It was a terrible thought, but just as the teller had declared, he could
see that things must have come to a bad pass indeed with the merchant,
and that anticipating a smash in the near future he had possibly
conceived the scheme of making way with those negotiable securities in
order to defraud his creditors; when the storm had blown over he might
go to some city, dispose of the valuable papers by degrees, and in this
way have enough to live on comfortably the balance of his days.
On the way home Dick considered whether it were best to tell his mother;
and as he had always made it a habit to keep nothing of any importance
from her he determined to do so.
She had ever been his best friend and adviser in the many difficulties
that beset a boy, and more than once he had found that her wisdom far
excelled his own in bringing about a settlement of his boyish disputes.
He found her anxiously awaiting his coming, for the strain had been
great, and every minute beyond his customary time for returning was
torture to her fond heart, since, in imagination, she could see him
being possibly arrested for something that any one with half a heart
must know he would never be guilty of doing.
And so Dick told her what had passed during the day, winding up with his
conference with Mr. Winslow.
To this latter Mrs. Morrison listened with bated breath, and a look of
alarm not unmixed with horror in her gentle eyes.
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