He said, “I’m glad to hear you say that, Roy.”
“Mr. Ellsworth knows we wouldn’t,” I said. “Fellows that have good names don’t need to worry,” I told him. “They’re safe. It’s only in crazy stories that scouts get suspected of committing crimes and things. We should worry. It’s the people that haven’t got good names that have to look out. Suppose I told you a lie once, then you’d think I was telling you one now, and that wouldn’t be fair.”
He said, “It would be natural, Roy.”
I said, “Well, if a fellow doesn’t tell lies, then people have got a right to believe him, haven’t they? Like Mr. Ellsworth does. If you say I have to tell what we were doing in the garage, then I have to tell. Gee, I admit that. But I’ve got a reason not to tell and you’ll know tomorrow. Chief O’Day isn’t as smart as he thinks he is, I know that much.”
For about a minute my father didn’t say anything and I could hear the big clock ticking. I could hear the crickets outside, too, so that’s a sign school would be closing soon. No wonder everybody likes crickets.
Then my father said, “Roy, I want you to know I trust you.” He said, “I waited here for you to tell you that.” Then he said how I never told him a lie and how that was like putting money in the bank, kind of. Because now I could draw on that. He said now he had to believe me and believe everything was all right, just because I had a right to be trusted. And he said when I asked for him to let me keep still about it, he had to say yes because my credit was good. He said he had to trust me and believe me now. He said even if he wanted to know why we were in Slausen’s, still he’d have to do the way I wanted, and let me keep still, because I had kind of like a lot of honor saved up. When he talked like that it made me feel awful sorry for Charlie Slausen. But anyway, one thing, my father wouldn’t think a fellow ought to get in trouble for something he didn’t do, even if that fellow wasn’t much good. He’s fair and square, my father is.
He said, “I’m going to leave everything to you, Roy, because we’ve always been on the square with each other.” That’s just what he said. Then he said, “Only I want you to remember that you must tell the full truth to Judge Van Wort.” He said, “You will be under oath. You must tell all you know. To try to protect the guilty is a crime. You know that, don’t you?”
Gee whiz, I wondered how much he knew about Charlie Slausen. Everybody in town seemed to have it in for him.
Then my father said, “You and Westy will clear yourselves, of course. I’m not worrying about that. But I want you to stand up bravely and tell everything you know. I don’t want you to be nervous. I’ll be there. I couldn’t go to the city till this thing is settled.”
“It’ll be settled all right,” I told him.