"Of my disgrace? No, I was obliged to tell a falsehood and represent that I was going to Canada on business. I have been in constant dread that my crime would get into the papers and she would hear it. Poor mother! I believe that it would kill her!"
"You didn't think of that when you took the bonds?"
"I thought of nothing. Bowman gave me no time to think. What I did was done on the impulse of the moment without consideration. Oh, if I had only stopped to think!" he concluded with a sigh.
For Fred it was a great moral lesson. He was honest by nature, but there is no one who cannot be strengthened against temptation. The sum taken by Sinclair was large, but it had not made him happy. Probably he had never been more miserable than in the interval that had elapsed since his theft. Judging between him and Bowman. Fred felt sure that it was Sinclair who had been weak, and Bowman who had been wicked. Now his only hope was to recover his lost position, to get back to where he stood when he yielded to temptation and robbed a kind and considerate employer.
"Where is Bowman this afternoon?" asked Sinclair.
"He told me he was going to ride to Hyacinth with the landlord. He seems to find time hanging heavy on his hands."
"He is much better off than I am. It is bad enough to be sick but when to this is added a burden of remorse, you can imagine that my position is not enviable."
At five o'clock Fred rose from his chair and took his hat.
"I must be going," he said. "We have supper at the hotel at six, and I may as well be punctual."
"Will you call again?" asked Sinclair, eagerly.