ast night."

"But Harry couldn't have had any grudge against you night before
last," said Mr. Nason.

"I don't know about that," mused the squire, who was apparently trying
to reconcile the facts to his theory, rather than the theory to the
facts.

John, the hired man, lived about three miles from the squire's house.
His father was very sick; and he had been home every evening for a
week, returning between ten and eleven. On the night preceding the
fire, he had seen a boy prowling round the barn, who ran away at his
approach. The next day, he found a pile of withered grass, dry sticks,
and other combustibles heaped against a loose board in the side of the
barn. He had informed the squire of the facts, but the worthy justice
did not consider them of much moment.

Probably Ben had intended to burn the barn then, but had been
prevented from executing his purpose by the approach of the hired man.

"This must be the boy," added the squire.

"He had on a sack coat, and was bigger than this boy," replied John.

"Harry has no sack coat," put in Mr. Nason, eagerly catching at his
evidence.

"It is easy to be mistaken in the night. Search him, and see if there
are any matches about him."

Undoubtedly this was a very brilliant suggestion of the squire's muddy
intellect--as though every man who carried matches was necessarily an
incendiary. But no matches were found upon Harry; and, according to
the intelligent justice's perception of the nature of evidence, the
suspected party should have been acquitted.

No matches were found on Harry; but in his jacket pocket, carefully
enclosed in a piece of brown paper, were found the four quarters of a
dollar given to him by Mr. Nason.

"Where did you get those?" asked the squire, sternly.

"They were given to me," replied Harry.

Mr. Nason averted his eyes, and was very uneasy. The fact of having
given this money to Harry went to show that he had been privy to his
escape; and his kind act seemed to threaten him with ruin.

"Who gave them to you?"

Harry made no reply.

"Answer me," thundered the squire.

"I shall not tell," replied Harry.

"You shall not?"

"No, sir."

The squire was nonplussed. The boy was as firm as a hero; and no
threats could induce him to betray his kind friend, whose position he
fully comprehended.

"We will see," roared the squire.

Several persons who had been present during the examination, and who
were satisfied that Harry was innocen