w smart he was and how
honest and good he was till--Lord A'mighty, it's enough to turn a
decent man's stomach! And not only that, but here's the feller
courtin' his daughter. Oh, ho, ho, ho! that's the best of the
whole business. That was another thing made me hang off and wait;
I wanted to see how the courtin' came along. And it's come along
all right. Everybody's onto 'em, hangin' over each other, and
lookin' soft at each other. She's just fairly heavin' herself at
his head, all hands says so. There ain't been anybody in this town
good enough for her till he showed up. And now it's comin' out
that he's a crook and a jailbird! And he'll be jailed for stealin'
THIS time, too. Ho, ho!"

He stopped, out of breath, to indulge in another long chuckle. Jed
leaned forward.

"What are you talkin' about, Phin?" he demanded. "Even allowin'
all this--this rigmarole of yours about--about Middleford business--
was true--"

"It is true and you know it is. I believe you've known it all
along."

"I say allowin' it is, you haven't any right to say Charlie took
this money from the Orham bank. You can't prove any such thing."

"Aw, be still! Prove--prove nothin'. When a cat and a sasser of
milk's shut up together and the milk's gone, you don't need proof
to know where it's gone, do you? Don't talk to me about proof, Jed
Winslow. Put a thief alongside of money and anybody knows what'll
happen. Why, YOU know what's happened yourself. You know darn
well Charlie Phillips has stole the money that's gone from the
bank. Down inside you you're sartin sure of it; and I don't want
any better proof of THAT than just your face, Shavin's."

This time Jed did not attempt to contradict. Instead he tried a
new hazard.

"Phin," he pleaded, "don't be too hard. Just think of what'll
happen if you come out with that--that wild-goose yarn of yours.
Think of Maud, poor girl. You haven't got anything against her,
have you?"

"Yes, I have. She's stuck-up and nose in the air and looks at me
as if I was some sort of--of a bug she wouldn't want to step on for
fear of mussin' up her shoes. I never did like her, blast her.
But leavin' that all to one side, she's Sam Hunniwell's young-one
and that's enough for me."

"But she's his only child, Phin."

"Good enough! I had a boy; he was an only child, too, you'll
remember. Where is he now? Out somewheres where he don't belong,
fightin' and bein' killed to help Wall Street get