“He said he was sorry, and I told him to get down on his knees and beg my pardon,” replied Waddie.
“And he would not do it?” asked the indignant father, evidently regarding it as exceedingly unreasonable in me to refuse to undergo this trifling humiliation.
“No, he wouldn’t.”
“Very well,” replied the great man. “We shall see whether he will or not.”
I was willing to see.
“Wolf Penniman, you are a bad boy!” exclaimed the colonel with emphasis.
I did not dispute him.
“You have insulted me and my son.”
“I am willing to be forgiven, sir,” I answered, after a vain effort to keep down the spirit which was rising in me. “I have apologized for being saucy; what more can I do?”
“You must do what my son told you to do, and then confess that you helped blow up the canal boat,” replied he, more calmly than he had yet spoken.