“Hullo, Otis,” he said, “why didn’t you come to school, this morning?”
Otis took no notice of the question, except to turn away from his persecutor.
“Sun didn’t rise as early as common, did it?” continued Ronald, laughing.
Otis made no reply.
“Come, now,” added Ronald, laying his arm over the shoulder of Otis, “don’t get mad with a fellow for a joke—it was all in fun, you know.”
“It was fun to you, but it wasn’t to me,” replied Otis, slipping away from under Ronald’s arm, and leaving him alone.
Ronald felt rather sober after this decided rebuff. He began to realize that a joke carried too far, is no joke at all; the difficulty with which he moved about on his pitchy seat, helping him materially to this conclusion. After school, he walked home alone, in advance of the others, who, by the way, were discussing his conduct with much interest. Kate and Otis told how they had been served, and several other jokes of Ronald were related. All concurred in the opinion that the custom of “making fools” of each other on the first of April, was a senseless one, and very liable to abuses. Still, Marcus said it was not worth while to get angry about such things, and he tried to make Otis forget the resentment which it was evident he felt towards Ronald.
On reaching his home, Marcus learned from his mother some facts in regard to Ronald’s trick upon Otis, which made it even more serious than it at first appeared. In carrying it out, it appeared he had really been guilty of something that looked very much like disobedience and falsehood, and had fooled several others besides Otis. When spoken to, however, Ronald seemed unwilling to admit that he had done anything blameworthy, and was especially astonished when he was charged with doing violence to the truth. He defended himself against this latter charge with considerable ingenuity, contending that if any falsehood was told, Jessie was the guilty one.
“I think,” said Marcus, after talking with him awhile, “we had better have a court to try this case, as it involves some important principles.”
“Well, I’ll agree to that,” replied Ronald. “Give me a fair trial, and if I’m beat, I won’t say a word.”