o roughly treated her,
and her forgiving words were received as gratefully as could have been
desired.

Our work was nearly finished. Out of twenty thousand dollars which had
been taken, we had succeeded in recovering nearly eighteen thousand
dollars; the balance, having been squandered by Edwards and Duncan, was,
of course, irretrievably gone. But this was good enough as it was, and
the officers of the bank were satisfied and delighted at this most
satisfactory conclusion of an operation which, at its commencement,
promised so little, and out of which such great results had flowed.

The party returned to Geneva, and the next day Duncan was formally
arraigned. He waived an examination, and in default of bail was removed
to the county prison, where his confederates were already confined,
anxiously awaiting their trial.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Conclusion--Retribution.

A few days later, and the last act in this sad drama of crime was
performed. The four youthful criminals were arraigned for trial before a
conscientious judge, and by a jury composed of gentlemen, many of whom
were intimately acquainted with two of the accused, Eugene Pearson and
Dr. Johnson, both of whom, it will be remembered, were born and reared
in the little town of Geneva. As may be imagined, the trial attracted
universal attention in that section of the country, and on the day that
the court was convened, the town was filled with people from all the
surrounding districts, who came to witness the important proceedings.
Long before the hour fixed for the commencement of the trial, the
court-room was crowded to suffocation by the eager multitude, who had
come from far and near, for the purpose of being present at this unusual
judicial investigation. Many were actuated only by the promptings of
idle curiosity, and regarded the trial somewhat in the light of a
diverting exhibition, for which no admission fee was charged; others,
from a stern sense of justice, came to view a trial in which crime was
to be punished, and the law in all its majesty was to be invoked for the
protection of the honor of society, and the property of the individual.
There was yet another class, who came from the impulses of love and
sympathy and friendship--some who were linked to the unfortunate
criminals by the ties of family and blood, and some who had known and
esteemed them ere their hearts had been hardened, and before the wiles
of the tempter had lured them from the p