Dinner was over and the mother was looking out towards the road in
greater anxiety, but Bruno had not come.

"Now he comes with a big whip," Kurt shouted suddenly. "Something must
have happened, for one does not usually need a whip in school."

The younger boy opened the door, full of expectation. Bruno could not
help noticing his mother's frightened expression, despite the rage he was
in, which plainly showed in his face.

He exclaimed, as he entered, "I'll tell you right away what happened,
mother, so that you won't think it was still worse. I have only whipped
them both as they deserved, that is all."

"But, Bruno, that is bad enough. You seem to get more savage all the
time," the mother lamented. "How could you do such a thing?"

"I'll explain it right away and then you will have to admit that it was
the only thing to do," Bruno assured her. "The two told me last Saturday
that they had a scheme for to-day in which I was to join. They had
discovered that the lovely plums in the Rector's garden were ripe and
they meant to steal them. When the Rector is through with his lessons at
twelve o'clock he always goes to the front room and then nobody knew what
is going on in the garden. Their plan was to use this time to-day in
order to shake the tree and fill their pockets full of plums. I was to
help them. I told them what a disgrace it was for them to ask me and I
said that I would find means to prevent it. So they noisily called me a
traitor and told me that accusing them was worse than stealing plums. I
said that it wasn't my intention to tell on them, but I would come and