"Is that the actual truth of the matter?" asked the elder, anxiously.

"You don't think I'd lie about a thing like that, do you?" said "Dodd."
"You can see where he hit me," he proceeded, himself revealing the welt
on his forehead.

This mark was too much for the good parson. He might have doubted
"Dodd's" word, but there was no disputing the mark.

Now a welt raised by a teacher on the body of a child will drive that
child's parents to madness quicker than anything that I know of. The
elder grew very angry, and resolved to see the end of this as soon as
possible. Calling a younger member of the household to him he
whispered in his ear:

"Run up to Prof. Bright's as fast as you can, and tell him to come down
here as quick as possible." He would bring "Dodd" and his teacher face
to face, and then see.

It was this messenger that had brought the teacher to the parsonage on
the double-quick.

"Dodd" saw his little brother shoot out of the door, and he was in a
worse dilemma than ever. Whether to run, or to stay and face it out;
to lie some more, or to confess the lie he had already told; these were
the things he grew more and more anxious about every minute. But
presently he caught sight of his teacher hurrying down the street, and
almost before he knew it he said: