It was the first lie I had ever told, and my terror and shame were such
that the recollection has been a kind of good angel to me ever since.
The master said a few solemn words, the justice of which my poor little
heart could not deny, although he had exposed me to a cruel ordeal; and
then, with an air like that of a Lord Chief Justice putting on the black
cap to sentence a murderer to death, he concluded: "Joe, you must be
severely punished. Go to Mrs. Gray, and tell her that you are to go to
the Preay Chamber."
There was a silent shudder of sympathy among the boys as I departed; and
finding Mrs. Gray, I told her, with sobs of terror, my doom. The good
woman listened kindly; and then, with the tenderness of a mother, she
pointed out to me the meanness of the theft and of the falsehood, and we
both sat and cried together. Then she said, "Joe, I am sure that you see
that you have done wrong, and that you are very sorry, and don't mean to
do so any more."