But on the very day he entered upon his term of punishment, old Jed stumbled upon a clue which was to prove his innocence.
Chancing to drop into a tobacco store which was kept by one of his war comrades, he was amazed to find still another member of his old company dressed in handsome clothes and wearing a diamond ring. As the man had always been a ne’er-do-well, the change in his circumstances puzzled Jed, and when the fellow had taken his departure, he asked the shop-keeper what had caused it.
“That’s what I’d like to find out,” returned the tobacconist. “For the last six months, Bill has been going around with his pockets full of money. He’s living at the Ransom House, too.”
This being one of the chief hotels in Lawrenceburgh, the fact still further emphasized the turn in the veteran’s fortunes.
“Ever give you any idea how he got the money?” asked Jed.
“Says he done it by writing. Bill always was a good writer, you know. Don’t you remember how he used to forge pass orders for some of the boys when they wanted to leave camp?”
The words sent an idea to Jed’s mind, and bidding the shop-keeper a hasty good-bye, he hied himself to the Ransom House, where he made many inquiries about the former soldier. At first he made little headway; but just as he was giving up in despair, he saw another old comrade.
“Say, what’s the matter with you Rivertown folks?” asked this man. “Have you come down to see Bill Hawkins, too? Ned Snooks visits him about once a month.”
At the mention of the Rivertown butcher, the crippled veteran gasped. Then he remembered that bad feeling had sprung up between the butcher and Mr. Watson over a real estate deal in which the former maintained that he had been swindled—and Jed immediately concluded that Ned Snooks was at the bottom of the charges against Harry’s father.
But it was one thing to believe this, and quite another to prove it—yet with that perseverance which had distinguished him as a soldier in the ranks, Jed set about obtaining evidence; and finally succeeded in extracting a confession from Hawkins, that, acting for the butcher, he had forged the name of Snooks to some checks, and managed to lay the blame on Amos Watson.