had quite a quarrel. But of course this has nothing to do with you."
"It will not have," I returned. "My uncle has not treated me fairly, and we parted on bad terms, so I do not care what opinion you have of him."
"Indeed!"
"Yes, sir. I used to live with my uncle."
"Are your parents living?"
"No, sir; they were killed in a railroad accident in England, and my uncle became my guardian."
At this Mr. Ranson was quite interested. He asked me several questions; and I ended up by telling him my whole story, even to the missing money.
"It's too bad!" he exclaimed, when I had finished. "I can well understand how a man of Mr. Stillwell's manner would act under such circumstances. He is a very unreasonable man."
"I suppose I made a mistake in running away," I said.
"It would have been better to have faced the music. But you had no one to advise you, and did not know but that you would be sent to jail without a fair trial, I suppose."
"What would you advise me to do?"
"Go back and stand trial. You have done me a good turn, and I will stand by you."
