"I am ready to do that," answered the witness, in a tone whose
meaning more than one understood. It was not an apology
calculated to soothe the ruffled pride of the justice.
"I call for the discharge of my young client, Squire Duncan,"
said the lawyer. "The case against him, as I hardly need say,
has utterly failed."
"He is discharged," said the justice, unwillingly.
Instantly Luke's friends surrounded him and began to shower
congratulations upon him. Among them was Roland Reed.
"My young friend," he said, "I am sincerely sorry that by any
act of mine I have brought anxiety and trouble upon you. But I
can't understand how the fact that you had the box in your
possession became known."
This was explained to him.
"I have a proposal to make to you and your mother," said
Roland Reed, "and with your permission I will accompany you home."
"We shall be glad to have you, sir," said Mrs. Larkin, cordially.
As they were making their way out of the court-room, Melinda
Sprague, the cause of Luke's trouble, hurried to meet them.
She saw by this time that she had made a great mistake, and that
her course was likely to make her generally unpopular.
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