Part 19 (2/2)

He's up against it for fair, Janice.”

”Oh! I can't believe that the committee will continue this persecution, when they come to think it over,” the girl cried.

”It doesn't matter whether they do or not, I fear,” Bowman said, with conviction. ”The harm is done. He's been accused.”

”Oh, dear me! I know it,” groaned Janice.

”And unless he is proved innocent, Nelson Haley is bound to have trouble here in Polktown.”

”Do you believe so, Frank?”

”I hate to say it. But we--his friends--might as well face the fact first as last,” said the civil engineer, sheltering Janice beneath the umbrella he carried. It was misting heavily and she was glad of this shelter.

”Oh, I hope they will find the real thief very quickly!”

”So do I. But I see nothing being done toward that. The committee seems satisfied to accuse Nelson--and let it go at that.”

”It is too, too bad!”

”They are following the line of least resistance. The real thief is, of course, well away--out of Polktown, and probably in some big city where the coins can be disposed of to the best advantage.”

”Do you really believe so?” cried the girl.

”I do. The thief was some tramp or traveling character who got into the schoolhouse by stealth. That is the only sensible explanation of the mystery.”

”Do you really believe so?” repeated Janice.

”Yes. Think of it yourself. The committee and Benny Thread are not guilty. Nelson is not guilty. Only two keys to the building and those both accounted for.

”Some time--perhaps on Friday afternoon or early evening--this tramp I speak of crept into the cellar when the bas.e.m.e.nt door of the schoolhouse was open, with the intention of sleeping beside the furnace. In the morning he slips upstairs and hides from the janitor and keeps in hiding when the four committeemen appear.

”He sees the trays of coins,” continued Frank Bowman, waxing enthusiastic with his own story, ”and while the committeemen are downstairs, and before Nelson comes in, he takes the coins.”

”Why _before_ Nelson entered?” asked Janice sharply.

”Because Nelson tells me that he did not see the trays on the table in the committee room when he looked in there. The thief had removed them, and then put the trays back. Had Nelson seen them he would have stopped to examine the coins, at least. You see, they were brought over from Middletown and delivered to Ma.s.sey, who kept them in his safe all night. Nelson never laid eyes on them.”

”I see! I see!” murmured Janice.

”So this fellow stole the coins and slipped out of the building with them. They may even be melted down and sold for old gold by this time; although that would scarcely be possible. At any rate, the committee will have to satisfy the owner of the collection. That is sure.”

”And that is going to make them all just as mad as they can be,”

declared the girl. ”They want to blame somebody----”

”And they have blamed Nelson. It remains that he must prove himself innocent--before public opinion, not before a court. There they have to prove guilt. He is guilty already in the eyes of half of Polktown.

No chance of waiting to be proved guilty before he is considered so.”

Janice flushed and her answer came sharply: ”And how about the other half of Polktown?”

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