st salesman we have on the road. Came well
recommended from a little town called Ridgeville, I believe. He seems
to be a faithful, energetic boy, and has already pushed up to one
promotion."

"Did any one recommend him besides his uncle?" asked Ralph,
meaningly.

"No, that was sufficient. But you evidently have a reason for these
inquiries. Do you know anything about him?"

"No, only--" he shrugged his shoulders. "Something happened last
night that put me on my guard. Didn't Avery tell you?"

At the mention of his daughter's name in connection with Ralph's
insinuations, Mr. Windom was instantly alert. He laid down his pen.
"No, tell me!" he demanded.

In as few words as possible, Ralph told of the disappearance of
Avery's money from the collection box, and the discovery he had made
at the post-office. When he had finished, Mr. Windom shook his head
gravely.

"You are making a very serious charge, Ralph," he said, "and on very
slight provocation. At sixteen one is apt to jump at hasty
conclusions. Take the advice of sober sixty, my boy. It is a
remarkable coincidence, I admit, but even the common law regards a
man as innocent until he is proved guilty, and surely a society that
stands for all that the Christian Endeavour does would not fall below
the common law in its sense of justice. I'm surprised that its
members should be so quick to whisper suspicion and point the
accusing finger."

"Oh, I'm not a member!" Ralph exclaimed, hastily. "I am perfectly
free to say what I think. Somehow I've never liked the fellow from
the start. He takes so much on himself, and seems to want to push
himself in where he doesn't belong."

Mr. Windom, swinging round in his revolving chair toward his desk,
picked up his pen again. "Stoker is all right so far as I know," he
said. "It would be a very small thing to let a personal dislike
influence you in this."

He spoke sternly. Adjusting his eyeglasses, he pulled some papers
toward him, and Ralph, feeling that he desired the conversation to
close, backed out of the office with a hasty good day. His face
flushed at his uncle's implied rebuke, and he resolved that if there
was any possible way, he would prove that his suspicion was right. He
stopped at the post-office on his way home, to speak to the clerk
again.

"Billy," he said, in a confidential tone, "do a favour for me. Just
drop a line to the postmaster at that address, will you, and ask him
to tell you what he knows abo