t, and had my drink
adulterated?"

"You were to be blamed for going to the bar at all. You should not have
been influenced by such a fellow as that scamp."

"Yes, I know I didn't do right in that respect, but I had no reason to
suppose that such a result would follow."

"One hardly ever does when he is being led on to do some wrong act by a
crafty villain."

"Matthew probably would have had his revenge in some other way, if he
had not succeeded in his first trial."

"Very true; but had it been in some other form, it might have been shown
that he was the guilty party; whereas now it would seem that you were
the author of your own misfortune, while the real agent of the
occurrence goes unsuspected, and exults in your downfall."

"I thought he wanted to be friends with me, so I tried not to displease
him."

"Well, I hope that affair will be a valuable lesson to you. It has
certainly proved itself a costly one. You should learn to look at the
motives of people, and not trust them too far, simply because they smile
upon you once and seem friendly. I don't think that your judgment was
very keen, or you would have seen through De Vere's sudden change of
manner when you had reason to suppose he would maintain a more hostile
attitude than ever."

"Don't be too hard upon him, Samuel," interrupted Mrs. Worthington, who
saw that Fred was growing restive under his father's rebukes.

"I am not trying to be hard upon him," replied her husband, "but simply
wish to bring this matter before him in a way that will enable him to
make the most of this experience. I want to teach him to avoid such
errors in the future; for this is an almost fatal mistake in his case,
which will follow him for years, and will, so far as I can see, change
his whole life's career."

"Why, how is that, father?" inquired Fred, in a half frightened voice.

"It is simply this: your mother and I always intended that you should
become a merchant. We instilled that idea into you from a child, and as
you grew older, to our satisfaction you showed a decided taste for such
a life. At last I got you a place in a store where I thought you could
build yourself up, and, in course of time, go into business for
yourself. You showed an aptitude for the work, and Mr. Rexford assured
me that you were one of the very best clerks that ever worked for him.
This, however, was before he was led to suspect you because of the De
Vere affair. Now you have been discharged by