Father was annoyed.
"You heard Laddie say he'd return immediately if they wouldn't let him in," he said.

"He's a man of his word.

He will either enter or come home at once." It was pitch dark and we had supper before some of them left; they never stayed so late.

After we came from church, father read the chapter and we were ready for bed; still Laddie hadn't come back.

And father liked it! He just plain liked it! He chuckled behind the Advocate until you could see it shake; but mother had very little to say, and her lips closed tight.
At bedtime he said to mother: "Well, they don't seem in a hurry about sending the boy back." "Did you really think he WOULD be sent back ?" asked mother.
"Not ordinarily," said father, "no! If he had no brain, no wit, no culture, on an animal basis, a woman would look twice before she'd send him away; but with such fanatics as Pryors, one can't always tell what will happen." "In a case like this, one can be reasonably certain," said mother.
"You don't know what social position they occupied at home.