and grasped that of Mr. Wallingford.

"Spoken like a man, Henry! Spoken like a man!" he said, warmly. "I only
wish that Ralph had something of your spirit. I have seen you a little
out of your right position, I believe; but a closer view is correcting
the error."

Wallingford returned the pressure as warmly as it was given, saying, as
he did so--

"I am aware, Judge, that you have suffered your mind to fall into a
state of prejudice in regard to me. But I am not aware of any thing
in my conduct towards you or others, to warrant the feeling. If in any
thing I have been brought into opposition, faithfulness to the interests
I represented has been the rule of my conduct. I have sought by no trick
of law to gain an advantage. The right and the just I have endeavored
to pursue, without fear and without favor. Can you give me a better rule
for professional or private life?"

"I cannot, Henry," was the earnest reply. "And if all men would so
pursue the right and the just, how different would be the result for
each, as the sure adjustment of advancing years gave them their true
places in the world's observation!"

The Judge spoke in a half--absent way, and with a shade of regret in his
tones; Wallingford noted this with a feeling of concern.

"Let us be friends in the future," he added, again offering his hand to
Wallingford.

"It will be your fault, not mine, if we are not fast fiends, Judge. I
have never forgotten the obligations of my boyhood; and never ceased
to regret the alienation you have shown. To have seemed in your eyes
ungrateful, has been a source of pain whenever I saw or thought of you."

The two men parted, each feeling better for the interview. A day or two
afterwards Wallingford received a note from Judge Bigelow asking him,
as a particular favor, to call at his office that evening. He went,
of course. The Judge was alone, and received him cordially. But, his
countenance soon fell into an expression of more than usual gravity.

"Mr. Wallingford," he said, after the passage of a few casual
observations, "I would like to consult you in strict confidence on some
matters in which I have become involved. I can trust you, of course?"

"As fully as if the business were my own," was the unhesitating answer.

"So I have believed. The fact is, Henry, I have become so entangled in
this cotton mill business with Squire Floyd, Dewey, and others, that I
find myself in a maze of bewildering uncertainty. The Squir