He would slip around by the back way ; perhaps , who knew , he might come upon Joey without running the gauntlet of his sister 's cold , offended eyes . If he might only find the boy and talk to him for a little while without betraying his identity , meet his son 's clear gaze without the danger of finding scorn or fear in it -- his heart beat high at the thought . He walked furtively up the back way between high , screening hedges of spruce . When he came to the gate of the yard , he paused . He heard voices just beyond the thick hedge , children 's voices , and he crept as near as he could to the sound and peered through the hedge , with a choking sensation in his throat and a smart in his eyes . Was that Joey , could that be his little son ? Yes , it was ; he would have known him anywhere by his likeness to Emily . Their boy had her curly brown hair , her sensitive mouth , above all , her clear-gazing , truthful grey eyes , eyes in which there was never a shadow of falsehood or faltering . Joey Churchill was sitting on a stone bench in his aunt 's kitchen yard , holding one of his black-stockinged knees between his small , brown hands . Jimmy Morris was standing opposite to him , his back braced against the trunk of a big , pink-blossomed apple tree , his hands in his pockets , and a scowl on his freckled face . Jimmy lived next door to Joey and as a rule they were very good friends , but this afternoon they had quarrelled over the right and proper way to construct an Indian ambush in the fir grove behind the pig-house . The argument was long and warm and finally culminated in personalities . Just as John Churchill dropped on one knee behind the hedge , the better to see Joey 's face , Jimmy Morris said scornfully : `` I do n't care what you say . Nobody believes you . Your father is in the penitentiary . '' The taunt struck home as it always did . It was not the first time that Joey had been twitted with his father by his boyish companions . But never before by Jimmy ! It always hurt him , and he had never before made any response to it . His face would flush crimson , his lips would quiver , and his big grey eyes darken miserably with the shadow that was on his life ; he would turn away in silence .
But that Jimmy , his best beloved chum , should say such a thing XXXXX him ; oh , it hurt terribly .
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