"We have found the money, just where you put it."
"Found—what!" stammered the guilty man.
"Oh, husband!" groaned Mrs. Wilford.
"Oh, father!" sobbed Lawry.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Wilford," said the kind-hearted officer; "but it's all as plain as daylight. He took the money and hid it in a stump in the corn-field, where we found it."
"What shall we do?" cried Mrs. Wilford.
"It's a bad business, marm, but I can't help it. I must do my duty."
Mr. Wilford leaned on the garden-fence, with his gaze fixed upon the ground. He could not look the loved ones in the face, after the crime he had committed. The smaller children, who had been at play around the house, were now gathered about the group, unable fully to comprehend the terrible misfortune which had befallen them; though, as they gazed on Lawry and their mother, they could not help realizing that something very sad had happened.
"I'm ready to go with you," said John Wilford to the sheriff, for the scene was too affecting and humiliating.
"Oh, husband, why did you do it?" exclaimed Mrs. Wilford, as she grasped one of his arms, clinging to him like a true woman, in spite of his shame and infamy.