"I don't know about that; obedience to parents is one of our first duties."
"I know that; and if I had had any sort of fair play, I wouldn't have run away."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Bobby, somewhat surprised, though he had a faint idea of the meaning of the other.
"I will tell you all about it by and by. I give you my word and honor that I will make every thing satisfactory to you."
"But you lied to me on the road this morning."
Tom winced; under ordinary circumstances he would have resented such a remark by "clearing away" for a fight. But he had a purpose to accomplish, and he knew the character of him with whom he had to deal.
"I am sorry I did, now," answered Tom, with every manifestation of penitence for his fault. "I didn't want to lie to you; and it went against my conscience to do so. But I was afraid, if I told you my father refused, up and down, to let me go, that you wouldn't be willing I should come with you."
"I shall not be any more willing now I know all about it," added Bobby, in an uncompromising tone.
"Wait till you have heard my story, and then you won't blame me."
"Of course you can go where you please; it is none of my business; but let me tell you, Tom, in the beginning, that I won't go with a fellow who has run away from his father and mother."