Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-02-25
XXXVIII.

| When they had passed the edge of the village the banker said: T doubt if you would have shaken hands with l Mir. Mortimer If you knew"
 "I do know of this terrible thing. she answered. "I shook hands with him because I believe him innocent You know more than we do?" It was not sheer; if so, too delicately yelled for detection.
 MT. Mortimer could not steal-it is impossible I Have you sufficient grounds for your faith-do you happen to know who took the money, for it was stolen?" .. The girl did not answer. Her stand had simply been one of implicit faith in the man she had conjured into hero of all that was good and noble. She had not asked herself who the guilty man was; her faith told her it was morally impossible for Mortimer to become thief.
 Her companion waited for an an- swer with his usual well-bred pa. l tience.
 Mortimer, being innocent, replaced the stolen money, Allis' mind tabulat- ed-she tickled this thought off on the horse with her whip-it was to shield some one. Her heart told her, his eyes had told her, that he would have taken upon himself this great risk but | for one person. her brother Why did Mortimer go to Gravesend? It must have been to. see Alan--the boy was there. If he had discovered that the money was missing, and thought Alan had taken it, he would do this; if he had suspected some other person he would have made the matter known to the cashier. He did not replace the money at once, because he hadn't 1t. 1 Her brother had told her that Morti- mer. had won lot of money. over the horse. Surely that was the money, his winnings with which he had replaced the thousand dollars. a4-.
 She saw it all, Truly her position was one of extreme hopelessness. Two men she loved stood before her I mentally, one accused of others as a thief, and one-her own brother charged by her reason with the l crime. Under the continued silence Crane grew restless; the girl, almost obliv ious of his presence, gave no sign of, a desire to pursue the discussion,
 ''Of course am anxious to clear the young man if he is innocentf1 hazarded the banker, to draw her gently back into the influence that he felt must be of profit to himself
 Allis answered his observation-he distinctly felt the vibration of pain in her voice-with startling depth of analytical discernment:
 While I believe in Mortimer's inno- cence, and will always believe in it, 1 am afraid that he has drawn such 8 web of circumstantial evidence about him, trying to shield some one else, that-that-it is too terrible!" she broke off, passionately-"he is inno- cent. For Gods sake, MT. Crane"- she took the reins in her whip hand, and put her left on his arm, pleading ly-"for Gods sake, for his mothers sake, save him. You can do it. The money has been paid back <n
 ''It isn't that, Miss Allis'' his voice was cuttingly evep-"in a bank one must not have dishonest person. If Mortimer can clear himself by fasten- ing the crime upon lne perretrator-"
 "He will never do that; he cannot if he would.' .<
 What can I do, then. Miss Allis? But why shouldn't he?" ~.
 Cant you see-don't you under stand the man? He commenced by shielding some one, and he, will carry 1t through to the bitter end"
 
 shield but himself-everything points to this conclusion. It's unpleasant to even hint at such contingency, but if Mortimer is innocent, then your brother must be the guilty one"
 He expected the girl to denounce in- dignantly such a possibility; he was surprised that she remained silent. Her non-refutation of this deduction told him as conclusively as though she had uttered the accusation that she thought Alan had taken the money and Mortimer was shielding him.
 Against all evidence she was hold ing this man honest, believing her brother the thief
 Surely a love like that was worth winning. Her very faith in Mortimer, through which she sought to save him by inspiring Crane, determined the latter to crush utterly the man who stood between him and this great love.
 1f you bring this home to MT. Nor eNt4er you will punish him, arrest Mm?" . .s | That would be the usual course" l He could feel the strong fingers press his arm as though she would bod him to her wishes. ...7 I You will lot do this," she said: "for my sake you will not"
 r You ask this of me. and 1t Is for l your sake?'s
 T Yes, if there is no other way; if MT. Mortimer, innocent must take