Just then the door opened, and in walked Daly. For a few seconds no one said a word. They just looked at him in astonishment.
Daly's walk to the Club had been hard going. The nearer he got to it, the more he hesitated. What would Father Boone say? Facing the boys was one thing—he could fight down his mean deed, but how about Father Boone and his interest in his father—and the job he was going to get him? Would this revelation knock that all to pieces? How could Father Boone trust a man whose boy broke into a house and smashed things up?
All this stood out boldly before Bill. So did the Eye of God. "He sees, and I'll go ahead and trust in Him," he concluded. And so he went up the steps leading to the Club door, passed timidly along the hallway and opened the door, where the boys were discussing the committee affair. As he stood in the doorway, silence held the crowd. After a moment, indignation broke loose. It showed itself first in looks of contempt, then in moving away from him.
"That's all right fellows, I'm the goat, and I deserve to be."
They thought he was sarcastic. But the words came from his very soul.
Mistaking him, they flung back cutting remarks: "You're a Billy Goat, all right," came from one quarter.
"So you've changed from a Bull to a Goat" greeted him from another side.
For a few seconds Bill felt like rushing in and striking right and left. But he checked himself. It was a violent effort and showed on his countenance.
"It's a nice fix you've got us in," shouted Tommy Hefnan.
Of course that meant to Bill that they knew the whole story of the damaged room. "Fellows," he exclaimed, "I did a mean trick and I'm willing to take my medicine." The boys saw in this only a reference to the fight.