“Oh, sir!” was all Will could say.

But the Senator was now beside him, and, taking in the matter at a glance, he exclaimed angrily, “What is this I see? Have you, whom I always considered a moral little boy, have you entrapped my dog! I am amazed! Poor Pet! Poor little dog!”

“I didn’t mean to catch him,” Will pleaded, “and I am very sorry.”

“Well, I shall not blame you,” the Senator said slowly. “Your father ought not to let you set traps so recklessly, and I lay the blame upon him.”

“Don’t blame my father, for it is my own fault,” Will replied, ready, at all times, to defend his father. “I will never do it again, Mr. Murdock; indeed I won’t.”

“Hardly, seeing that the poor beast is dead. But help me to get it out of trap, and I shall take it home and bury it.”

[23]

[23]

Then the two, man and boy, legislator and trapper, fell to work, and soon liberated the dog from his prison.

If the Senator could have known what danger his white and dainty fingers were incurring, that is, how narrowly they escaped being pinched, he would have kept them away from that trap. In fact, considering the state of excitement into which any mishap threw Will, it is strange that they were not cruelly mangled. But they escaped without a scratch.

Mr. Lawrence was deeply grieved when he heard the ignominious fate of the Senator’s dog. Probably he felt that he himself was blamable.

But the affair was soon all but forgotten by Will, because, at his age, such misdemeanors are generally forgotten as soon as the offender repents of them and is pardoned by the sufferers.

This chapter, like all the others, is intended to serve a purpose; yet, lest the reader should fancy that we are writing for the entertainment of juveniles, we shall relate but two more incidents of Will’s childhood.

Chapter II. Will’s Lucky Blunder.

Will’s Lucky Blunder.

Some two years after this incident, when Will’s parents announced one fair morning that he was to accompany them on a trip to the city, many miles distant, far from 

 Prev. P 12/342 next