“Ye—no,” stammered Mike.
Uncle John looked up sharply. Mike was crimson.
“What’s the game?” inquired Uncle John.
Mike said nothing.
There was a twinkle in his uncle’s eyes.
“May as well tell me. I won’t give you away. Why this wounded warrior business when you’ve no more the matter with you than I have?”
Mike hesitated.
“I only wanted to get out of having to write this morning. There was an exam on.”
The idea had occurred to him just before he spoke. It had struck him as neat and plausible.
To Uncle John it did not appear in the same light.