ood opinion they had had of him, and he wished to avoid meeting them.

To his surprise Mrs. Dutton greeted him pleasantly, and made no
reference whatever to the affair of the previous night. Her motherly
nature pitied him sincerely, for she saw plainly written in his face the
sorrow that he so keenly felt. Bless the dear soul for her kind,
sympathetic heart, and the cheerful, helpful look she gave the boy in
the hour of his trial!

This unexpected charity helped Fred not a little; but the conspicuous
absence of Miss Nellie, evidently due to a purpose of avoiding him, sent
a chill deep into his very heart, which was plainly reflected in his
face and exhibited in his demeanor. Fred's regard for her, I think we
may safely infer, was much stronger and of a finer type than the
ordinary preferences shown by boys of his age; therefore we can
understand why he was so deeply affected by her turning away from him as
if he were unfit to be her associate.

Matthew De Vere made the most of his opportunity. He felt that he was
being revenged now. He took great care to spread the report, and to
inform a certain one in particular of the facts concerning Fred. His
version of them was a highly colored one; but of course he made no
allusion to the adulteration of the liquor. He claimed that he induced
Fred to leave the bar room, and intimated that he must have drunk
several times before he saw him, "for," he said, "one glass of beer
could not have made him tipsy."

By afternoon, the report spread nearly through the town, for, as Milton
says:

Evil news rides post, while good news baits.

Dave Farrington and Tom Martin called to see Fred and talk the matter
over with him. The latter did not breathe his suspicions of the real
cause of the occurrence, but simply told the facts. The boys quickly
replied that they considered it a trick of De Vere's, and that this was
the mean way he had taken to carry out his threat of "getting the
advantage of him."

This conversation confirmed Fred's opinion, and though he felt ashamed
of himself, and was bound to suffer for his foolish act, while the
guilty party went free, yet he reflected:

"I would rather be in my place than in Matthew's, for I shall learn by
this experience not to be influenced by another to do anything without
first counting the cost, and seeing whether it is right and best. If it
is not, I won't do it for anybody's friendship. This will also teach me
to keep away from suspi