hopeful heart; and though he trembled at
the idea of the coming trial, yet he did not for a moment doubt
that the result must be his acquittal. He believed that the law was
framed to punish the guilty, and to do justice to the innocent; and
he could scarcely conceive that the guiltless could be made to
suffer by its administration.

Immediately after the opening of the court, in the afternoon,
the case was called up. The woman in whose house the robbery was
committed, and one other, were witnesses; but not one word was
said by either, in any way implicating Rodney in the robbery,
beyond the fact that he had come to the house in company with
the robber.

His friend made a very brief speech, demanding his acquittal;
the judge said a few words to the jury, who consulted together
for a moment, when the foreman arose, and pronounced the happy
words, "_Not Guilty_."

And now the tears again rained down the cheeks of Rodney, as he
came out of the infamous dock,--but they were tears of joy.

A few kind questions were asked him by the judge; and a small
sum of money, contributed by him and by several of the members
of the bar, furnished Rodney the means of returning to his
friends.

CHAPTER XII.

CONCLUSION.

Hastening to the end of our narrative, we pass by several
intervening months, and witness again another Sabbath morning in
May.

Some twenty miles from the city of Philadelphia, a sparkling
little brook passes through the meadow of a beautiful farm,
losing itself in a thick wood that divides the contiguous
estates.

On that lovely May morning,--that serene Sabbath,--there
might have been seen,--there was seen by the Omniscient eye,--a
lad, some fifteen years old, walking thoughtfully along the
margin of that little stream, and penetrating into the thickest
part of the wood. He carried a book in his hand, and sat down
close by the stream, under the shade of an old beech tree. And
as he read, the tears streamed from his eyes, and his sighs
indicated a burdened spirit. Indeed, his heart was very sad. He
was oppressed by the consciousness of the great sinfulness of
his life and heart against the holy and benevolent God. He
remembered the early instructions he had received at home and in
the Sabbath-school. He recalled the precious privileges he had
enjoyed, and he remembered, with anguish and shame, how wickedly
he had disregarded all these instructions, abused all these
privileges, and sinned against