What do you say to that ?" Under almost any other circumstances David would have had a good deal to say about it; but just now he seemed to have lost all interest in his business.

It would have been hard for any boy to wear a merry smile and keep up a light heart after such a scene as David had passed through that morning.

He could not banish it from his memory.
His father was hiding in the woods, because he was afraid to show his face among his neighbors again; he was a receiver of stolen property and his brother Dan was a thief, and the remembrance of these facts was enough to depress the most buoyant spirits.

David wanted to do something to bring his father and brother to their senses, and induce them to become decent, respected members of the community, but he did not know how to set about it, and there was no one of whom he could ask advice.

He never talked to his mother about the family difficulties now.