“You’re ’way off, Dave,” replied Wakefield. “Nothing influences one more than the pleading of children. We can’t tell yet who the jury will be, but if any of them happen to see this parade to-day you can gamble that the opinion of these marchers will have a lot of weight with them.”
“There’s nothing sound in their opinion; it’s mere sentiment,” growled Dave.
“Sentiment? Well, that counts for a good deal in this world,” observed Wakefield, an older and more experienced man. “These children are dear to a lot of folks, who will side with them first and last; not through cold reason, but through sentiment.”
Indeed, almost every parent in Riverdale had a boy or girl in the parade and was proud to own it. Parents usually stand by their children when they evince generosity and loyalty and it is certain that the effect of this great parade helped the cause of Toby Clark more than its organizers suspected.
Don and Becky Daring and the Randolphs believed firmly in Toby’s innocence, but were animated as much by the novelty and excitement of promoting the Marching Club as by the belief that they could assist their friend by its means. Yet the fun of the undertaking did not lead them to forget the original cause and when the parade reached Mr. Spaythe’s house it halted and gave three rousing cheers for Toby Clark, afterward standing at attention while the band played through an entire tune. The crowd that had assembled called loudly for Toby, but the poor boy was hidden behind the curtains of a window, trying to see his loyal army through the blinding tears that streamed from his eyes. Toby couldn’t have spoken a word had he appeared, there was such a hard lump in his throat; but he kept repeating to himself, over and over again:
“It’s worth it all! It’s worth anything that can happen to know I am so loved and respected by all the boys and girls. I don’t care, now. Let ’em do their worst. I’m happy!”
After more cheers the procession moved on and as the sound of the music died away in the distance, Toby Clark, in the seclusion of his room, fell on his knees and earnestly thanked God for giving him such friends.
CHAPTER XVI
HOW MRS. RITCHIE CHIDED HER LAWYER
The parade was the one topic of conversation in the village. The editor of the Riverdale News, Mr. Fellows, interviewed Don and Allerton, got the name of every member of the Marching Club and published the list incident to a two-column article in his paper, in which he sided with the children and strongly espoused the cause of Toby Clark. Mr. Fellows always liked to side with popular opinion and he shrewdly guessed that the children voiced the sentiment of the majority of Riverdale citizens. The editor rendered Sam Parsons very uneasy by concluding his article with a demand that the guilty person be discovered, so as to free Toby from any further suspicion, and he stated that if Mr. Holbrook, the lawyer defending Toby, and the village officers—meaning of course the constable—were unable to find the real criminal and bring him to justice, then outside aid should be summoned and detectives brought from the city.