Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-09-30
A SWEETHEART AT THIRTY
The Story Of ! Woman's Transtormation.
BY MARION RUBlNCAM.
PETE'S EVIDENCE.
Chapter XCV.

SnApter ASlN.
First the lie--thon the proof Of the licl
l sat there too frightened to think
ekarly What was to happen? had always
bsen taught to believe that lie under
any circumstances WAS an objectionable
wrong--and here / was listening to the
proof Of untruthfulnoss from the man who
wanted to marry my niece-to marry
the most precious member of my family
After all, the fact that he had not told
us Of his debts did not matter so much
that was forgivablc. But who, in this
unsvmpathetic crowd Of men, would over
hook the lie about meeting Pete on the
street? Ii was so easy to say that II TINS
one statement WAS wrong, all his evidence
Was false. And then what2
| looked over at Francis, whose pro-
file was towards me. | fancied he had
that curious hard expression. But could
not tell, for the room WAS brightly lit
at one end only, and there were too many
"Hc asked for $lO?" The lawyers
voice never changed a note.
yes. sir" Buds voice shook a trifle.
He knew now what he had said.
$50 YOU did see him on the streetY
"Ycs sir" The boys voice was weak
now. Bud was thoroughly frightened:
''You denied that a little while ago.
lcS SIR.
seWhy?"
81 didn't want to drag Pete IN
every considerate Of
There WAS an impatient movement
from the man at the large desk-the
gray haired man in the uniform with
tho braid, whom | took to be sort OF
Judge. Evidently he wanted to get through
the proceedings as fast as possible-and
who could blame him, for it was Christ
mas night?-and WAS not going to toll
crate even one unnecessary sarcastic
rcmtrk.
That nj least was in our favor. The
LAWYER broke his sentence in the mid
die, turned to the Judge and remarked: :
You see, this young mans evidence
is not always reliable. That Is all for
the time.
A uniformed man came up to Bud
and motioned him to get down. | felt
q wave of relief go over me. For the mo-
ment, at least, Bud was out of this torture.
lie came down, and sat in one of the
chairs. a little distance from me. He
turned to look at Francis-but Francis
kept his back 10 him. And that fright
ened me thoroughly.
Francis was displeased. Could ! blame
him. lie was spending money, more
important than that-he was spending
time to defend this boy, and the boy had
SO far not justified his faith in hun. Sup
pose he should drop the case nowf What
would happn to Bud then?
The boy was thinking that, too, for
his face was white as he sat there, head
drooped forward, shoulders detected,
occasionally wiping his face with hIs
handkerchief
| turned back to watch this little
drama. Someone had come through the
door and was given the oath on the wit
ness stand stared IN surprise then-for
it was Pete.
The lawyer WAS reading from paper
The prisoner In his latest testimony
admitted having taken some thousands
of dollars from his firm, by changing
the figures on the bank book when he
deposited the firms money. Later he,
by speculation, made enough TO put
this back. He agrin changed some fig
ures IN the bank book, so the cashier OF
the firm was not suspicious. However
when accountants, going over the books,
checked this UP with the bank : statement
they found, not an error m cash, since the
money was put back. but an error In
dates, showing deposits at separate times,
when there should have been but one de-
post. The messenger WAS watched he
looked over at Pete-"and was finally
caught when he tried this game second
time The second time the money was not
paid back. The prisoner said he meant to
DO So
A lot OF questions fol owed, much
like the ones asked Bud. They brought
out the fact that Pete had bought q
car, and the amount of money he had
been spending on what the little lawyer
chose to call ''riotous living" They found
out the amount of money Pete was IN
debt. and the names Of all his companions.
There was something admirable about
Pete, after all. Whatever qualities he
lacked, there was a sterling one that he
possessed-loyaltv- Names of girls were
given, but he kept Toots name out-and
when he mentioned Bud, he spoke as little
as possible, and said that Bud asked him
not TO spend so much.
Hes straight, Pete said.
He managed TO say this twice during
the evidence, though he was not sup
posed to do more than answer directly
the questions asked. He was huge, IN
telligent, but uneducated and a coarse
boy; ne was inclined TO familiarity and
his great interest IN life was making money
by any means, questionable or otherwise
and then spending IT In silly parties-but
he was generous and kind-hearted and
Loyal. ! never liked hun before, but l
found myself actually admiring him now.
Francis went towards the door, and
motioned me to follow. Outside in the
corridor stood Toots-silly little Toots
with her cheap fnery and her huge fur
mutf and neckpiece- eyes red from
crying. i turned from Francis and went
over TO her
Tomorow-Loyalty.