r not," said he. "Go on, father; let us get done
with this den."

"Gentlemen," said the elder person, addressing the patients, "I called
here yesterday, like a fool, to ask who had stolen from me a sum of
money which I believed I left in my room on going out in the morning.
This doctor here and his spirits contrived to make me suspect my only
son. Well, I charged him at once with the crime as soon as I got
back home, and what do you think he did? He said, 'Father, let us go
up-stairs and look for it,' and--"

Here the young man broke in with: "Come, father; don't worry yourself
for nothing"; and then turning, added: "To cut the thing short, he found
the notes under his candle-stick, where he left them on going to bed.
This is all of it. We came here to stop this fellow" (by which he meant
me) "from carrying a slander further. I advise you, good people, to
profit by the matter, and to look up a more honest doctor, if doctoring
be what you want."

As soon as he had ended, I remarked solemnly: "The words of the spirits
are not my words. Who shall hold them accountable?"

"Nonsense," said the young man. "Come, father"; and they left the room.

Now was the time to retrieve my character. "Gentlemen," said I, "you
have heard this very singular account. Trusting the spirits utterly and
entirely as I do, it occurs to me that there is no reason why they
may not, after all, have been right in their suspicions of this young
person. Who can say that, overcome by remorse, he may not have seized
the time of his father's absence to replace the money?"

To my amazement, up gets a little old man from the corner. "Well, you
are a low cuss!" said he, and taking up a basket beside him, hobbled
hastily out of the room. You may be sure I said some pretty sharp things
to him, for I was out of humor to begin with, and it is one thing to
be insulted by a stout young man, and quite another to be abused by
a wretched old cripple. However, he went away, and I supposed, for my
part, that I was done with the whole business.

An hour later, however, I heard a rough knock at my door, and opening it
hastily, saw my red-headed young man with the cripple.

"Now," said the former, taking me by the collar, and pulling me into
the room among my patients, "I want to know, my man, if this doctor said
that it was likely I was the thief after all?"

"That's what he said," replied the cripple; "just about that, sir."

I do not desire to dwell on the af