Matthew De Vere and Tim Short had compromised matters with Jacob Simmons
so that all immediate danger was passed. They were comparatively easy on
this point, as a little more time had been granted them in which to pay
the balance promised him; yet they did not feel entirely secure.
Fred's arrest on the charge of burning the store meant more to each of
them than a mere gratification at seeing him humbled and perhaps
punished. If they had been sure he would be convicted of the crime,
doubtless they would have been happy indeed. The case meant so much to
them that they attended the trial; and their discomfiture at the
result--at seeing Fred vindicated and honorably discharged--was more
than will be imagined.
They left the place of trial together, and had a long private
discussion, which seemed not entirely satisfactory.
"Meet me in the pines tomorrow noon, Tim," said De Vere as he left him,
wearing a worried look--almost one of fear.
Aside from these troubles, Matthew was far from happy. He had tried to
learn the cause of Nellie's manner toward him the last time he saw her
at school. He could not understand what had brought about the change in
her.
He had not seen her for nearly a week, for she was at home sick. She
took a severe cold on the night of the fire by exposure to the damp,
chilly air, and had not been able to come out since. Matthew called at
the doctor's to offer her his sympathy, but she would not see him. He
learned from his sister, who had called every day that Nellie was up and
around the house, and from this fact he argued that she shunned him.
Fred really expected no reply to his letter to Nellie, and yet he hoped
almost against hope, as it seemed to him, that she might acknowledge its
receipt in some way. If only a word, and that one of criticism, he felt
that it would be much more welcome than nothing.
Little did he realize how near he came to receiving the coveted letter,
for it was actually written, and was one that would have given him great
pleasure.
Nellie wrote the letter in the evening before the fire, and intended
mailing it the next morning; but when morning came she found herself too
ill to leave the house.
Two days passed; then came the report of Fred's arrest. The news made
her cheeks burn. She condemned herself for having written the letter,
and while the shock was fresh upon her she destroyed it. And as it lay
in the waste basket, torn into little pieces, she looked at it and felt
almost sorry she had been so hasty; even wished, though she hardly dared
acknowledge it to herself, that he had the letter, guilty or not.
She took his note from her pocket and read it again; then buried her
face in her hands in deep thought.
She was interrupted by Grace Bernard, who ran in to spend a little time
with her.
"Oh, isn't it good news?" she exclaimed, in her animated, girlish way.
"Isn't what good news?" asked Nellie curiously.
"Why, the result of the trial. Haven't you heard of it?"
"Has he been acquitted?" asked Nellie eagerly.
"Yes."
"No, I had not heard of the result," she replied, blushing as she
realized the interest she had shown. "I only learned of the trial a few
minutes ago."
"I am so glad he was proved innocent. I think it was shameful to bring
such a charge against him," returned Grace.
"He has been unfortunate," replied Nellie, refraining from an expression
of her own feelings.
"Yes, he has; but I do not believe any of the charges against him.
Father said that Mr. Rexford was confused and embarrassed at the trial.
It all came out about Fred's discharge and the missing money."
"Was it favorable to Fred?"
"Yes. Mr. Rexford had to retract his own testimony, and acknowledge that
Fred was right."
"Did they learn anything about the missing money?"
"No; but father said there was no proof that Fred took it, and no good
reason for thinking so. You know I told you when the report first
started that I did not believe it."
"Yes, I know you did," replied Nellie, dropping her eyes, and thinking
of the reference to the fact in Fred's letter to her.
"Dave told me a few days ago," continued Grace, "that Fred thought
nearly all of his friends had turned against him, and that he felt
terribly hurt about it. I know I have not turned against him, and I
shall write and tell him so; then he will know he has one friend at
least."
"He already knows it," said Nellie, in a slightly bitter tone.
"Why, how can that be, and what leads you to think so?" asked Grace,
with surprise.
"I mean--probably he knows it. Dave might have told him," replied
Nellie, with evident embarrassment at the fact she had unintentionally
disclosed, and her inability to explain how she came by this information
without making reference to Fred's letter to her.
Grace looked puzzled, and after a pause said:
"Yes, possibly he knows it, but I wish to be sure of it; and as I have
no opportunity of seeing him now he is at work in the factory, I will
write the letter and mail it to him. It can do no harm."
When Nellie had been left alone she could not resist referring once more
to that part of Fred's letter that spoke of Grace's friendship. This,
and the fact that she was intending to write him a friendly, encouraging
letter, troubled Nellie. She was very glad that he had been found
innocent, and that he had merited the praise of the judge, and yet she
felt depressed that another should feel so happy over it. If only she
had learned the news from some other source, or if Grace had shown some
indifference, she would have been delighted.
Why this should trouble her she hardly knew, but that it did she was
certain. She wondered if Grace would say anything about her in the
letter she would write to Fred. "I am afraid she will," Nellie said to
herself. "I wish I had shown more sympathy for him, and I wanted to so
much. But why should she be so happy over his triumph? The idea of her
writing to him to tell him of her friendship!"
These thoughts annoyed Nellie, and she felt--yes, we may as well confess
it--a little jealous of her friend Grace.