'"I went there to seek you, and not finding you, I took down the key of the iron gates that open into the porch of the church, and went to look for you in the garden."
'"What did you want with me?"
'"You gave me on my birthday a silver crown piece."
'"I did so. My father gave it to me when a boy of your age. It was one of the coins struck in commemoration of George III's coronation. What of that?"
'"I wished to give it to God. I went into the study to ask your permission to do so, as it was a present from you. I found Ralph Wilson writing, as he says, and you absent. I took the key of the church—not of the poor's box, as he affirms, for I could make my deposit without that—and went into the garden, hoping to find you there. I then made up my mind to put the piece into the box, as it was getting late. This I did without taking down the box, a fact which that man knows as well as I do. I returned to the study and replaced the large iron key. Ralph was no longer there. This is the truth—the whole truth; so help me God!"
'The lad, before so calm, now flung himself in an agony of tears at his father's feet, and clasping his knees, cried out in piteous tones, "Father, do you believe me?"
'The Doctor pushed him aside. "The evidence is too strong against you.
I wish I could."
'"Father, did I ever deceive you?"
'"Never, that I am conscious of, until now."
'"Did you ever detect me in an act of dishonesty?"