"The Cottons are all right," retorted Davy. "And they have far better times than we have. They do just as they please and say just what they like before everybody. _I_"m going to do that, too, after this."
"There are lots of things you wouldn"t dare say before everybody,"
averred Dora.
"No, there isn"t."
"There is, too. Would you," demanded Dora gravely, "would you say "tomcat" before the minister?"
This was a staggerer. Davy was not prepared for such a concrete example of the freedom of speech. But one did not have to be consistent with Dora.
"Of course not," he admitted sulkily.
""Tomcat" isn"t a holy word. I wouldn"t mention such an animal before a minister at all."
"But if you had to?" persisted Dora.
"I"d call it a Thomas p.u.s.s.y," said Davy.
"_I_ think "gentleman cat" would be more polite," reflected Dora.
"YOU thinking!" retorted Davy with withering scorn.
Davy was not feeling comfortable, though he would have died before he admitted it to Dora. Now that the exhilaration of truant delights had died away, his conscience was beginning to give him salutary twinges.
After all, perhaps it would have been better to have gone to Sunday School and church. Mrs. Lynde might be bossy; but there was always a box of cookies in her kitchen cupboard and she was not stingy. At this inconvenient moment Davy remembered that when he had torn his new school pants the week before, Mrs. Lynde had mended them beautifully and never said a word to Marilla about them.
But Davy"s cup of iniquity was not yet full. He was to discover that one sin demands another to cover it. They had dinner with Mrs. Lynde that day, and the first thing she asked Davy was,
"Were all your cla.s.s in Sunday School today?"
"Yes"m," said Davy with a gulp. "All were there--"cept one."
"Did you say your Golden Text and catechism?"
"Yes"m."
"Did you put your collection in?"
"Yes"m."
"Was Mrs. Malcolm MacPherson in church?"
"I don"t know." This, at least, was the truth, thought wretched Davy.
"Was the Ladies" Aid announced for next week?"
"Yes"m"--quakingly.
"Was prayer-meeting?"
"I--I don"t know."
"YOU should know. You should listen more attentively to the announcements. What was Mr. Harvey"s text?"
Davy took a frantic gulp of water and swallowed it and the last protest of conscience together. He glibly recited an old Golden Text learned several weeks ago. Fortunately Mrs. Lynde now stopped questioning him; but Davy did not enjoy his dinner.
He could only eat one helping of pudding.
"What"s the matter with you?" demanded justly astonished Mrs. Lynde.
"Are you sick?"
"No," muttered Davy.
"You look pale. You"d better keep out of the sun this afternoon,"
admonished Mrs. Lynde.
"Do you know how many lies you told Mrs. Lynde?" asked Dora reproachfully, as soon as they were alone after dinner.
Davy, goaded to desperation, turned fiercely.
"I don"t know and I don"t care," he said. "You just shut up, Dora Keith."
Then poor Davy betook himself to a secluded retreat behind the woodpile to think over the way of transgressors.
Green Gables was wrapped in darkness and silence when Anne reached home.
She lost no time going to bed, for she was very tired and sleepy. There had been several Avonlea jollifications the preceding week, involving rather late hours. Anne"s head was hardly on her pillow before she was half asleep; but just then her door was softly opened and a pleading voice said, "Anne."
Anne sat up drowsily.
"Davy, is that you? What is the matter?"
A white-clad figure flung itself across the floor and on to the bed.
"Anne," sobbed Davy, getting his arms about her neck. "I"m awful glad you"re home. I couldn"t go to sleep till I"d told somebody."
"Told somebody what?"
"How mis"rubul I am."
"Why are you miserable, dear?"
""Cause I was so bad today, Anne. Oh, I was awful bad--badder"n I"ve ever been yet."
"What did you do?"
"Oh, I"m afraid to tell you. You"ll never like me again, Anne. I couldn"t say my prayers tonight. I couldn"t tell G.o.d what I"d done. I was "shamed to have Him know."
"But He knew anyway, Davy."
"That"s what Dora said. But I thought p"raps He mightn"t have noticed just at the time. Anyway, I"d rather tell you first."