her developments.

"Young man," said the squire, sternly, and in tones that were intended to
make a deep impression upon the mind of the young man, "your time has
come."

The squire paused, and looked at the culprit to ascertain the effect of
the startling announcement; but Tom seemed to be perfectly cool, and was
not annihilated by the suggestive remark of the great man of Pinchbrook.

"You have become a midnight marauder," added the squire, poetically.

"It isn't seven o'clock yet," said Tom pointing to the great wooden clock
in the corner of the room.

"You joined a mob to pillage and destroy the property of a peaceable
citizen. You broke in--"

"No, sir; the cellar door broke in," interposed the culprit.

"You broke into my house to set it afire!" continued the squire, in a
rage.

"No, sir, I did not. I only went round there to see the fun," replied Tom,
pointing to the rear of the house; "and the cellar door broke down and let
me in. I did not mean to do you or your house any harm; and I didn't do
any, except breaking the cellar door, and I will have that mended."

"Don't tell me, you young villain! You meant to burn my house."

"No, I didn't mean any thing of the kind," replied Tom, stoutly. "I was
going off when the door broke down. The boards were rotten, and I should
think a man like you ought to have better cellar doors than those are."

The squire didn't relish this criticism, especially from the source whence
it came. There was a want of humility on the part of the culprit which the
magnate of Pinchbrook thought would be exceedingly becoming in a young man
in his situation. The absence of it made him more angry than before. He
stormed and hurled denunciations at the offender; he rehearsed the
mischief he had done during the day, and alluded in strong terms to that
which he intended to perpetrate in the "dead watches of the night"--which
was the poetical rendering of half-past six in the evening; for the squire
was fond of effective phrases.

Tom ventured to hint that a man who would not stand by his country when
her flag was insulted and "trailed in the dust"--Tom had read the daily
papers--ought to be brought to his senses by such expedients as his
fellow-citizens might suggest. Of course this remark only increased the
squire's wrath, and he proceeded to pronounce sentence upon the unlucky
youth, which was that he should be taken to the finished room in the
attic, and confined there under bolts