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Today we'll be continuing little Men by Louisa May Alcott.

Chapter 14 damon and Pytheus.

Mrs.

Bear was right.

Peace was only a temporary lull.

A storm was brewing, and two days after Bass left, a moral earthquake shook Plumfield to its center.

Tommy's hens were at the bottom of the trouble, for if they had not persisted in laying so many eggs, he could not have sold them and made such sums.

Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful route that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes.

Tommy certainly could not prey spent his income so recklessly that Mr.

Bear was obliged to insist on his savings bank and presented him with a private one, an imposing tin edifice with a name over the door, and a tall chimney down which the pennies were to go there to rattle.

Temptingly till leave was given to open a sort of trap door in the floor.

The house increased in weight so rapidly that Tommy soon became satisfied with his investment and planned to buy unheard of treasures with his capital.

He kept account of the sums deposited and was promised that he might break the bank as soon as he had $5, on condition that he spent the money wisely.

Only $1 was needed, and the day Mrs.

Jo paid him for four dozen eggs, he was so delighted that he raced off to the barn to display the bright quarters to Nat, who was also laying by money for the long desired violin.

I wish I had him to put with my $3.

Then I'd soon get enough to buy my fiddle, he said, looking wistfully at the money.

Perhaps I'll lend you some.

I haven't decided yet what I'll do with mine, said Tommy, tossing up his quarters and catching them as they fell.

Hi, boys.

Come down to the brook and see what a jolly great snake Dan's got.

Called a voice from behind the barn.

Come on, said Tommy, and laying his money inside the old winnowing machine, away he ran, followed by Nat.

The snake was very interesting and then a long chase after a lame crow, and its capture so absorbed Tommy's mind and time that he never thought of his money till he was safely in bed that night.

Never mind, no one but Nat knows where it is, said the easy going lad, and fell asleep untroubled by any anxiety about his property.

Next morning, just as the boys assembled for school, tommy rushed into the room breathlessly, demanding, I say, who's got my dollar?

What are you talking about?

Asked Franz.

Tommy explained, and Nat corroborated his statement.

Everyone else declared they knew nothing about it and began to look suspiciously at Nat, who got more and more alarmed and confused with each denial.

Somebody must have taken it, said Franz, as Tommy shook his fist at the whole party and wrathfully declared that by thunder, Turtles, if I get a hold of the thief, I'll give him what he won't forget in a hurry.

Keep cool, Tom, we shall find him out.

Thieves always come to grieve, said Dan, as one who knew something of the matter.

Maybe some tramp slept in the barn and took it, suggested Ned.

No, Silas, don't allow that.

Besides, a tramp wouldn't go looking in that old machine for money, said Emile with scorn.

Wasn't it silas himself?

Said Jack.

Well, I like that old sigh is as honest as daylight.

You wouldn't catch him touching a penny of ours, said Tommy, handsomely defending his chief admirer from suspicion.

Whoever it was had better tell and not wait to be found out, said Demi, 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.

Bear walked in among them.

Tommy repeated the story of his loss, and as he listened, Mr.

Bear's face grew graver and graver, for with all their faults and follies, the lads till now had been honest.

Take your seats, he said.

And when all were in their places, he added slowly as his eye went from face to face with a grieved look that was harder to bear than a storm of words.

Now, boys, I shall ask each one of you a single question, and I want an honest answer.

I'm not going to try to frighten, bribe or surprise the truth out of you, for every one of you have got a conscience and know what it is, for now's the time to undo the wrong done to Tommy and set yourselves right before us all.

I can forgive the yielding, the sudden temptation, much easier than I can deceit.

Don't add a lie to the theft, but confess frankly, and we will all try to help you.

Make us forget and forgive.

He paused a moment, and one might have heard a pin drop, the room was so still.

Then, slowly and impressively, he put the question to each one, receiving the same answer in varying tones from all.

Every face was flushed and excited so that Mr.

Bear could not take color as a witness.

And some of the little boys were so frightened that they stammered over the two short words as if guilty, though it was evident that they could not be.

When he came to Nat, his voice softened, for the poor lad looked so wretched mr.

Bear felt for him.

He believed him to be the culprit and hoped to save the boy from another lie by winning him to tell the truth without fear.

Now, my son, give me an honest answer.

Did you take the money?

No, sir.

And that looked up at him imploringly as the words fell from his trembling lips.

Somebody hissed stop that.

Cried Mr.

Bear with a sharp wrap on his desk as he looked sternly toward the corner.

Whence the sound came, Ned, Jack and Emile sat there, and the first two looked ashamed of themselves.

But Emile called out, It wasn't me, uncle.

I'd be ashamed to hit a fellow when he's down.

Good for you.

Cried Tommy, who was in a sad state of affliction at the trouble his unlucky dollar had made.

Silence.

Commanded Mr.

Bear, and when it came he said soberly I'm very sorry, Nat, but evidences are against you, and your old fault makes us more ready to doubt you than we should be if we could trust you as we do some of the boys who never fib.

But mind, my child, I do not charge you with this theft.

I shall not punish you for it till I'm perfectly sure, nor ask anything more about 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 and confess it, and I will forgive and help you to amend.

If you are innocent, the truth will appear sooner or later.

In the instant it does, I will be the first to beg your pardon for doubting you and will 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 read in the many eyes fixed on him.

I hope not.

Mr.

Bear 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 broke the silence.

Mr.

Bear shook his head and added regretfully, there's nothing more to be done then, and I have but one thing to say.

I shall not speak of this again, and I wish you all to follow my example.

I cannot expect you to feel as kindly toward anyone whom you suspect as before this happened, but I do expect and desire that you will not torment the suspected person in any way.

He will have a hard enough time without that.

Now go to your lessons.

Father bear.

Let Nat off.

Too easy, muttered Ned to Emil as they got out their books.

Hold your tongue, growled Emile, who felt that this event was a blot upon the family honor.

Many of the boys agreed with Ned, but Mr.

Bear was right nevertheless.

And Nat would have been wiser to confess on the spot and have the trouble over.

For even the hardest whipping he ever received from his father was far easier to bear than the cold looks, the avoidance and general suspicion that met him on all sides.

If ever a boy was sent to Coventry and kept there, it was poor Nat, and he suffered a week of slow torture, though not a hand was raised against him, and hardly a word said.

That was the worst of it.

If they would only have talked it out or even thrashed him all round, he could have stood it better than the silent distrust that made very face so terrible to meet.

Even Mrs.

Bear's showed traces of it, though her manner was nearly as kind as ever.

But the sorrowful, anxious look in Father Bear'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 stood up for him stoutly against all the rest.

This was Daisy.

She could not explain why she trusted him against all appearances.

She only felt that she could not doubt him, and her warm sympathy made her strong to take his part.

She would not hear a word against him from anyone and actually slapped her beloved Demi when he tried to convince her that it must have been Nat, because no one else knew where the money was.

Maybe the hens ate it.

They're greedy old things, she said, and when 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 loved her all the better for it.

Nat often said after it was over that he couldn't have stood it if it had not been for Daisy.

When the others shunned him, she clung to him closer than ever and turned her back on the rest.

She did not sit on the stairs now when he solaced himself with the old fiddle, but went in and sat beside him, listening with a face so full of confidence and affection that Nat forgot disgrace for a time and was happy.

She asked him to help her with her lessons.

She cooked him marvelous messes in her kitchen, which he ate manfully, no matter what they were.

Her gratitude gave a sweet flavor to the most distasteful.

She proposed impossible games of cricket and ball.

When she found that he shrank from joining the other boys, she put Little Nosegaze from her garden on his desk and tried in every way to show that she was not a fairweather friend, but faithful through evil as well as good repute.

NAN soon followed her example in kindness at least curbed her sharp tongue, and kept her scornful little Nose from any demonstration of doubt or dislike, which was good of Madame Giddy Gaddy, for she firmly believed that Nat took the money.

Most of the boys led him severely alone, but Dan, though he said he despised him for being a coward, watched over him with a grim sort of protection and promptly cuffed any lad who dared to molest his mate or make him afraid.

His idea of friendship was as high as Daisy's, and in his own rough way he lived up to it as loyally.

Sitting by the brook one afternoon, absorbed in the study of the domestic habits of water spiders, he overheard a bit of conversation on the other side of the wall.

Ned, who was intensely inquisitive, had been on tenterhooks to know certainly who was the culprit, for of late one or two of the boys had begun to think that they were wrong.

Nat was so steadfast in his denials and so meek in his endurance of their neglect.

This doubt had teased Ned past bearing, and he had several times privately beset Nat with questions, regardless of Mr.

Bear's express command.

Finding Nat reading alone on the shady side of the wall, ned could not resist stopping for a nibble at the forbidden subject.

He had worried Nat for some ten minutes before Dan arrived, and the first words 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's mean of you to keep nagging at me on the sly when Father Bear told 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 believe but 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's always been so good to me, said Nat so earnestly that Dan forgot his spiders and rose quickly to thank him.

But Ned's next words arrested him.

I know Dan did it and gave the money to you.

Shouldn't wonder if he got his living picking pockets before he came here, for nobody knows anything about him but you, said Ned, not believing his own words but hoping to get the truth out of Nat by making 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.

Bear all about it.

I don't want to tell tales, but by George I will.

If you don't let Dan alone then you'll be a sneak as well as a liar and a thief, began Ned with a jeer.

Fernat had borne insult to himself so meekly the other did not believe he would dare to face the master just to stand up for Dan.

What he might have added I cannot tell, for the words were hardly out of his mouth when a long arm from behind took him by the collar 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 foot on either side of the narrow stream glaring down at the discomfited youth in the water.

I was only in fun, said Ned.

You are a sneak yourself to bad your GNAT round the corner.

Let me catch you at it again and I'll salse you in the river next time.

Get up and clear out.

Thundered dan in a rage Ned fled dripping, and his impromptu sits bath evidently did him good.

Free was very respectful to both the boys after that and seemed to have left his curiosity in the brook as he vanished.

Dan jumped over the wall and found Nat lying as if quite worn out and bowed down with his troubles.

He won't pester you again, I guess.

If he does, just tell me and I'll see 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 face away.

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 is your old bugs and things.

And Nat laughed incredulously.

I want a butterfly net as much as you want to fiddle.

Why shouldn't I?

Steal the money for it as much as you, said Dan, still turning away and busily punching holes in the turf with his stick.

I don't think you would.

You like to fight and knock folks round sometimes, but you don't lie, and I don't believe you'd steal.

And that 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 Paige.

So you see, I'm a bad lot, said Dan, speaking in the rough, reckless way which he had been learning to drop lately.

Oh, 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 and showed that he did by turning round with a queer expression in his face.

OE only answered, I won't say anything about it, but don't you fret, and we'll pull through somehow.

See if we don't.

Something in his face and manner gave Nat a new idea, and he said, 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 so hard to have them all hate me for nothing.

I don't think I can bear it much longer.

If I had any place to go to, I'd run away.

I love Plumfield dearly, but I'm not brave and big like you, so I must stay and wait till someone shows them that I haven't lied.

As he spoke, Nat looked so broken and despairing that Dan could not bear it and muttered, huskily, you won't wait long.

And he walked rapidly away and was seen no more for hours.

What is the matter with Dan?

Asked the boys of one another.

Several times during the Sunday that followed, a week which seemed as if it would never end.

Dan was often moody, but that day he was so sober and silent that no one could get anything out of him.

When they walked, he strayed away from the rest and came home late.

He took no part in the evening conversation, but sat in the shadow, so busy with his own thoughts that he scarcely seemed to hear what was going on.

When Mrs.

Jo showed him an unusually good report in the Conscience book, he looked at it without a smile and said wistfully, you think I'm getting on, don't you?

Excellently, Dan, and I'm so pleased because I always thought you 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, an expression of mingled pride and love and sorrow, which she could not understand then, but remembered afterward.

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

Are you sick, dear?

Asked Mrs.

Joe 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 went away looking as if he had said goodbye to something.

Dear.

Poor Dan.

He takes Nat's disgrace to heart sadly.

He is a strange boy.

I wonder if I ever shall understand him thoroughly, said Mrs.

Joe to herself, as she thought over Dan's late improvement with real satisfaction, yet felt that there was more in the lad than she had at first suspected.

One of the 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 my money, so I guess we won't be partners any longer.

And with that, Tommy rubbed out the sign t bangs Co.

Nat had been very proud of the co and had hunted eggs industriously, kept his accounts all straight, and had added a good sum to his income from the sale of his share of stock and trade.

Oh, Tom, must you?

He said, feeling that his good name was gone forever in the business world.

If this was done, I must returned Tommy firmly.

Emile says that when one man beasels believe that's the word it means to take money and cut away with it the property of a firm, the other one sues him or pitches into him somehow and won't have anything more to do with him.

Now you have bezeled 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 you don't think I took your money.

Do let me hunt for you.

I won't ask any wages, but do it for nothing.

I know all the places and I like it, pleaded Nat.

But Tommy shook his head and his jolly round face looked suspicious and hard as he said shortly, can't do it.

Wish you didn't know the places.

Mind you don't go hunting on the sly and speculate in my eggs.

Hornat was so hurt that he could not get over it.

He felt that he had lost not only his partner and patron, but that he was bankrupt in honor and an outlaw from the business community.

No one trusted his word, written or spoken, in spite of his efforts to redeem the past falsehood.

A sign was down, a firm broken up and he a ruined man.

The barn, which was the boy's wall street knew him no more.

Cockletop and her sisters cackled for him in vain and really seemed to take his misfortune to heart for Eggs were fewer, and some of the Bidies retired in disgust to new nests which Tommy could not find.

They trust me, said Nat when he heard of it, and though the boys shouted at the idea, nat found comfort in it.

For when one is down in the world, the confidence of even a speckled hen is most consoling.

Tommy took no new partner, however, for distrust had entered in and poisoned the peace of his once confiding soul.

Ned offered to join him, but he declined, saying with a sense of justice that did him honor.

It might turn out that Nat didn't take my money, and then we could be partners again.

I don't think it will happen, but I will give him a chance and keep the place open a little longer.

Billy was the only person whom Bangs felt he could trust in his shop, and Billy was trained to hunt eggs and hand them over unbroken, being quite satisfied with an apple or a sugar plum for wages.

The morning after Dan's gloomy Sunday, billy said to his employer 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 to rejoice over.

Well, put him in my hat and give me a new bit of chalk.

I must mark them up anyway.

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

There's a lot of money in here, said Billy.

No, there isn't.

Catch me leaving my cash round again, returned Tommy.

I see them.

One four eight, $2, persisted Billy, who had not yet mastered the figures correctly.

What a jack you are.

And Tommy hopped up to get the chalk for himself, but nearly tumbled down again, for there actually were four bright quarters in a row with a bit of paper on them directed to Tom Bangs that there might be no mistake.

Thunder turtles.

Cried Tommy, and seizing them, he dashed into the house, bawling wildly.

It's all right.

Got my money.

Where's Nat?

He was soon found, and his surprise and pleasure were so genuine that few doubted his word when he now denied all knowledge of the 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 Emile slapped 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 is it?

Said Tommy, after shaking hands heartily with Nat.

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

Well, I like that.

I'm not going to have my things hooked and then 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, bowie was sly enough to print this so his writing wouldn't be known, said Franz, examining the paper.

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

You can't make me believe it's him.

Not if you talk till you're blue, said Tommy, and the others, hooted at the mere idea, for the little 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 so trusted.

For he had learned how easy it is to lose the confidence of others, how very, very hard to win it back.

And truth became to him a precious thing, since he had suffered from neglecting it.

Mr.

Bear was very glad one step had been taken in the right direction, and waited hopefully for yet further revelations.

They came sooner than he expected, and in a way that surprised and grieved him very much.

As I sat at supper that night, a square parcel was handed to Mrs.

Bear from Mrs.

Bates, a neighbor.

A note accompanied the parcel, and while Mr.

Bear read it, Demi pulled 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 cured himself of swearing, though he tried very hard.

Mr.

Bear looked up quickly at the sound.

Dan tried to meet his eyes, but could not.

His own fell, and he sat biting his lips, getting redder and redder, till he was the picture of shame.

What is it?

Asked Mrs.

Bear anxiously.

I should have preferred to talk about this in private, but Demi has spoiled that plan, so I may as well have it out now, said Mr.

Bear, looking a little stern, as he always did when any meanness or deceit came up for judgment.

The note is from Mrs.

Bates, and she said that her boy Jimmy told her he bought this book of Dan last Saturday.

She saw that it was worth much more than a dollar, and thinking there was some mistake, 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, looked scared, for he guessed what was coming now, and felt that on the whole he would have preferred witchcraft, for he admired Dan immensely.

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

Oh, Dan.

Cried Nat, clasping his hands, regardless of the bread and butter in them.

It is a hard thing to do, but I must have this settled, for I cannot have you watching each other like detectives and the whole school disturbed in.

This way.

Did you put that dollar in the barn this morning?

Asked Mr Bear.

Dan looked him straight in the face and answered steadily, yes, I did.

A murmur went round the table.

Tommy dropped his mug with a crash.

Daisy cried out, I knew it wasn't Nat.

NAN began to cry and Mrs Jo left the room looking so disappointed, sorry and ashamed that Dan could not bear it.

He hid his face in his hands a moment, then threw up his head, squared his shoulders as if settling some load upon them, and said with the dogged look and half 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 say another word about it.

Not even that you're sorry?

Asked Mr Bear, troubled by the change in him.

I ain't sorry.

I'll forgive him without asking, said Tommy, feeling that it was harder 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 by yourself.

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 Bear's sorrowful face and taking his words for a dismissal.

Dan left the room as if he found it impossible to stay.

It would have done him good if he had stayed, for the boys talked the matter over with such sincere regret and pity and wonder, it might have touched and won him to ask pardon.

No one was glad to find that it was he, not even that, for spite of all his faults, and they were many, everyone liked Dan now, because under his rough exterior lay some of the manly virtues which we most admire and love.

Mrs Jo had been the chief prop as well as cultivator of Dan, and she took it sadly to heart that her last and most interesting boy had turned out so ill.

The theft was bad, but the lying about it and allowing another to suffer so much from an unjust suspicion was worse.

And most discouraging of all was the attempt to restore the money in an underhand way, for it showed not only a want of courage, but a power of deceit that voted ill for the future.

Still more trying was his steady refusal to talk of the matter, to ask pardon or expressing a remorse.

Days passed and he went about his lessons and his work silent, grim and unrepentant, as if taking warning by their treatment of Nat.

He asked no sympathy of anyone, rejected the advances of the boys, and spent his leisure hours roaming about the fields and woods, trying to find playmates in the birds and beasts, and succeeding better than most boys 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.

Free's too young to stand a life like this, said Mr Bear, quite dejected at the failure of all his efforts.

A little while ago, I should have been quite sure that nothing would tempt him away, but now I'm ready of anything.

He is so changed, answered poor Mrs Jo, who mourned over her boy and could 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 she tried to talk to him alone, Nat followed him about like a shadow, and Dan did not repulse him as rudely as he did others, but said in his blunt way you're all 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 of the boys, who were amusing themselves by climbing up the trees and swinging down again as they slender elastic stems bent till their tops touched the ground.

Dan paused a minute to watch the fun without offering to join in it, and as he stood there, Jack took his turn.

He had unfortunately chosen too large a tree, for when he swung off it only bent a little way and left him hanging at a dangerous height.

Go back, you can't do it.

Called Ned from below.

Jack tried, but the twig slipped from his hands and he could not get his legs.

Round the trunk.

He kicked and squirmed and clutched in vain, then gave it up and hung breathless, saying helplessly, 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 way along, till he nearly reached Jack, whose face looked up at him, full of fear and hope.

You'll both come down, said Ned, dancing with excitement on the slope underneath, while Nat held out his arms in the wild hope of 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 near the earth.

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

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

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

Cried Jack, gratefully.

It wasn't anything, muttered Dan, rising slowly.

I'll say it was and I'll shake hands with you, though you are.

Ned checked 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 back with a look of scorn.

Nat caused Ned to remember the brook and retire with undignified haste.

Come home, old chap.

I'll give you a lift.

And Nat walked away with him, leaving the others to talk over the feet together, to wonder when Dan would come round, and to wish one and all that Tommy's Confounded money had been in Jericho before it made such a fuss.

When Mr Bear came into school next morning.

He looked so happy that the boys wondered what had happened to him and really thought he had lost his mind when they saw him go straight to Dan, and taking him by both hands, say all in one breath, as he shook 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 a friend.

What is it?

Cried Nat.

For Dan said not a word, only lifted up his head, as if a weight of some sort had fallen off his back.

Dan did not take Tommy's money and Mr Bear quite shouted it.

He was so glad.

Who did?

Cried the boys in a chorus.

Mr Bear pointed to one empty seat and every eye followed his finger.

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 Bear read the note which he had found tied to his door handle.

When he rose, I took Tommy's dollar.

I was peeking into her crack and saw him put it there.

I was afraid to tell before, though I wanted to.

I didn't care so much about Nat, but Dan is a trump and I can't stand it any longer.

I never spent the money.

It's under the carpet in my room, right behind the wash stand.

I'm awful sorry.

I'm going home and don't think I shall ever come back, so Dan may have my things.

Jack.

It was not an elegant confession, being badly written, much blotted and very short, but it was a precious paper to Dan, and when Mr Bear paused, the boy went to him, saying in a rather broken voice, but with clear eyes, in the frank, respectful manner they 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, it did no good, said Mr Bear, with a hand on either shoulder and a face full of relief and affection.

It kept the boys from plaguing Dan.

That's what I did it for.

It made him right down miserable.

I didn't care so much, explained Dan, as if glad to speak out after his hard silence.

How could you do it?

You're always so kind to me, faltered Nat, feeling a strong desire to hug his friend and cry two girlish performances which would have scandalized Dan to the last degree.

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 not done for weeks.

Does Mrs.

Bear know?

He asked eagerly.

Yes, and she is so happy.

I don't know what she will do to you, began Mr.

Bear, but got no further, for here the boys came, crowding about Dan in a tumult of pleasure and curiosity, but before he had answered more than a dozen questions, a voice cried out, Three cheers for Dan.

And there was Mrs.

Jo in the doorway, waving her dish towel and looking as if she wanted to dance a jig for joy, as she used to do when a girl no.

Then, cried Mr.

Bear, and let off a rousing hurrah which startled Asia in the kitchen and made old Mr.

Robert shake his head 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.

Joe's delight upset him, and he suddenly bolted across the hall into the parlor whither.

She instantly followed, and neither were seen for half an hour.

Mr.

Bear found it very difficult to calm his excited flock, and seeing that lessons were an impossibility for a time, he caught their attention by telling them the final story of the friends whose fidelity to one another has made their names immortal.

The lads listened and remembered, for just then their hearts were touched by the loyalty of a humbler pair of friends.

The lie was wrong, but the love that prompted it, and the courage that bore in silence, the disgrace which belonged to another, made Dan a hero in their eyes.

Honesty and honor had a new meaning now.

A good name was more precious than gold, for once lost, money could not buy it back, and faith in one another made life smooth and happy as nothing else could do.

Tommy proudly restored the name of the firm nat was devoted to Dan, and all the boys tried to atone to both for former suspicion and neglect.

Mrs.

Joe rejoiced over her flock, and Mr.

Bear was never tired of telling the story of his young Damon and Pytheus.

Thank you for joining Bite at a Time Books today while we read a bite of one of your favorite classics.

Again, my name is Brie Carlyle, and I hope you come back tomorrow for the next bite of little men.

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