ir
belongings, to Lewes.

Chapter 3: The Burglary At The Squire's.

"What is that woman Whitney going to do with her boy?" the squire
asked the schoolmaster, when he happened to meet him in the village
about a month after she had left. "Have you heard?"

"Nothing is settled yet, sir. My wife had a letter from her, two or
three days ago, saying that she had been disappointed in getting
Penfold the mill wright to take him. He wanted fifty pounds
premium, and she could only afford to pay twenty, so she is looking
out for something else. You have heard nothing more that would
throw any light on that affair, squire?"

"No, and don't suppose I ever shall. Have you any opinion about
it?"

"My opinion is that of Reuben, himself," the schoolmaster said. "He
believes that someone did it who had a grudge against him, on
purpose, to throw suspicion on him."

"Who should have a grudge against him?" the squire asked.

"Well, squire, there was one boy in the village who had, rightly or
wrongly, a grudge against Reuben. That is Tom Thorne. Reuben has
not a shadow of evidence that it was this boy, but the lad has
certainly been his enemy ever since that affair of breaking the
windows of the school, just before I came here. Thorne, you know,
did it, but allowed Reuben to be punished for the offence; and the
truth would never have been known had it not been, as I heard, that
your daughter happened to see the stone thrown. Since that time
there has been bad blood between the boys. I do not for a moment
say that Thorne poisoned your dog. Still, the boys are near enough
of a size for one to be mistaken for the other in the dark; and
Thorne knew that Reuben had been bitten by the dog, for Reuben
spoke to another boy about it, that afternoon, while Thorne was
standing by. Of course, this is but the vaguest suspicion. Still,
if you ask my opinion, I should say that I consider, from what I
have heard of the character of Tom Thorne, that he would be much
more likely to poison the dog, in order to get Reuben into
disgrace, than Reuben would be to do so out of revenge because the
dog had bitten him."

The squire took off his hat, and passed his hands through his hair,
in perplexity.

"I don't know what to think, Shrewsbury," he said. "It may be as
you say. I look upon Thorne as the worst character in the village,
and likely enough his son may take after him. That ale house of his
is the resort of all the idle fellows about. I ha