a forger--eh? What is it like to be a
thief? I never stole money myself--not even from my parents. D'ye think I
believe your story? D'ye think I don't know who altered my checks--who
had the money--who told the dirty lie to blacken the memory of her dead
son? D'ye think I'm going to spare you--eh?"

"Father! Father! Have mercy--I was helpless!" she cried in terror,
flinging herself on her knees beside his bed. "I couldn't ruin both
husband and daughter for the sake of a boy who was gone."

"You couldn't ruin yourself, you mean--but you could sully the memory of
my heir with a foul charge--the worst of all that can be brought against
a man and a gentleman."

"It was you, father--you--you who denounced him."

"Lies, lies! I did nothing of the sort. The bank people suspected him
because he was a man, because they didn't think that any child of mine
could rob me of seven thousand dollars--seven thousand dollars! Think of
it, madam--seven thousand dollars! D'ye know how many nickels there are
in seven thousand dollars? Why, I could send you to Sing-Sing for years,
if I chose to lift my finger."

"But you won't father--you won't! You'll have mercy. You'll spare us. If
you knew what I have suffered, you'd be sorry for me."

"Oh, I can guess what you have suffered. And you're going to suffer a
good deal more yet. Don't tell me you've come up here to get more
money--not more?"

"No, father--indeed, no. John and I are going to lead a different kind of
life. I've come to entreat you not to press the bank for that money.
We'll pay it all back, somehow. John and I will earn it, if necessary."

"Earn it! Rubbish! You couldn't earn a dime."

"We'll repay every penny--if you will only give us time, only stop
pressing the bank--"

"I shall do nothing of the sort. You've robbed them, not me. You must
answer to them. If you've got any of it left, pay it back to Ormsby. If
your husband is such an idiot as to beggar himself to restore the spoils,
more fool he, that's all I can say. When you steal, steal and stick to
it. Never give up money."

"Father, you'll not betray me! You won't tell them--"

"I don't know. I'll have to think it over. Get up off your knees, and sit
on a chair. That sort of thing has no effect with me. You ought to have
found that out long ago."

She arose wearily, and dropped back limply into the chair like a witness
under fire in a court of law. The old man sat chewing the tassel of his
cap, and mumblin