"I can't tell you how sorry I am! I don't know what to say or what to do! I won't never forgive myself, even if you forgive me, which I don't expect."
The man looked down at her and the angry flush left his face.
"I don't know what to say myself, Miss Doane," he replied. "It's rather a new experience for me, a police station—"
"Well, I'm so ashamed and so sorry I can't talk. Just set down and let lawyer Thornton tell you all about it."
The lawyer explained to him the circumstances of Mr. Gleason's visit, and that Drusilla had received instructions to arrest the next man who claimed to come from her former home.
"It was unfortunate for me that I happened to be the next man," the clergyman said with a laugh. "But I understand, and it is all right."
Drusilla looked at him gratefully.
"You're a good man, if your name is Algernon, and if five hundred dollars will help them children Mr. Thornton will give it to you tomorrow. And now you'll stay here and visit me until you finish your business in New York."
The clergyman flushed, this time with pleasure.
"You are more than kind, Miss Doane. I believe I'd be willing to go to the police station every day if I could help the poor of our little town so easily."