there.
“Well, it seems rather like a tempest in a teapot, now it is all over,
but I do admire your pluck, little boy, in holding out so well when
everyone was scolding at you, and you in the right all the time,”
said Frank, glad to praise, now that he honestly could, after his
wholesale condemnation.
“That is what pulled me through, I suppose. I used to think if I had
done anything wrong, that I couldn’t stand the snubbing a day. I
should have told right off, and had it over. Now, I guess I’ll have a
good report if you do tell Mr. Acton,” said Jack, looking at his
mother so wistfully, that she resolved to slip away that very
evening, and make sure that the thing was done.
“That will make you happier than anything else, won’t it?” asked
Jill, eager to have him rewarded after his trials.
“There’s one thing I like better, though I’d be very sorry to lose my
report. It’s the fun of telling Ed I tried to do as he wanted us to, and
seeing how pleased he’ll be,” added Jack, rather bashfully, for the
boys laughed at him sometimes for his love of this friend.
“I know he won’t be any happier about it than someone else, who
stood by you all through, and set her bright wits to work till the
trouble was all cleared away,” said Mrs. Minot, looking at Jill’s
contented face, as she lay smiling on them all.
Jack understood, and, hopping across the room, gave both the thin
hands a hearty shake; then, not finding any words quite cordial
enough in which to thank this faithful little sister, he stooped down
and kissed her gratefully.
Chapter 15 Saint Lucy
Saturday was a busy and a happy time to Jack, for in the morning
Mr. Acton came to see him, having heard the story overnight, and
promised to keep Bob’s secret while giving Jack an acquittal as
public as the reprimand had been. Then he asked for the report
which Jack had bravely received the day before and put away
without showing to anybody.
“There is one mistake here which we must rectify,” said Mr.
Acton, as he crossed out the low figures under the word
“Behavior,” and put the much-desired 100 there.
“But I did break the rule, sir,” said Jack, though his face glowed
with pleasure, for Mamma was looking on.
“I overlook that as I should your breaking into my house if you saw
it was on fire. You ran to save a friend, and I wish I could tell
those fellows why you were there. It would do them good. I am not
going to praise you, John, but I did believe you in spite of
appearances, and I am glad to have for a pupil a boy who loves his
neighbor better than himself.”
Then, having shaken hands heartily, Mr. Acton went away, and
Jack flew off to have rejoicings with Jill, who sat up on her sofa,
without knowing it, so eager was she to hear all about the call.
In the afternoon Jack drove his mother to the Captain’s, confiding
to her on the way what a hard time he had when he went before,
and how nothing but the thought of cheering Bob kept him up
when he slipped and hurt his knee, and his boot sprung a leak, and
the wind came up very cold, and the hill seemed an endless
mountain of mud and snow.
Mrs. Minot had such a gentle way of putting things that she would
have won over a much harder man than the strict old Captain, who
heard the story with interest, and was much pleased with the boys’
efforts to keep Bob straight. That young person dodged away into
the barn with Jack, and only appeared at the last minute to shove a
bag of chestnuts into the chaise. But he got a few kind words that
did him good, from Mrs. Minot and the Captain, and from that day
felt himself under bonds to behave well if he would keep their
confidence.
“I shall give Jill the nuts; and I wish I had something she wanted