"And he has been
working so hard all winter; and everybody in the country respects and
loves him so; and he is one of the best and truest men I ever knew;
and he is planning and working to pay back every cent he took; and I
cannot--I will not--let you send him to prison now."

The lovely old eyes were fixed on the banker's face with sweet anxiety.

Homer T. Ward was puzzled. Strange human problems are often presented
to men in his position; but, certainly, this was the strangest;--his old
teacher pleading for his absconding clerk who was supposed to be dead.

At last he said, with gentle kindness: "But, why did you come to tell me
about him, Auntie Sue? He is safe enough if no one knows who he is."

"That is it!" she cried. "Some one found out about him, and is coming
here to tell you, for the reward."

The banker whistled softly. "And you--you--grabbed a train, and beat 'em
to it!" he exclaimed. "Well, if that doesn't--"

Auntie Sue clasped her thin hands to her breast, and her sweet voice
trembled with anxious fear: "You won't send that poor boy to prison,
now, will you, Homer? It--it--would kill me if such a terrible thing
were to happen now. Won't you let him go free, so that he can do his
work,--won't you, Homer? I--I--" The strain of her anxiety was almost
too much for the dear old gentlewoman's physical strength, and as her
voice failed, the tears streamed down the soft cheeks unheeded.

In an instant the bank president was again on his knees beside her
chair.

"Don't, Auntie Sue: don't, dear! Why, you know I would do anything
in the world you asked, even if I wanted to send the fellow up; but I
don't. I wouldn't touch him for the world. It is a thousand times better
to let him go if he is proving himself an honest man. Please, dear,
don't feel so. Why, I will be glad to let him off. I'll help him, Auntie
Sue. I--I--am as glad as you are that we didn't get him. Please don't
feel so about it. There, there,--it is all right, now."

So he comforted and reassured her until she was able to smile through
her tears. "I knew I could depend on you, Homer."

A few minutes later, she said: "And what about that man who is coming to
claim the reward, Homer?"

"Never you mind him!" cried the banker; "I'll fix that. But, tell me,
Auntie Sue, where is young Kent now?"

"He is working in the neighborhood," she returned.

He looked at her shrewdly. "You have seen a lot of him, have you?"

"I have seen him occasiona