gasped horribly to recover some of the air which had been knocked out of him.
When they reached the house at last he was a sick boy, but he had promised to do as John wished.
The next morning when John had dressed and was about to go down to breakfast he perceived a sheet of paper which must have been pushed under his door during the night. He picked it up and held it close to his face, for the light was bad, and read the following:
To John Eaton:
Promises made under force don't count, you dirty bully. I am going to vanish for a few days and you can go to hell.
John walked to the narrow dormer window and looked out over the tree tops. He might have known better than to have trusted a man whose mind worked like a woman's. He was very angry—but with himself.
"A nice mess I've got myself into," he thought, "making promises that I can't keep to a girl I'm not under any obligations to, and trusting to the word of a dirty rat like that James. I wonder where the skunk is hiding."
