"'What does this mean?' he said, in evident astonishment.
"I took the tablet out of his hand, and was thunderstruck to find on it these unexpected words:
"'This is not the man.'
"'Then,' said the chief of Police, 'there is nothing more to do than to discharge the prisoner.'
"Her father and mother stepped forward; but she waved them back with her hand; and the chief led the culprit out, too much stunned to yet realize that he was free.
"'What does this mean, Christina?' I asked, in a tone that expressed indignation, if not anger.
"She took her tablet and wrote:
"'What good would it do to send that poor, foolish boy to prison for many years? He was drunk or he would not have hurt me. It will do no good to bring disgrace on a respectable family. This great lesson may reform him and make him a good man.'
"At that moment I made up my mind to make Christina my wife, if she would have me. Such a soul was worth a mountain of rubies. There are only a few of them in each generation, and fortunate beyond expression is the man who can call one of them his own!
"But I was not going to see my poor love, or her family, imposed on by that scheming old widow. I hurried out of the house; I called a hack, and drove to Mrs. Brederhagan's house. I found her and her son in the first paroxysm of joy--locked in each other's arms.