ndow had been cut, and the vault entered so ingeniously, that it
was evident the burglar had possessed, besides daring courage, a good
deal of mechanical skill. The police scoured the city and country
round about, but no clue to the discovery of the robbery could be
traced. The public mind was powerfully excited. Everybody who had
anything to lose, felt that daring and ingenious felons were abroad,
who might probably pay them a visit; all were therefore interested in
the discovery and the conviction of the perpetrator of so daring a
deed. Suspicions at length began to settle on Sparks; but yet his
poverty and known integrity seemed to give them the lie. The story of
the iron chest, which the merchant had hitherto been ashamed, and
Amos too forgiving, to tell--for the latter did not care to set the
town laughing at the man who had wronged him--now began to be told.
The merchant, influenced by a vindictive spirit, had whispered it to
the directors of the bank, with sundry shrugs and innuendoes; and of
course it soon spread far and wide, with all sorts of exaggerated
variations and additions. Amos thought for several days that some of
his neighbours looked and acted rather oddly, and he missed one or
two who used to drop in and chat almost every afternoon; but not
suspecting for a moment that there was any cause for altered
behaviour, these matters made but a slight impression on his mind.
In all such cases, the person most interested is the last to hear
disagreeable news; and the first hint that the locksmith got of the
universal suspicion was from the officer of the police, who came with
a party of constables to search his premises. Astonishment and grief
were the portion of Amos and his family for that day.

'Cheer up, my darlings,' said Amos, who was the first to recover the
sobriety of thought that usually characterised him--'cheer up--all
will yet he well; it is impossible that the unjust suspicion can long
hover about us. A life of honesty and fair-dealing will not be
without its reward. The real authors of this outrage will probably be
discovered soon, for a fraud so extensive will make all parties
vigilant; and if not, why, then, when our neighbours see us toiling
at our usual occupations, with no evidences of secret wealth or
lavish expenditure on our persons or at our board, and remember how
many years we have been so occupied and so attired, without a
suspicion of wrong-doing even in small matters attached to u