Even after the house was entered those boys were heard cheering for Stone as they marched back into the village.
“Set right down, everybody,” invited the widow. “Make yourselves to home while I take a look at the roast an’ git the potatoes to bakin’.”
“It is very fortunate, boys,” said Henry Bailey, “that this affair terminated as well as it did. This is my first opportunity to talk with you both together, and I’ll tell you now that much more good fortune is in store for you. Jerry put himself to needless trouble by running away ere his uncle’s will was read; for in that will, which was drawn up barely two months before Asher Rand’s death, and which was found in Mr. Rand’s small private safe, a legacy was left to you both—a legacy that will place you beyond need.
“It seems that your father, in those years while he worked so privately in his home, was engaged upon a very clever invention, which he had practically perfected at the time of his unfortunate arrest. That invention fell into the hands of Asher Rand, who, on learning its value, was sorely tempted and kept its existence a secret, finally disposing of it to a concern that pays a royalty upon it of three thousand dollars yearly. Your uncle’s conscience must have been pricked to a point which led him to draw up that last will, in which he provides that the income from this invention shall be divided equally between you both.
“But since Mr. Rand’s death there have been disclosures of still greater importance. Nathan Driggs, the man who caused all your father’s trouble and calamitous misfortune, has been ill for some months, and recently he passed away. Ere he died, being satisfied beyond doubt that there was no hope for him, he made a confession which fully exonerates your father and clears his name of the stigma upon it. Driggs confessed that your father’s testimony concerning him at the trial was absolutely true—that he did bring the packages of dies for making counterfeit money to your father, and, having deceived him regarding the contents of those packages, induced him to conceal them in his house, where they were found. Therefore Abner Stone was unjustly convicted of the crime and died an innocent man through the effects of the wound he received while trying to escape from prison.”
All this was so marvelous that it left the two boys breathless.
The widow had listened with speechless delight; and now, her eyes again filled with tears of joy, she cried:
“Lands to mercy! Now ain’t that jest amazin’! Here I’ve been entertainin’ under my roof a couple of heirs to wealth! Three thousand dollars! Fifteen hundred dollars apiece! Why, it puts y’u both beyond the touch of the tooth of avarice. I guess folks ’round this town will set up an’ take notice when they hear about it.”
Ben gave his blind brother a hug. Everybody laughed. The little yellow dog, sitting on his haunches and gazing at them, barked sharply, then, with his mouth open, wrinkled his nose and bobbed his tongue.
“Look,” cried Jimmy—“look at Pilot! He’s laughing, too.”