"Mr. Nugent," said Tom Nixon, "I have come prepared to pay you the interest on the amount of my defalcation."
"Give it to Gerald. I don't want it."
"I have already given Gerald ten thousand dollars, and when I die he will have all that I leave behind me."
Mr. Nugent looked much pleased. He grasped the hand of his old debtor cordially, and said: "I am pleased to hear it. Then you found Gerald of assistance to you?"
"But for him I should not have been living to-day. He has done everything for me."
"Probably you wondered at my choice of a messenger at first?"
"Yes. It seemed strange to me that you should select a young boy, but I soon found that he had the sense and discretion of a man."
"Have you seen your stepmother yet, Gerald?" asked Mr. Nugent.
"No; but I met Abel on the street."
"What did he have to say?"