"But Poodles confesses that I was not to blame."
"No matter."
"I cannot do it, uncle."
"The master must make you do it," added my uncle, with a sneer.
"He attempted to do so. He began to flog me, and I knocked him down," I replied, quietly, but sullenly.
My uncle sprang to his feet, and stared at me with an intensity which would have made me quail if I had been guilty.
"You struck him!" exclaimed he, trembling with emotion.
"When he attempted a second time to flog me, I hit him on the head with a heavy ruler, and he fell insensible upon the floor."
My stern guardian rushed furiously across the room, foaming with passion.
"You villain!" gasped he, pausing before me. "You struck the master?"