Mrs. Bhaer was right; peace was only a temporary lull, a stormwas brewing, and two days after Bess left, a moral earthquakeshook Plumfield to its centre.

Tommy's hens were at the bottom of the trouble, for if they had notpersisted in laying so many eggs, he could not have sold them andmade such sums. Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such auseful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we canwithout potatoes. Tommy certainly could not, for he spent hisincome so recklessly, that Mr. Bhaer was obliged to insist on asavings-bank, and presented him with a private one an imposingtin edifice, with the name over the door, and a tall chimney, downwhich the pennies were to go, there to rattle temptingly till leavewas given to open a sort of trap-door in the floor.

The house increased in weight so rapidly, that Tommy soonbecame satisfied with his investment, and planned to buyunheard-of treasures with his capital. He kept account of the sumsdeposited, and was promised that he might break the bank as soonas he had five dollars, on condition that he spent the money wisely.Only one dollar was needed, and the day Mrs. Jo paid him for fourdozen eggs, he was so delighted, that he raced off to the barn todisplay the bright quarters to Nat, who was also laying by moneyfor the long-desired violin.

"I wish I had 'em to put with my three dollars, then I'd soon getenough to buy my fiddle," he said, looking wistfully at the money.

"P'raps I'll lend you some. I haven't decided yet what I'll do withmine," said Tommy, tossing up his quarters and catching them asthey fell.

"Hi! boys! come down to the brook and see what a jolly greatsnake Dan's got!" called a voice from behind the barn.

"Come on," said Tommy; and, laying his money inside the oldwinnowing machine, away he ran, followed by Nat.

The snake was very interesting, and then a long chase after a lamecrow, and its capture, so absorbed Tommy's mind and time, that henever thought of his money till he was safely in bed that night.

"Never mind, no one but Nat knows where it is," said theeasy-going lad, and fell asleep untroubled by any anxiety about hisproperty.

Next morning, just as the boys assembled for school, Tommyrushed into the room breathlessly, demanding,

"I say, who has got my dollar?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Franz.

Tommy explained, and Nat corroborated his statement.

Every one else declared they knew nothing about it, and began tolook suspiciously at Nat, who got more and more alarmed andconfused with each denial.

"Somebody must have taken it," said Franz, as Tommy shook hisfist at the whole party, and wrathfully declared that

"By thunder turtles! if I get hold of the thief, I'll give him what hewon't forget in a hurry."

"Keep cool, Tom; we shall find him out; thieves always come togrief," said Dan, as one who knew something of the matter.

"May be some tramp slept in the barn and took it," suggested Ned.

"No, Silas don't allow that; besides, a tramp wouldn't go looking inthat old machine for money," said Emil, with scorn.

"Wasn't it Silas himself?" said Jack.

"Well, I like that! Old Si is as honest as daylight. You wouldn'tcatch him touching a penny of ours," said Tommy, handsomelydefending his chief admirer from suspicion.

"Whoever it was had better tell, and not wait to be found out," saidDemi, looking as if an awful misfortune had befallen the family.

"I know you think it's me," broke out Nat, red and excited.

"You are the only one who knew where it was," said Franz.

"I can't help it I didn't take it. I tell you I didn't I didn't!" cried Nat,in a desperate sort of way.

"Gently, gently, my son! What is all this noise about?" and Mr.Bhaer walked in among them.

Tommy repeated the story of his loss, and, as he listened, Mr.Bhaer's face grew graver and graver; for, with all their faults andfollies, the lads till now had been honest.

"Take your seats," he said; and, when all were in their places, headded slowly, as his eye went from face to face with a grievedlook, that was harder to bear than a storm of words,

"Now, boys, I shall ask each one of you a single question, and Iwant an honest answer. I am not going to try to frighten, bribe, orsurprise the truth out of you, for every one of you have got aconscience, and know what it is for. Now is the time to undo thewrong done to Tommy, and set yourselves right before us all. I canforgive the yielding to sudden temptation much easier than I candeceit. Don't add a lie to the theft, but confess frankly, and we willall try to help you make us forget and forgive."

He paused a moment, and one might have heard a pin drop, theroom was so still; then slowly and impressively he put the questionto each one, receiving the same answer in varying tones from all.Every face was flushed and excited, so that Mr. Bhaer could nottake color as a witness, and some of the little boys were sofrightened that they stammered over the two short words as ifguilty, though it was evident that they could not be. When he cameto Nat, his voice softened, for the poor lad looked so wretched, Mr.Bhaer felt for him. He believed him to be the culprit, and hoped tosave the boy from another lie, by winning him to tell the truthwithout fear.

"Now, my son, give me an honest answer. Did you take themoney?"

"No, sir!" and Nat looked up at him imploringly.

As the words fell from his trembling lips, somebody hissed.

"Stop that!" cried Mr. Bhaer, with a sharp rap on his desk, as helooked sternly toward the corner whence the sound came.

Ned, Jack, and Emil sat there, and the first two looked ashamed ofthemselves, but Emil called out,

"It wasn't me, uncle! I'd be ashamed to hit a fellow when he isdown."

"Good for you!" cried Tommy, who was in a sad state of afflictionat the trouble his unlucky dollar had made.

"Silence!" commanded Mr. Bhaer; and when it came, he saidsoberly,

"I am very sorry, Nat, but evidences are against you, and your oldfault makes us more ready to doubt you than we should be if wecould trust you as we do some of the boys, who never fib. Butmind, my child, I do not charge you with this theft; I shall notpunish you for it till I am perfectly sure, nor ask any thing moreabout it. I shall leave it for you to settle with your own conscience.If you are guilty, come to me at any hour of the day or night andconfess it, and I will forgive and help you to amend. If you areinnocent, the truth will appear sooner or later, and the instant itdoes, I will be the first to beg your pardon for doubting you, andwill so gladly do my best to clear your character before us all."

"I didn't! I didn't!" sobbed Nat, with his head down upon his arms,for he could not bear the look of distrust and dislike which he readin the many eyes fixed on him.

"I hope not." Mr. Bhaer paused a minute, as if to give the culprit,whoever he might be, one more chance. Nobody spoke, however,and only sniffs of sympathy from some of the little fellows brokethe silence. Mr. Bhaer shook his head, and added, regretfully,

"There is nothing more to be done, then, and I have but one thingto say: I shall not speak of this again, and I wish you all to followmy example. I cannot expect you to feel as kindly toward any onewhom you suspect as before this happened, but I do expect anddesire that you will not torment the suspected person in any way,he will have a hard enough time without that. Now go to yourlessons."

"Father Bhaer let Nat off too easy," muttered Ned to Emil, as theygot out their books.

"Hold your tongue," growled Emil, who felt that this event was ablot upon the family honor.

Many of the boys agreed with Ned, but Mr. Bhaer was right,nevertheless; and Nat would have been wiser to confess on thespot and have the trouble over, for even the hardest whipping heever received from his father was far easier to bear than the coldlooks, the avoidance, and general suspicion that met him on allsides. If ever a boy was sent to Coventry and kept there, it waspoor Nat; and he suffered a week of slow torture, though not ahand was raised against him, and hardly a word said.

That was the worst of it; if they would only have talked it out, oreven have thrashed him all round, he could have stood it betterthan the silent distrust that made very face so terrible to meet.Even Mrs. Bhaer's showed traces of it, though her manner wasnearly as kind as ever; but the sorrowful anxious look in FatherBhaer's eyes cut Nat to the heart, for he loved his teacher dearly,and knew that he had disappointed all his hopes by this double sin.

Only one person in the house entirely believed in him, and stoodup for him stoutly against all the rest. This was Daisy. She couldnot explain why she trusted him against all appearances, she onlyfelt that she could not doubt him, and her warm sympathy madeher strong to take his part. She would not hear a word against himfrom any one, and actually slapped her beloved Demi when hetried to convince her that it must have been Nat, because no oneelse knew where the money was.

"Maybe the hens ate it; they are greedy old things," she said; andwhen Demi laughed, she lost her temper, slapped the amazed boy,and then burst out crying and ran away, still declaring, "He didn't!he didn't! he didn't!"

Neither aunt nor uncle tried to shake the child's faith in her friend,but only hoped her innocent instinct might prove sure, and lovedher all the better for it. Nat often said, after it was over, that hecouldn't have stood it, if it had not been for Daisy. When the othersshunned him, she clung to him closer than ever, and turned herback on the rest. She did not sit on the stairs now when he solacedhimself with the old fiddle, but went in and sat beside him,listening with a face so full of confidence and affection, that Natforgot disgrace for a time, and was happy. She asked him to helpher with her lessons, she cooked him marvelous messes in herkitchen, which he ate manfully, no matter what they were, forgratitude gave a sweet flavor to the most distasteful. She proposedimpossible games of cricket and ball, when she found that heshrank from joining the other boys. She put little nosegays fromher garden on his desk, and tried in every way to show that she wasnot a fair-weather friend, but faithful through evil as well as goodrepute. Nan soon followed her example, in kindness at least;curbed her sharp tongue, and kept her scornful little nose from anydemonstration of doubt or dislike, which was good of MadameGiddy-gaddy, for she firmly believed that Nat took the money.

Most of the boys let him severely alone, but Dan, though he saidhe despised him for being a coward, watched over him with a grimsort of protection, and promptly cuffed any lad who dared tomolest his mate or make him afraid. His idea of friendship was ashigh as Daisy's, and, in his own rough way, he lived up to it asloyally.

Sitting by the brook one afternoon, absorbed in the study of thedomestic habits of water-spiders, he overheard a bit ofconversation on the other side of the wall. Ned, who was intenselyinquisitive, had been on tenterhooks to know certainly who wasthe culprit; for of late one or two of the boys had begun to thinkthat they were wrong, Nat was so steadfast in his denials, and someek in his endurance of their neglect. This doubt had teased Nedpast bearing, and he had several times privately beset Nat withquestions, regardless of Mr. Bhaer's express command. FindingNat reading alone on the shady side of the wall, Ned could notresist stopping for a nibble at the forbidden subject. He hadworried Nat for some ten minutes before Dan arrived, and the firstwords the spider-student heard were these, in Nat's patient,pleading voice,

"Don't, Ned! oh, don't! I can't tell you because I don't know, and it'smean of you to keep nagging at me on the sly, when Father Bhaertold you not to plague me. You wouldn't dare to if Dan was round."

"I ain't afraid of Dan; he's nothing but an old bully. Don't believebut what he took Tom's money, and you know it, and won't tell.Come, now!"

"He didn't, but, if he did, I would stand up for him, he has alwaysbeen so good to me," said Nat, so earnestly that Dan forgot hisspiders, and rose quickly to thank him, but Ned's next wordsarrested him.

"I know Dan did it, and gave the money to you. Shouldn't wonderif he got his living picking pockets before he came here, fornobody knows any thing about him but you," said Ned, notbelieving his own words, but hoping to get the truth out of Nat bymaking him angry.

He succeeded in a part of his ungenerous wish, for Nat cried out,fiercely,

"If you say that again I'll go and tell Mr. Bhaer all about it. I don'twant to tell tales, but, by George! I will, if you don't let Danalone."

"Then you'll be a sneak, as well as a liar and a thief," began Ned,with a jeer, for Nat had borne insult to himself so meekly, theother did not believe he would dare to face the master just to standup for Dan.

What he might have added I cannot tell, for the words were hardlyout of his mouth when a long arm from behind took him by thecollar, and, jerking him over the wall in a most promiscuous way,landed him with a splash in the middle of the brook.

"Say that again and I'll duck you till you can't see!" cried Dan,looking like a modern Colossus of Rhodes as he stood, with a footon either side of the narrow stream, glaring down at thediscomfited youth in the water.

"I was only in fun," said Ned.

"You are a sneak yourself to badger Nat round the corner. Let mecatch you at it again, and I'll souse you in the river next time. Getup, and clear out!" thundered Dan, in a rage.

Ned fled, dripping, and his impromptu sitz-bath evidently did himgood, for he was very respectful to both the boys after that, andseemed to have left his curiosity in the brook. As he vanished Danjumped over the wall, and found Nat lying, as if quite worn outand bowed down with his troubles.

"He won't pester you again, I guess. If he does, just tell me, and I'llsee to him," said Dan, trying to cool down.

"I don't mind what he says about me so much, I've got used to it,"answered Nat sadly; "but I hate to have him pitch into you."

"How do you know he isn't right?" asked Dan, turning his faceaway.

"What, about the money?" cried Nat, looking up with a startled air.

"Yes."

"But I don't believe it! You don't care for money; all you want isyour old bugs and things," and Nat laughed, incredulously.

"I want a butterfly net as much as you want a fiddle; why shouldn'tI steal the money for it as much as you?" said Dan, still turningaway, and busily punching holes in the turf with his stick.

"I don't think you would. You like to fight and knock folks roundsometimes, but you don't lie, and I don't believe you'd steal," andNat shook his head decidedly.

"I've done both. I used to fib like fury; it's too much trouble now;and I stole things to eat out of gardens when I ran away from Page,so you see I am a bad lot," said Dan, speaking in the rough,reckless way which he had been learning to drop lately.

"O Dan! don't say it's you! I'd rather have it any of the other boys,"cried Nat, in such a distressed tone that Dan looked pleased, andshowed that he did, by turning round with a queer expression in hisface, though he only answered,

"I won't say any thing about it. But don't you fret, and we'll pullthrough somehow, see if we don't."

Something in his face and manner gave Nat a new idea; and hesaid, pressing his hands together, in the eagerness of his appeal,

"I think you know who did it. If you do, beg him to tell, Dan. It's sohard to have 'em all hate me for nothing. I don't think I can bear itmuch longer. If I had any place to go to, I'd run away, though I lovePlumfield dearly; but I'm not brave and big like you, so I must stayand wait till some one shows them that I haven't lied."

As he spoke, Nat looked so broken and despairing, that Dan couldnot bear it, and, muttered huskily,

"You won't wait long," and he walked rapidly away, and was seenno more for hours.

"What is the matter with Dan?" asked the boys of one anotherseveral times during the Sunday that followed a week whichseemed as if it would never end. Dan was often moody, but thatday he was so sober and silent that no one could get any thing outof him. When they walked he strayed away from the rest, andcame home late. He took no part in the evening conversation, butsat in the shadow, so busy with his own thoughts that he scarcelyseemed to hear what was going on. When Mrs. Jo showed him anunusually good report in the Conscience Book, he looked at itwithout a smile, and said, wistfully,

"You think I am getting on, don't you?"

"Excellently, Dan! and I am so pleased, because I always thoughtyou only needed a little help to make you a boy to be proud of."

He looked up at her with a strange expression in his black eyes anexpression of mingled pride and love and sorrow which she couldnot understand then but remembered afterward.

"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, but I do try," he said, shuttingthe book with no sign of pleasure in the page that he usually likedso much to read over and talk about.

"Are you sick, dear?" asked Mrs. Jo, with her hand on his shoulder.

"My foot aches a little; I guess I'll go to bed. Good-night, mother,"he added, and held the hand against his cheek a minute, then wentaway looking as if he had said good-bye to something dear.

"Poor Dan! he takes Nat's disgrace to heart sadly. He is a strangeboy; I wonder if I ever shall understand him thoroughly?" said Mrs.Jo to herself, as she thought over Dan's late improvement with realsatisfaction, yet felt that there was more in the lad than she had atfirst suspected.

One of things which cut Nat most deeply was an act of Tommy's,for after his loss Tommy had said to him, kindly, but firmly,

"I don't wish to hurt you, Nat, but you see I can't afford to lose mymoney, so I guess we won't be partners any longer;" and with thatTommy rubbed out the sign, "T. Bangs & Co."

Nat had been very proud of the "Co.," and had hunted eggsindustriously, kept his accounts all straight, and had added a goodsum to his income from the sale of his share of stock in trade.

"O Tom! must you?" he said, feeling that his good name was gonefor ever in the business world if this was done.

"I must," returned Tommy, firmly. "Emil says that when one man'bezzles (believe that's the word it means to take money and cutaway with it) the property of a firm, the other one sues him, orpitches into him somehow, and won't have any thing more to dowith him. Now you have 'bezzled my property; I shan't sue you,and I shan't pitch into you, but I must dissolve the partnership,because I can't trust you, and I don't wish to fail."

"I can't make you believe me, and you won't take my money,though I'd be thankful to give all my dollars if you'd only say youdon't think I took your money. Do let me hunt for you, I won't askany wages, but do it for nothing. I know all the places, and I likeit," pleaded Nat.

But Tommy shook his head, and his jolly round face lookedsuspicious and hard as he said, shortly, "Can't do it; wish you didn'tknow the places. Mind you don't go hunting on the sly, andspeculate in my eggs."

Poor Nat was so hurt that he could not get over it. He felt that hehad lost not only his partner and patron, but that he was bankruptin honor, and an outlaw from the business community. No onetrusted his word, written or spoken, in spite of his efforts toredeem the past falsehood; the sign was down, the firm broken up,and he a ruined man. The barn, which was the boys' Wall Street,knew him no more. Cockletop and her sisters cackled for him invain, and really seemed to take his misfortune to heart, for eggswere fewer, and some of the biddies retired in disgust to new nests,which Tommy could not find.

"They trust me," said Nat, when he heard of it; and though the boysshouted at the idea, Nat found comfort in it, for when one is downin the world, the confidence of even a speckled hen is mostconsoling.

Tommy took no new partner, however, for distrust had entered in,and poisoned the peace of his once confiding soul. Ned offered tojoin him, but he declined, saying, with a sense of justice that didhim honor,

"It might turn out that Nat didn't take my money, and then wecould be partners again. I don't think it will happen, but I will givehim a chance, and keep the place open a little longer."

Billy was the only person whom Bangs felt he could trust in hisshop, and Billy was trained to hunt eggs, and hand them overunbroken, being quite satisfied with an apple or a sugar-plum forwages. The morning after Dan's gloomy Sunday, Billy said to hisemployer, as he displayed the results of a long hunt,

"Only two."

"It gets worse and worse; I never saw such provoking old hens,"growled Tommy, thinking of the days when he often had six torejoice over. "Well, put 'em in my hat and give me a new bit ofchalk; I must mark 'em up, any way."

Billy mounted a peck-measure, and looked into the top of themachine, where Tommy kept his writing materials.

"There's lots of money in here," said Billy.

"No, there isn't. Catch me leaving my cash round again," returnedTommy.

"I see 'em one, four, eight, two dollars," persisted Billy, who hadnot yet mastered the figures correctly.

"What a jack you are!" and Tommy hopped up to get the chalk forhimself, but nearly tumbled down again, for there actually werefour bright quarters in a row, with a bit of paper on them directedto "Tom Bangs," that there might be no mistake.

"Thunder turtles!" cried Tommy, and seizing them he dashed intothe house, bawling wildly, "It's all right! Got my money! Where'sNat?"

He was soon found, and his surprise and pleasure were so genuinethat few doubted his word when he now denied all knowledge ofthe money.

"How could I put it back when I didn't take it? Do believe me now,and be good to me again," he said, so imploringly, that Emilslapped him on the back, and declared he would for one.

"So will I, and I'm jolly glad it's not you. But who the dickens isit?" said Tommy, after shaking hands heartily with Nat.

"Never mind, as long as it's found," said Dan with his eyes fixed onNat's happy face.

"Well, I like that! I'm not going to have my things hooked, andthen brought back like the juggling man's tricks," cried Tommy,looking at his money as if he suspected witchcraft.

"We'll find him out somehow, though he was sly enough to printthis so his writing wouldn't be known," said Franz, examining thepaper.

"Demi prints tip-top," put in Rob, who had not a very clear ideawhat the fuss was all about.

"You can't make me believe it's him, not if you talk till you areblue," said Tommy, and the others hooted at the mere idea; for thelittle deacon, as they called him, was above suspicion.

Nat felt the difference in the way they spoke of Demi and himself,and would have given all he had or ever hoped to have to be sotrusted; for he had learned how easy it is to lose the confidence ofothers, how very, very hard to win it back, and truth became to hima precious thing since he had suffered from neglecting it.

Mr. Bhaer was very glad one step had been taken in the rightdirection, and waited hopefully for yet further revelations. Theycame sooner than he expected, and in a way that surprised andgrieved him very much. As they sat at supper that night, a squareparcel was handed to Mrs. Bhaer from Mrs. Bates, a neighbor. Anote accompanied the parcel, and, while Mr. Bhaer read it, Demipulled off the wrapper, exclaiming, as he saw its contents,

"Why, it's the book Uncle Teddy gave Dan!"

"The devil!" broke from Dan, for he had not yet quite curedhimself of swearing, though he tried very hard.

Mr. Bhaer looked up quickly at the sound. Dan tried to meet hiseyes, but could not; his own fell, and he sat biting his lips, gettingredder and redder till he was the picture of shame.

"What is it?" asked Mrs. Bhaer, anxiously.

"I should have preferred to talk about this in private, but Demi hasspoilt that plan, so I may as well have it out now," said Mr. Bhaer,looking a little stern, as he always did when any meanness ordeceit came up for judgment.

"The note is from Mrs. Bates, and she says that her boy Jimmy toldher he bought this book of Dan last Saturday. She saw that it wasworth much more than a dollar, and thinking there was somemistake, has sent it to me. Did you sell it, Dan?"

"Yes, sir," was the slow answer.

"Why?"

"Wanted money."

"For what?"

"To pay somebody."

"To whom did you owe it?"

"Tommy."

"Never borrowed a cent of me in his life," cried Tommy, lookedscared, for he guessed what was coming now, and felt that on thewhole he would have preferred witchcraft, for he admired Danimmensely.

"Perhaps he took it," cried Ned, who owed Dan a grudge for theducking, and, being a mortal boy, liked to pay it off.

"O Dan!" cried Nat, clasping his hands, regardless of the bread andbutter in them.

"It is a hard thing to do, but I must have this settled, for I cannothave you watching each other like detectives, and the whole schooldisturbed in this way. did you put that dollar in the barn thismorning?" asked Mr. Bhaer.

Dan looked him straight in the face, and answered steadily, "Yes, Idid."

A murmur went round the table, Tommy dropped his mug with acrash; Daisy cried out, "I knew it wasn't Nat;" Nan began to cry,and Mrs. Jo left the room, looking so disappointed, sorry, andashamed that Dan could not bear it. He hid his face in his hands amoment, then threw up his head, squared his shoulders as ifsettling some load upon them, and said, with the dogged look, andhalf-resolute, half-reckless tone he had used when he first came

"I did it; now you may do what you like to me, but I won't sayanother word about it."

"Not even that you are sorry?" asked Mr. Bhaer, troubled by thechange in him.

"I ain't sorry."

"I'll forgive him without asking," said Tommy, feeling that it washarder somehow to see brave Dan disgraced than timid Nat.

"Don't want to be forgiven," returned Dan, gruffly.

"Perhaps you will when you have thought about it quietly byyourself, I won't tell you now how surprised and disappointed I am,but by and by I will come up and talk to you in your room."

"Won't make any difference," said Dan, trying to speak defiantly,but failing as he looked at Mr. Bhaer's sorrowful face; and, takinghis words for a dismissal, Dan left the room as if he found itimpossible to stay.

It would have done him good if he had stayed; for the boys talkedthe matter over with such sincere regret, and pity, and wonder, itmight have touched and won him to ask pardon. No one was gladto find that it was he, not even Nat; for, spite of all his faults, andthey were many, every one liked Dan now, because under hisrough exterior lay some of the manly virtues which we mostadmire and love. Mrs. Jo had been the chief prop, as well ascultivator, of Dan; and she took it sadly to heart that her last andmost interesting boy had turned out so ill. The theft was bad, butthe lying about it, and allowing another to suffer so much from anunjust suspicion was worse; and most discouraging of all was theattempt to restore the money in an underhand way, for it showednot only a want of courage, but a power of deceit that boded ill forthe future. Still more trying was his steady refusal to talk of thematter, to ask pardon, or express any remorse. Days passed; and hewent about his lessons and his work, silent, grim, and unrepentant.As if taking warning by their treatment of Nat, he asked nosympathy of any one, rejected the advances of the boys, and spenthis leisure hours roaming about the fields and woods, trying to findplaymates in the birds and beasts, and succeeding better than mostboys would have done, because he knew and loved them so well.

"If this goes on much longer, I'm afraid he will run away again, forhe is too young to stand a life like this," said Mr. Bhaer, quitedejected at the failure of all his efforts.

"A little while ago I should have been quite sure that nothingwould tempt him away, but now I am ready of any thing, he is sochanged," answered poor Mrs. Jo, who mourned over her boy andcould not be comforted, because he shunned her more than anyone else, and only looked at her with the half-fierce,half-imploring eyes of a wild animal caught in a trap, when shetried to talk to him alone.

Nat followed him about like a shadow, and Dan did not repulsehim as rudely as he did others, but said, in his blunt way, "You areall right; don't worry about me. I can stand it better than you did."

"But I don't like to have you all alone," Nat would say, sorrowfully.

"I like it;" and Dan would tramp away, stifling a sigh sometimes,for he was lonely.

Passing through the birch grove one day, he came up on several ofthe boys, who were amusing themselves by climbing up the treesand swinging down again, as they slender elastic stems bent tilltheir tops touched the ground. Dan paused a minute to watch thefun, without offering to join in it, and as he stood there Jack tookhis turn. He had unfortunately chosen too large a tree; for when heswung off, it only bent a little way, and left him hanging at adangerous height.

"Go back; you can't do it!" called Ned from below.

Jack tried, but the twigs slipped from his hands, and he could notget his legs round the trunk. He kicked, and squirmed, andclutched in vain, then gave it up, and hung breathless, sayinghelplessly,

"Catch me! help me! I must drop!"

"You'll be killed if you do," cried Ned, frightened out of his wits.

"Hold on!" shouted Dan; and up the tree he went, crashing his wayalong till he nearly reached Jack, whose face looked up at him, fullof fear and hope.

"You'll both come down," said Ned, dancing with excitement onthe slope underneath, while Nat held out his arms, in the wild hopeof breaking the fall.

"That's what I want; stand from under," answered Dan, coolly; and,as he spoke, his added weight bent the tree many feet nearer theearth.

Jack dropped safely; but the birch, lightened of half its load, flewup again so suddenly, that Dan, in the act of swinging round todrop feet foremost, lost his hold and fell heavily.

"I'm not hurt, all right in a minute," he said, sitting up, a little paleand dizzy, as the boys gathered round him, full of admiration andalarm.

"You're a trump, Dan, and I'm ever so much obliged to you," criedJack, gratefully.

"It wasn't any thing," muttered Dan, rising slowly.

"I say it was, and I'll shake hands with you, though you are ," Nedchecked the unlucky word on his tongue, and held out his hand,feeling that it was a handsome thing on his part.

"But I won't shake hands with a sneak;" and Dan turned his backwith a look of scorn, that caused Ned to remember the brook, andretire with undignified haste.

"Come home, old chap; I'll give you a lift;" and Nat walked awaywith him leaving the others to talk over the feat together, towonder when Dan would "come round," and to wish one and allthat Tommy's "confounded money had been in Jericho before itmade such a fuss."

When Mr. Bhaer came into school next morning, he looked sohappy, that the boys wondered what had happened to him, andreally thought he had lost his mind when they saw him go straightto Dan, and, taking him by both hands, say all in one breath, as heshook them heartily,

"I know all about it, and I beg your pardon. It was like you to do it,and I love you for it, though it's never right to tell lies, even for afriend."

"What is it?" cried Nat, for Dan said not a word, only lifted up hishead, as if a weight of some sort had fallen off his back.

"Dan did not take Tommy's money;" and Mr. Bhaer quite shoutedit, he was so glad.

"Who did?" cried the boys in a chorus.

Mr. Bhaer pointed to one empty seat, and every eye followed hisfinger, yet no one spoke for a minute, they were so surprised.

"Jack went home early this morning, but he left this behind him;"and in the silence Mr. Bhaer read the note which he had found tiedto his door-handle when he rose.

"I took Tommy's dollar. I was peeking in through a crack and sawhim put it there. I was afraid to tell before, though I wanted to. Ididn't care so much about Nat, but Dan is a trump, and I can't standit any longer. I never spent the money; it's under the carpet in myroom, right behind the washstand. I'm awful sorry. I am goinghome, and don't think I shall ever come back, so Dan may have mythings.

"JACK"

It was not an elegant confession, being badly written, muchblotted, and very short; but it was a precious paper to Dan; and,when Mr. Bhaer paused, the boy went to him, saying, in a ratherbroken voice, but with clear eyes, and the frank, respectful mannerthey had tried to teach him,

"I'll say I'm sorry now, and ask you to forgive me, sir."

"It was a kind lie, Dan, and I can't help forgiving it; but you see itdid no good," said Mr. Bhaer, with a hand on either shoulder, and aface full of relief and affection.

"It kept the boys from plaguing Nat. That's what I did it for. Itmade him right down miserable. I didn't care so much," explainedDan, as if glad to speak out after his hard silence.

"How could you do it? You are always so kind to me," falteredNat, feeling a strong desire to hug his friend and cry. Two girlishperformances, which would have scandalized Dan to the lastdegree.

"It's all right now, old fellow, so don't be a fool," he said,swallowing the lump in his throat, and laughing out as he had notdone for weeks. "Does Mrs. Bhaer know?" he asked, eagerly.

"Yes; and she is so happy I don't know what she will do to you,"began Mr. Bhaer, but got no farther, for here the boys camecrowding about Dan in a tumult of pleasure and curiosity; butbefore he had answered more than a dozen questions, a voice criedout,

"Three cheers for Dan!" and there was Mrs. Jo in the doorwaywaving her dish-towel, and looking as if she wanted to dance a jigfor joy, as she used to do when a girl.

"Now then," cried Mr. Bhaer, and led off a rousing hurrah, whichstartled Asia in the kitchen, and made old Mr. Roberts shake hishead as he drove by, saying,

"Schools are not what they were when I was young!"

Dan stood it pretty well for a minute, but the sight of Mrs. Jo'sdelight upset him, and he suddenly bolted across the hall into theparlor, whither she instantly followed, and neither were seen forhalf an hour.

Mr. Bhaer found it very difficult to calm his excited flock; and,seeing that lessons were an impossibility for a time, he caught theirattention by telling them the fine old story of the friends whosefidelity to one another has made their names immortal. The ladslistened and remembered, for just then their hearts were touchedby the loyalty of a humbler pair of friends. The lie was wrong, butthe love that prompted it and the courage that bore in silence thedisgrace which belonged to another, made Dan a hero in their eyes.Honesty and honor had a new meaning now; a good name wasmore precious than gold; for once lost money could not buy itback; and faith in one another made life smooth and happy asnothing else could do.

Tommy proudly restored the name of the firm; Nat was devoted toDan; and all the boys tried to atone to both for former suspicionand neglect. Mrs. Jo rejoiced over her flock, and Mr. Bhaer wasnever tired of telling the story of his young Damon and Pythias.