ps to the table were I sat, placed her hands upon my bowed head, and
repeated the following words from the Psalmist: "Commit thy way unto the
Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass." "And he shall
bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the
noonday." "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him, fret not thyself
because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who
bringeth wicked devices to pass." "Though he fall, he shall not be
utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." These
verses from Scripture, repeated as they were by my aged grandmother had
the effect to soothe my mind. It was so like what my own mother would
have done under the same circumstances; and, raising my head I tried
to be hopeful, and trust to time to prove my innocence. With all my
resolves to be patient I found it very hard to bear up as day after day
glided by and nothing took place to throw any light upon the matter. I
could never have borne it, but for Mr. Oswald's assertion that he
believed me innocent. He exercised the utmost vigilance to obtain some
clue to the mystery, but two weeks (which to me seemed two years) glided
by and nothing was gained.

There were two boys among the pupil, named Reuben Mayfield and Thomas
Pierce, they were both older than I and for a long time had evinced
toward me a strong feeling of dislike. From the first Mr. Oswald had
suspected these two boys of having a hand in the affair, but said
nothing to any one of his suspicions; but he never for a moment gave up
the idea that, sooner or later, the truth would come to light. It was
nearly three weeks from the time the affair happened that these two boys
entered the school-room a full half-hour before the usual time for
school to open. No other pupil was present, and they felt free to
indulge in a confidential conversation, which I copy for the benefit of
the reader. "I wonder," began Thomas Pierce, "what Mr. Oswald expects
to gain by waiting. I know his eyes are pretty sharp, but hardly sharp
enough to see to the bottom of this affair. It takes you to plan Reuben.
I was as willing as you to do any thing to bring Harland down a peg or
two, for he has carried his head rather high this winter, and walked
into Mr. Oswald's good graces in a way that was wonderful to behold. You
were always good at planning, and it was you who did the most difficult
part of the business, which was getting the money into his p