"O, dear me!" groaned Mrs. Taylor.
"Don't be frightened, mother," interposed Bobtail. "You know, and I know, that you did not obtain the money from me."
"And the Lord knows I did not, and that I came honestly by it, too," sobbed the poor woman, who had a mortal terror of courts and the law.
"If you came honestly by the money, why don't you tell where you obtained it?" added Squire Gilfilian.
"I have my reasons."
"If your son did not give you this bill—"
"He did not! I'm sure he never saw it before," protested Mrs. Taylor.
"Whoever gave you this bill must have stolen it," said the squire, sternly.
"That don't follow," replied Mr. Brooks. "It may have passed through the hands of half a dozen persons after it was taken from the letter."
"Are you the counsel for these parties, Mr. Brooks?" demanded the squire, smartly.