As they were going along Fred said to John, “This is the very line I carried the day I played truant, and stuck the hook in me. How much better I feel now than I did then. In those days I used to come sneaking home at night with a guilty conscience, and the fear of being found out spoilt all the comfort; but I tell you I felt about right to-day, and couldn’t help thinking of it when father praised me up so much before you, and was so willing to spare me, though he will have to work very hard while I’m gone.”