"Was that the broken china you found in the currant-bushes?" exclaimed Raymond. "How on earth did it get there?"
"Oh, I say!" cried Clement, in the same breath. "Teddy, what were you and Arthur doing by the currant-bushes before the kitten's funeral? Don't you remember, Ray?" And then he stopped abruptly. He did not want to "give them away," he said to himself.
"And what do you know about it, Arthur?" asked his mother.
Arthur said nothing.
"Did you go into Miss Middleton's parlor this morning?"
Still there was no answer.
"Arthur, come here to me. Now tell me, darling, did you go into Miss Middleton's parlor this morning?"
"Yes, mother," he said, in a very low voice.
"Did you break the bowl?"
The silk gowns of the three visitors rustled audibly as they leaned forward to listen. Teddy drew a step nearer and waited eagerly for his reply, and the other boys gathered about their mother and brother, as though to sustain the family honor through this terrible emergency. But Arthur remained silent.