WON AT LAST.
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��" Last Saturday," said the man, turn- ing first red and then pale.
"Can you prove that you did?" he next demanded, without removing his searching gaze from the man's face.
" I— I— think I can, sir? But what business is this to you, if I may ask?" said Black, getting angry.
"It may, perhaps, become my busi- ness to see that that poor old man re- ceives his honest dues. Good day," and Ralph left the store without saying any- thing further, but he inwardly resolved upon seeing Fannie at once, to learn more of this unfortunate affair.
For the next few days nothing was talked of but the fire and the Deacon's encounter-— if such I may call it— with Mr. Black. Every one believed the Dea- con's word, but in order to get the mon- ey it must be proved, and there seemed no way of doing that. At first he refused to go to law, but at length his friends overcame his scruples, and soon the villa- gers were electrified by the announce- ment that there was a law-suit impend- ing between Deacon Gordon and Samuel Black, and what made the news more startling was the fact that Ralph Carey was engaged to act as the Deacon's law- yer. Even Fannie, through whose in- strumentality it had come about, could hardly realize the wonderful fact.
CHAP. III.
The court room was filled to repletion. Samuel Black, confident that he should win, wore a smile of self-satisfaction and was very pompous. Deacon Gordon, on the contrary, was very much cast down, for he had hardly a hope of success. Fannie was there, her little heart beat- ing wildly, for she realized how much depended upon the day's issue. If Ralph won the case, he won comfort for her parents' declining years, and he also won her. She knew that her father would never refuse her to Ralph again, if by his means the property was restored to them,
Witness after witness was examined, and everything seemed to be going in favor of the merchant, and Fannie's heart sank like lead in her bosom. At length a young man, rough and uncouth, but good natured and intelligent, named
��James Waite, was called, and after being duly sworn testified to a conversation he had accidentally overheard between Sam- uel Black and his wife upon the night of the fire, which was substantially as fol- lows : He was returning from the ruins, and had stopped, when near Samuel Black's house, to light his pipe. He was upon the point of striking a match, when he heard voices approaching him, and naturally enough paused, thinking he would let the owners pass before doing so. They proved to be Mr. Black and his wife. The moon coming out from be- hind a cloud revealed their faces, even if he had not known their voices. Mr. Black was saying in a low voice, but dis- tinctly heard by the witness: " He has lost all his papers, and with them that note. I shall not pay him, for he cannot prove that I owe him anything. I am in luck for once in my life." Mrs. Black had replied by cautioning her husband about speaking of such a matter upon the street, and they had passed on, en- tering the gate close by, not observing Waite, who stood screened from view by a clump of lilacs. He was cross-exam- ined, but no new facts were elicited.
Fannie sat like one in a dream until a voice — the one voice in all the world to her — reached her ear, and then she sank back into her seat, drawing her veil closely over her face, and listened.
Ralph Carey was sure he was in the right, and he worked with his whole soul. He pictured the aged man, homeless and penniless, prematurely aged by his losses and the wickedness of one he had aided in the kindness of his heart. He related the scene in Black's store, the day following the fire, picturing the an- guish of the good Deacon in words of inspiration, and when at length he closed the argument there was a silence like that of death throughout the court house. The jury retired, but were out but a few moments, their verdict being unanimous- ly declared in favor of Deacon Gordon. Of course there were rejoicings among Deacon Gordon's friends, and the Dea- con himself seemed half wild with joy. Ralph did not approach the happy group and when they looked for him he had gone.
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