rom her and went to her bed. From under her
mattress she pulled out the paper she had hidden there, and held it out,
pointing to her Father's name with a finger that shook.

"Oh, Bobbie," Mother cried, when one little quick look had shown her
what it was, "you don't BELIEVE it? You don't believe Daddy did it?"

"NO," Bobbie almost shouted. She had stopped crying.

"That's all right," said Mother. "It's not true. And they've shut him
up in prison, but he's done nothing wrong. He's good and noble and
honourable, and he belongs to us. We have to think of that, and be proud
of him, and wait."

Again Bobbie clung to her Mother, and again only one word came to her,
but now that word was "Daddy," and "Oh, Daddy, oh, Daddy, oh, Daddy!"
again and again.

"Why didn't you tell me, Mammy?" she asked presently.

"Are you going to tell the others?" Mother asked.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because--"

"Exactly," said Mother; "so you understand why I didn't tell you. We two
must help each other to be brave."

"Yes," said Bobbie; "Mother, will it make you more unhappy if you tell
me all about it? I want to understand."

So then, sitting cuddled up close to her Mother, Bobbie heard "all
about it." She heard how those men, who had asked to see Father on that
remembered last night when the Engine was being mended, had come
to arrest him, charging him with selling State secrets to the
Russians--with being, in fact, a spy and a traitor. She heard about the
trial, and about the evidence--letters, found in Father's desk at the
office, letters that convinced the jury that Father was guilty.

"Oh, how could they look at him and believe it!" cried Bobbie; "and how
could ANY one do such a thing!"

"SOMEONE did it," said Mother, "and all the evidence was against Father.
Those letters--"

"Yes. How did the letters get into his desk?"

"Someone put them there. And the person who put them there was the
person who was really guilty."

"HE must be feeling pretty awful all this time," said Bobbie,
thoughtfully.

"I don't believe he had any feelings," Mother said hotly; "he couldn't
have done a thing like that if he had."

"Perhaps he just shoved the letters into the desk to hide them when he
thought he was going to be found out. Why don't you tell the lawyers,
or someone, that it must have been that person? There wasn't anyone that
would have hurt Father on purpose, was there?"

"I don't know--I don't know. The man under him who got Dadd