“I will give him a chance. It depends upon himself whether he stays.”
“I am very glad of it, sir. Felix has hardly been my friend, but now that his cousin is away he may improve. I certainly hope so.”
“What shall you do about Ralston?” asked Chester, presently.
“I shall proceed against him. Such a man is a curse to the community. It was through him that my bookkeeper lost his integrity and ruined his prospects. If he is locked up he will be prevented from doing any more harm.”
As Dick Ralston will not again figure in this story, it may be mentioned here that he was found guilty in the trial that soon followed, and was sentenced to a term of several years’ imprisonment.
The bitterest reflection he had when sentence was pronounced was that his confederate, Mullins, had escaped and was a free man. Rogues may work together, but it is seldom that any tie of friendship exists between them.
Chester was now able to save money. Including what he received from Prof. Hazlitt, his income was about thirty-five dollars a week.
His personal expenses were greater than they had been, on account of having a more expensive room. Yet altogether they did not exceed twelve dollars per week, leaving him a balance of twenty-three.
Of this sum he proposed to send his mother a part, but she wrote that the liberal board paid by Miss Jane Dolby covered all her expenses.
“I hope if you have money to spare you will put it in some savings bank,” she wrote. “At present we are well and prospering, but the time may come when our income will be diminished, and then it will be very comfortable to have some money laid aside.”