In his hand he held a bundle, and had evidently been waiting some time for Bobby's coming.
He had recovered from the illness caused by his broken arm, and people said it had been a good lesson for him, as the squire hoped it would be.

Bobby had called upon him two or three times during his confinement to the house; and Tom, either truly repentant for his past errors, or lacking the opportunity at that time to manifest his evil propensities, had stoutly protested that he had "turned over a new leaf," and meant to keep out of the woods on Sunday, stop lying and swearing, and become a good boy.
Bobby commended his good resolutions, and told him he would never want friends while he was true to himself.

The right side, he declared, was always the best side.

He quoted several instances of men, whose lives he had read in his Sunday school books, to show how happy a good man may be in prison, or when all the world seemed to forsake him.
Tom assured him that he meant to reform and be a good boy; and Bobby told him that when any one meant to turn over a new leaf, it was "now or never." If he put it off, he would only grow worse, and the longer the good work was delayed, the more difficult it would be to do it.
Tom agreed to all this, and was sure he had reformed.
For these reasons Bobby had come to regard Tom with a feeling of deep interest.

He considered him as, in some measure, his disciple, and he felt a personal responsibility in encouraging him to persevere in his good work.