Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1894-12-14

yer and widow HarKaway ever sus-
pected any wrong motive on his part.
Why. he was Just goodness itself Moth
err Bissell, and you know he was, and
now you are turning against him."
Il don't believe you would think he
could do any wrong if you saw him il
the act returned Mrs. Bissell with
mild asperity.
II refuse to believe this. mother, for
it is unreasonable and impossible" and
Anne boldly put on an air of perfect as
surance. HE has received this horrid
bill in change somewhere and hasn't
looked at it. Do you think he would in
criminate himself if he was a thief and
had robbed the bureau drawer?'
Don't seem like it. Anne" said Mrs.
Bissell gloomily, sinking her chin into
the hollow of her hand. But a body
never knows what folks will do when
they think themselves safe from getting
found out, and he came to Us a perfect
stranger, and we did take up with him
and trust him to beat all. 1t all comes
back to me now as clear as daylight. He
was up chamber a good while that day
gran'ther was sick, and the old man Is
most blind anyway and in doze. lie
wouldn't have noticed what the doctor
was doing there round the bureau"
Don't talk that way" cried Anne,
getting up with fury and finging herself
round the room. Its vulgar and low.
| tell you he's a gentleman, and I'll stake
my life on his honesty"
Now, Anne, you needn't go into hys
terics. Didn't he say he was poor that
day he came, that he was starved out OF
Kettletas? | forgot all about it when !
saw his nice Office furniture, and the
horse and carriage that cost him over
three hundred dollars. Mebbe he was
wee tempted and fell for the first time,
and as for his giving me the bill, it was
all a mistake. He was in u hurry and
forgot himself and pulled out the wrong
one. l can't keep him here any longer,
Anne | don't know how to treat him
or even how to look him i'll the face. ]
must make some excuse to get him ont
of the house"
Anne felt it was time to clap on the
screws. and exercise the full force of her
daughterly authority. You won't do
any such thing, Mother Bissell. You
don't mean to ruin his prospects for life.
You don't want old Carver and the
Widow HarEaway to trumpet this little
thing from one end Of Littlciield to the
other. All that talk about his being
starved out of Kettletas was joke. His
mother is travelling in Europe and has
means. He told me so himself | have
drawn the hundred dollars saved from
my school teachings out Of the bank, and
you are to pay it on the mortgage. put
il by to get new cloak and furs next
winter, but now | shall make the old
things answer. You are to do exactly as
say. You must keep him on here, and
act as if nothing had happened, and I'll
pledge my life he will clear himself III
time. | shall start tomorrow morning
on Il visit to Uncle Hiram, at Bells
Cove, and if he doesn't clear himself and
come out bright and shining like the
sun. [ viii never come back to Little.
field so long as he stays in town"
But suppose | should speak to him
and he should try to lie out Of it?' asked
Mrs. Bissell, now submissive to her girls
will. "Oh, dear, did like him SO much.
/ trusted him as if he had been my son,
and, Anne, am 50 sorry for you"
Anne did not ask why her mother was
sorry for her, but she intensified her
autocratic tone, knowing that she was
we'll under her thumb. You must not
think of speaking to him, mother. You
must treat him exactly as if nothing had
happened"