The old man spoke as triumphantly as though he had just won back the crown jewels, and he looked as fondly at Arthur as though he was the young king who would wear them. "I should never have taken all the trouble I have, if I had not found out that you were a lad with a little grit and common sense, and would not be likely to let things drift down to the dogs again."
"Thank you, Mr. Andrews!" said Mrs. Murray. "You have been a friend indeed to all of us, and I am sure the least we can do is to be guided by your advice for the future. Arthur is young yet, and I am afraid I have not had much experience of the ways of the world, so that we need a disinterested friend like you at our back."
"Well, well, we shall see, as time goes on and things unfold, what we had better do. For the present, Arthur cannot do better than stay where he is. Afterwards, perhaps it would be best for him to be articled to an architect and land-surveyor, that he may learn to make the best of the land when it comes into his possession. It will take some time and money to make it as profitable as I believe it can be made, and so, for the present, you must all be content to live here as economically as you can."
It was not very pleasant advice for the old man to give or for the lady to receive, for Mrs. Murray, who had lived in luxury all her life, had begun to hope that they might leave the cottage and move to a larger house very soon, and Mr. Andrews' words had rudely dashed all her hopes at once. But she was beginning to learn the lesson of life, that the gratification of a momentary whim or pleasure might be purchased at the cost of future peace and comfort, and so she again promised to be guided by the lawyer's advice.
When he rose to leave, he went away feeling sure that his labour had not been in vain this time.
When Mr. Andrews had gone, Molly managed to drag her brother aside.
"Guess what I have got here," she whispered, touching her pocket.
Arthur made one or two guesses, but Molly was too impatient to tell her wonderful news to let him make many attempts. "I have got the missing letter," she whispered, "and it has a post office order in it. That was what Adrian meant when we met him and he said, 'If he had the cheque you had the letter,' which, of course, had more money in it than he had taken."
"Yes, we heard the other day that there was a post office order in the letter, or, at least, that he had bought one when he changed the cheque. It came out when I was arrested, but, as Mamma was only to be told that I had been arrested and released again, we did not think it worth while to tell you all the particulars."
"Naughty boy!" said Molly, shaking her finger at him. "Didn't we agree a little while ago that we would tell each other everything?" she added in a mock offended tone.