you aware that the lad had been summarily
discharged by Mr. Ellison?"

"I was aware of that fact," Mr. Penfold answered; and Reuben, with
surprise, looked at his employer.

"From whom did you hear of it?"

"I heard of it from Mr. Ellison himself, who called upon me about
the matter."

"How was it he came to call upon you, Mr. Penfold?"

"The prisoner's mother had applied to me about apprenticing her
son. I had asked 50 pounds premium, and said that it wasn't my
custom to pay any wages for the first year. She said she could only
afford pounds, and I thought that was an end of the matter until, a
few days later, Mr. Ellison called upon me, and said that he had
heard from the schoolmaster in his village, who was a friend of the
boy's mother, how matters stood; and that her application had
fallen through, owing to her being unable to find more than 20
pounds.

"I said that this was so. Mr. Ellison then said that he was
prepared to make up the deficiency, that he had a regard for the
boy's father; and that, moreover, he himself had, through a hasty
misconception regarding the poisoning of the dog, discharged the
lad from his service; and that he felt uneasy, in his mind, at
having been guilty of a piece of injustice. Over and above the 30
pounds, he gave me six pound ten; in order that I might pay the boy
half a crown a week, for the first year, which he said would be a
matter of consequence to his mother. He requested me on no account
to let Mrs. Whitney know that he had intervened in the matter, but
to represent that I changed my mind, and was willing to take the 20
pounds she offered as a premium. He was particularly anxious on
this point; because, he said, she would certainly refuse to accept
assistance from him, owing to that unfortunate affair about the
dog.

"I may say that, from that time to this, I have not mentioned the
fact to anyone; and the sum of 20 pounds was inserted in the
indenture of apprenticeship."

There was a little movement of applause in the court, as Mr.
Penfold gave his evidence; and Reuben looked gratefully towards Mr.
Ellison, and said heartily:

"I thank you, sir, with all my heart."

The foreman of the yard was next examined. He confirmed the high
character Mr. Penfold had given Reuben, and adding that he knew the
lad never entered a public house, but spent his evenings almost
entirely at home studying; for that he himself had, many times,
called in and had, upon every occasion