rug. “Mrs. Fisher—you can't, after I've told you this, although I'm no-end sorry about the racket. I didn't want to tell,—fought against it, but I had to.”
“I stand by what I've said, Tom,” said Mrs. Fisher, putting out her hand, when Tom immediately laid his big brown one within it. At this, Joel howled with delight, which he was unable to express enough to meet his wishes; so he plunged off to the middle of the library floor, and turned a brace of somersaults, coming up red and shining.
“I feel better now,” he said; “that's the way I used to do in the little brown house when I liked things.”