And, when both boys had answered him in the affirmative, he said:
“Very well! Ben, you may return to your desk. McCormack, you may be excused.”
Young Barriscale resumed his former position at the far side of the room, the great ironmaster plunged again into the mass of papers on his table, and Hal, after a moment of hesitation, bowed and turned away. He left the building, crossed the plaza, and turned up the side street toward the city’s main thoroughfare. The ordeal had been passed, the punishment had been defined, but he did not quite know whether to congratulate himself on the lightness of his sentence or to rebel at the humiliation it might impose on him. One thing in connection with the incident was pleasant to think of, and that was young Ben’s frank admission of his participation in the offense, and his willingness to share the punishment. It stamped him as a boy of character, even though he had been rated as something of a snob. Moreover, it was quite a relief to know that there would be no money for Captain McCormack to pay, even temporarily. Besides, there was to be no court proceeding, no criminal conviction, no term in the state’s prison. Perhaps that was due to Mr. Barriscale’s change of heart after he learned that his son was a participant in the mischief. Hal did not quite know. At any rate it was not so bad as it might have been, although he still had an uneasy feeling that his offense had been exaggerated, that he might find his punishment to be unduly severe, and that he had been saved from deeper distress and humiliation only by a fortunate accident.
When Hal announced at the dinner table that day that he had seen Mr. Barriscale, and when he had stated the nature of the punishment he was to undergo, he noticed a grim smile on the face of his father. But, beyond a passing comment on the fairness of Ben and on the equality of the sentence as between the two boys, Captain McCormack said little. Whatever his thoughts or opinions were on the subject he kept them judiciously to himself. He made some facetious remark, indeed, about the necessity for having early breakfasts thereafter; but, so far as the deeper aspects of the case were concerned, it was apparent that he had decided to let his son work the matter out for himself.