Here Mr. Sharp brought down his fist energetically upon the table.
“My dear young lady, rest assured that your father shall be righted, even though—yes, even though it strip me of my entire property.”
It may be remarked that the lawyer’s entire property, which he was ready to sacrifice so heroically in the service of his friend, made but a small show on the tax-gatherer’s book.
Nevertheless Helen, who gave him credit for perfect sincerity, began to think she had judged very harshly of Mr. Sharp, and the delightful hope that through his means would once more be restored to her father the employment so necessary to his happiness, filled her with the liveliest emotions of gratitude.
“O sir,” said she, earnestly, “we will both pray for and bless you.”
“My dear Miss Ford,” said the lawyer, in his emotion brushing away an imaginary tear, “say no more. Although you will, I know, acquit me of having had anything to do directly in bringing about your father’s misfortune, it was, I am painfully conscious, the result of my entrusting the note to that villain Blunt, who has acted in a manner unworthy of a gentleman,—in a manner which will compel me to break off all business relations with him in future; I feel that it is my duty to do what I can to repair the results of my indiscretion.”
Mr. Sharp rose rapidly in Helen’s estimation. The respect with which he spoke of her father, and the warmth with which he espoused his interests, impressed the unsuspecting child most favorably. She began to wonder how she could ever have thought of him otherwise than as a friend. She even felt a degree of compunction and self-reproach for having harbored suspicions of so excellent a man.
“You can return home quite at ease, my dear Miss Ford,” resumed Mr. Sharp. “Within two hours at most I will take care that your father’s property shall be restored to him.”
“Will you, sir?” said Helen, her eyes lighting up with gratitude. “Oh, I shall feel so relieved. We shall be very much indebted to you.”
“Do not thank me, my dear Miss Ford. I feel that I am, in some respects, unsuited to my profession. A lawyer should be made of sterner stuff. I rejoice that your father should have sent to me immediately. It is a proof of his confidence, which I value. He will always find in me a true friend, and I trust he will not fail to call upon me for assistance whenever any trouble shall befall him. Your father, my dear Miss Ford, is a man of genius; but, as you perhaps have observed, is not so well versed in the ways of the world as those who possess not a tithe of his inventive talent and intellectual ability.”