"
"But your father----"
"He could go fishing just as he always does!" exclaimed Theo
promptly. "You surely don't suppose I'd be so selfish as to make him
stay in the house just because I had to, do you? You see"--Theo
colored and then went on bravely--"this accident was my own
fault. Father told me the other day to let that ladder alone--and I
didn't. It serves me right to break my leg. If I had been in Dad's
place I'd have said: _I told you so_. But he didn't even whisper
it. He was just patient and kind as he always is. Can't you understand
now, Mr. Croyden, that I am the one to be punished--not Dad? If we go
back home it will be punishing him too, and that wouldn't be fair,
would it?"
"No, not fair at all," admitted Mr. Croyden slowly.
"That is what I think," nodded Theo. "You see, I am the one to
suffer."
"If you disobeyed, I guess you are."
"I did disobey."
"Humph! It was a pity."
"I'm sorry; but it is done now," said Theo soberly. "You know how you
feel when you've done wrong. It's bad enough anyhow; and it makes you
feel a hundred times worse if somebody else gets the blame for what
you've done--somebody who doesn't deserve it.
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