"Yes, sir; but he told me you had consented that he should go with
me," replied Bobby, a little disturbed by the angry glance of Mr.
Spicer's fiery eyes.

"He lied! the young villain! He will catch it for this."

"I would not have let him come with me only for that. I asked him
twice over if you were willing, and he said you were."

"You ought to have known better than to believe him," interposed the
man who was with Mr. Spicer.

Bobby had some reason for believing him. The fact that Tom had
reformed ought to have entitled him to some consideration, and our
hero gave him the full benefit of the declaration. To have explained
this would have taken more time than he could spare; besides, it was
"a great moral question," whose importance Mr. Spicer and his
companion would not be likely to apprehend; so he made a short story
of it, and resumed his walk, thankful that he had got rid of Tom.

Mr. Spicer and his friend, after fastening the horse to the fence,
went to the woods in search of Tom.

Bobby reached the station just in time to take the cars, and in a
moment was on his way to the city.

CHAPTER XV

IN WHICH BOBBY GETS INTO A SCRAPE, AND TOM SPICER TURNS UP AGAIN

Bobby had a poorer opinion of human nature than ever before. It seemed
almost incredible to him that words so fairly spoken as those of Tom
Spicer could be false. He had just risen from a sick bed, where he had
had an opportunity for long and serious reflection. Tom had promised
fairly, and Bobby had every reason to suppose he intended to be a good
boy. But his promises had been lies. He had never intended to reform,
at least not since he had got off his bed of pain. He was mortified
and disheartened at the failure of this attempt to restore him to
himself.

Like a great many older and wiser persons than himself, he was prone
to judge the whole human family by a single individual. He did not
come to believe that every man was a rascal, but, in more general
terms, that there is a great deal more rascality in this world than
one would be willing to believe.

With this sage reflection, he dismissed Tom from his mind, which very
naturally turned again to the air castle which had been so ruthlessly
upset. Then his opinion of "the rest of mankind" was reversed; and he
reflected that if the world were only peopled by angels like Annie
Lee, what a pleasant place it would be to live in. She could not tell
a lie, she could not use bad language