“Yes, papa, I swear, and I p’omise——”
“Do you know what happens to people who break their oaths?”
“Oh, yessir, they burn in hell-fire forever and ever, amen.”
His father paid the boy a noble homage when he made the appeal to his chivalry above his fear:
“Worse than that, it would mean that if you told, your little sister would be shamed before everybody as long as she lived. Everybody would think of her as if she were worse than wicked; nobody would ever marry her. She would be afraid to be seen anywhere. She would cry all the time and never smile.”
“That would be worse’n me burning in hell. Oh, yessir, I won’t tell, sir.”
“This promise won’t wear out in a few days or months, will it? This house will be yours when I am gone. It must never be sold; never be torn down till I am dead and gone. After Immy dies it won’t matter so much. Does your poor little brain understand all this?”
His accurate soul answered: “I don’t understand it, no sir; but you do, and what you want is enough for me. I wish you would trust me.”
“I do. And one last word: don’t tell Immy what I’ve told you. Don’t let her talk about it. And always remember that the least word you let slip might mean that the policemen would come and take me away and hang me before all the people.”
The boy screamed at that and was hardly soothed back to calm.