The Loom of Destiny
must show himself at home. He crawled, snail-like, in at the back door and listened. The doctor was there, and he was glad of it. He was also glad when his Aunt Martha told him that he must not go in and see his mother. He could hear her coughing feebly, and the baby crying for something to eat. As his aunt went into his mother's room with a hot-water bottle, she called back for him to take some fried potatoes and hash off the stove and eat his dinner. He did as he was told, and hurried away before his aunt came out again. His face was still blood-stained and scratched.
Sick at heart, he slouched back to school. In the yard one of the boys said: "You licked 'm, Johnnie."
"Naw, he did n't, neither," said another. "Jim had 'im bleedin'."
"Aw gwan! that was n't in the fight! That 'uz when he chucked the cinder at 'im. You had 'im dead skart in the fight, did n't you, Johnnie?"
"'Course I did," said Johnnie Armstrong, stoutly, though he knew he was lying.
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