<span>He thinks it was pathetic.</span>
I believe the answer to your question is C.
The early bird gets the worm wherever you go
Answer. It emphasizes the boys' desire to follow rules.
The writer makes this clear when he says that even when the parents were not around to discipline his actions, Maurice still felt the guilt or the 'unease of wrongdoing'. Even though that he was thinking about an excuse, he was not feeling good about wrongdoing.
