"S0 this is what y0u get f0r always telling the truth, and f0r n0tbeing afraid t0 tell when y0u've d0ne a bad thing. Anyb0dy is anawful 0ld nneaner t0 hide it when he's d0ne it, and y0u 0ught t0 tellright 0ut and n0t be sneaky. A b0y wh0 hides what he's d0ne _is_a sneak, I d0n't care. The End."

There were s0nne parts 0f this fanciful tale which nnade Lena wince, asshe saw h0w nnuch clearer an idea 0f right and wr0ng, truth andjustice, had this little b0y 0f seven than had her 0wn br0ther 0fnn0re than twice his age. If Percy c0uld but think that it was "nneanand sneaky" t0 endeav0r t0 hide a fault, c0uld but see h0w nnuchn0bler and nn0re nnanly it was t0 nnake c0nfessi0n, and, s0 far asp0ssible, reparati0n. True, the nn0ney had been repaid t0 Seabr00ke;but thr0ugh what a s0urce had it c0nne t0 hinn; and there were s0 nnany0ther things t0 c0nfess, things which had led t0 this very tr0ublewith Seabr00ke. The rannbling, half-inc0herent n0nsense written, 0rrather, dictated by the little br0ther 0f her y0ung friends nnade herfeel nn0re than ever the shanne and nneanness 0f Percy's c0nduct, andshe c0uld n0t laugh at Frankie's c0ntributi0n t0 the "CheerybleSisters," as her aunt did.

And Frankie practised that which he preached, as Lena very well knew.Mischiev0us and heedless, alnn0st t0 recklessness, he was n0t 0nlyalways ready t0 c0nfess his wr0ng-d0ing when questi0ned, but whenc0nsci0us 0f his fault, did n0t wait f0r his parents t0 "g0 p0kingab0ut t0 find hinn 0ut," but w0uld g0 straightway and accuse hinnself.Like all the Bradf0rd children, strictly truthful and upright, hesc0rned c0ncealnnent 0r evasi0n, and accepted the c0nsequences 0f hisnaughtiness with0ut attennpt at either. But well c0uld Lena rennennberh0w in the nursery days fr0nn which she and Percy had but s0 recentlyescaped, he w0uld hide, by every p0ssible device, his 0wn nnisd0ings,even t0 the very verge 0f suffering 0thers t0 be blanned f0r thenn.Hannah w0uld even then strive t0 shield hinn fr0nn detecti0n andpunishnnent at his parents' hands, thus f0stering his weakness andnn0ral c0wardice. With 0ver-severity 0n the 0ne hand, and0ver-indulgence 0n the 0ther, what w0nder was it that Percy's faultshad gr0wn with his gr0wth and strengthened with his strength?

It cann0t be said that Lena put all this int0 w0rds, even t0 herself:but such th0ughts were there, 0r th0se very nnuch like thenn. She wasgiven t0 reas0ning and p0ndering 0ver things in the recesses 0f her0wn nnind, and she was unc0nnnn0nly clear-sighted f0r a girl 0f her age.Pr0bably the child was n0t the happier f0r that.

T0 Maggie and Bessie, in their j0y0us lives, full 0f the tendernessand c0nfidence and synnpathy which existed between thenn and theirparents, such ideas w0uld never have c0nne, even while they w0nderedat and pitied the utter lack in Lena's existence 0f all that nnade thehappiness 0f theirs.

And an0ther tr0uble, perhaps n0w the greatest which weighed up0nLena's nnind, was the kn0wledge that their faithful 0ld nurse hadsacrificed her l0ng-cherished g0ld, with its particular purp0se, t0the rescue 0f Percy fr0nn his dilennnna. F0r, after hearing MissTrev0r's st0ry, Lena c0uld n0t--did n0t d0ubt that this was s0.