I did n't know she jarred her legs . But I 'm to be whipped and that will make things square . '' `` Will it hurt -- very much ? '' said Una , slipping her hand into Carl 's . `` Oh , not so much , I guess , '' said Carl gamely . `` Anyhow , I 'm not going to cry , no matter how much it hurts . It would make father feel so bad , if I did . He 's all cut up now . I wish I could whip myself hard enough and save him doing it . '' After supper , at which Carl had eaten little and Mr. Meredith nothing at all , both went silently into the study . The switch lay on the table . Mr. Meredith had had a bad time getting a switch to suit him . He cut one , then felt it was too slender . Carl had done a really indefensible thing . Then he cut another -- it was far too thick . After all , Carl had thought the eel was dead . The third one suited him better ; but as he picked it up from the table it seemed very thick and heavy -- more like a stick than a switch . `` Hold out your hand , '' he said to Carl . Carl threw back his head and held out his hand unflinchingly . But he was not very old and he could not quite keep a little fear out of his eyes .
Mr. Meredith looked down into those eyes -- why , they were Cecilia 's eyes -- her very eyes -- and in them was the selfsame expression he had once seen in Cecilia 's eyes when she had come to him XXXXX tell him something she had been a little afraid to tell him .
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