she said this as if to signify that her mind
was made up, Fred could detect a little hesitation.

She already began to realize the absurdity of the accusation.

"Stop and think, ma'am, and I'm sure your own sense will tell you that
you are wronging me when you say that," the boy argued, with the same
positive air of conviction that had made his father declare he would
make a good lawyer, if ever he felt inclined to study for the bar.

"In what way, boy?" Miss Muster faltered.

"Because in the first place you called me into your house of your own
accord, when I was passing. I wouldn't have come, only that you said
you were in some sort of trouble, and needed help. Then, think again,
Miss Muster--you opened this door which had been shut all the time; you
hurried into this room, and over to that stand. You know, ma'am, I was
never within six feet of that little bowl. Right now I am half way
between the table and the door. My arms would have to be pretty long to
reach over there, wouldn't they now, Miss Muster?"

She saw his point. And indeed, even before he clinched the fact in this
ingenious way the old lady was ready to admit that she had been
unwisely hasty in making that passionate accusation.

"I beg your pardon, Fred," she hastened to say, holding out her hand,
which he did not hesitate to take. "I was entirely wrong, and acted
from a foolish impulse when I found that, in spite of all my
precautions, more of my opals had mysteriously disappeared. You could
not have taken them had you wanted to; and I do not believe you would
touch them if you had a dozen chances."

That was saying a good deal for Miss Muster; and Fred, who knew
considerable about her sharp tongue, felt that he could hardly have
been paid a higher compliment.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said, smiling in a satisfied way. "If you
please, then, we'll consider the thing closed. But that doesn't explain
where the opals have gone to; does it?"

"Indeed, it does not," she replied. "I have been deeply stirred by this
mystery; but Fred, believe me, it was not the value of the jewels one
quarter so much as the shock given to my faith in human nature. I
believed that the boy had been tempted beyond his power of resistance.
Perhaps he wanted a certain sum of money for some purpose, and
conceived the wicked idea that he could sell the stones, and get it
that way. Oh! I would have gladly given him five, yes ten times their
value, if only he had not given way