a sudden, the truth burst on the boy, and he flushed with
anger. The doctor saw his heightened color, and mistook it for guilt.

"And I trusted you so, Billy," he said sorrowfully.

"Dr. McAlister, do you think I did anything to your horse?"

"Who else?"

"I don't know, and I don't care," the boy returned recklessly. Then,
with an effort, he regained his self-control. "Dr. McAlister," he said,
and his true, honest blue eyes met the doctor's eyes steadily; "Dr.
McAlister, on my honor, I have not been near Vigil, nor done anything to
hurt her. That is all I can say about it."

There was a silence, long and tense. Then, as the doctor made no sign,
Billy turned away and went out of the office.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The doctor was attempting to argue with Theodora.

"But, Teddy, who else can have done it? Nobody else had been to the
barn."

"How do you know?"

"Because the only way to get in was through the front door. Phebe and
Isabel were in plain sight of that, all the morning, and they saw no one
but Billy go there."

Theodora's lips closed stubbornly, and her eyes, as they met those of
her father, flashed with defiance. When at last she spoke, her manner
was respectful, but her voice had an odd, metallic ring.

"And so Billy must have done it. What do you suppose he did to Vigil?"

"She was poisoned," the doctor answered briefly, for the subject was as
painful to him as to his daughter.

"Do you think he did it on purpose?" Theodora's tone was hostile.

"Teddy!"

"Well, I know," she said passionately, for her self-control had been
exhausted during the past half-hour; "but you might as well say he gave
the horse poison out of spite as to say he did it at all. It's so like
Billy to go meddling with what doesn't belong to him. It's so like him
to lie about it afterwards. Papa McAlister, Billy Farrington doesn't
lie, and he has said to you over and over again that he had nothing to
do with it!"

"But Phebe says--"

"Phebe!" Theodora's voice was expressive. "You believe her above Billy?"

"Teddy, dear," the doctor's voice was very low and sorrowful; "don't
make it harder for me than you can help. I have loved Billy like my own
boy, and I have believed in his honor as I have in Hu's; but I have
found something that tells the story. Down in the hay in Vigil's manger,
I found this bottle." He held it up as he spoke, and Theodora read the
label. "It is what Billy uses for his pictures; no one else t