o not think
we can get him out to-day."

"Thank you, sir; you are very good. If I could only see him, and tell
him that I feel sure he is innocent, the cold walls would seem less
dreary to him. I know what the poor fellow is thinking about."

Mrs. Weston cried like a child when she thought of her darling boy shut
up within the narrow walls of a prison cell.

"He will be thinking of his home," continued she. "He will think of
me."

"He has been a good son, Mrs. Weston."

"That he has, sir. Tony steal? No, sir. He thinks too much of his
mother and his home to do such a thing. But don't you suppose I could
see him?"

"I will see him myself; won't that do as well?"

"I don't know."

"I will tell him just how you feel about it,--that you are confident he
is innocent."

"Thank you, sir; he will be so comforted by it."

"And to-morrow he will probably be examined before the magistrate."

"Then he will discharge him, I know!"

"I fear not; if there are reasonable grounds for supposing him guilty,
he will be committed to await the action of the grand jury."

"Then it will be weeks and months before they prove his innocence,"
interposed the widow.

"The grand jury is in session now; all they will do, if they find a
bill against him, will be to commit him for trial."

"That makes three times they will try him," said Mrs. Weston, perplexed
by the complications of the law. "Must he stay in prison till all these
trials are finished?"

"He can be bailed out to-morrow, after his examination."

"I must give bonds for him, must I?"

"I will do that, Mrs. Weston. Probably he can come home before
to-morrow noon."

"God bless you, Captain Sedley. You have always been very good to me in
my troubles."

"Ben," said Captain Sedley, going to the window, and calling the old
sailor who was at work in the garden, "Ben, put the bay horse into the
chaise."

"This is a world of trouble, Captain Sedley," said the widow, with a
deep sigh.

"But from trouble and affliction come forth our purest aspirations. God
is good to us, even when he sends us trials and sorrows."

"I will not complain; I have much to be thankful for."

In a few moments the horse and chaise were ready.

"I am going over to see Farmer Whipple, Mrs. Weston, and then I shall
ride down to Rippleton. Keep your spirits up, and be assured everything
shall be done to comfort your son, and to prove his innocence. I shall
engage Squire Benson to defend him."