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A NEW QUEST
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have looked bad, especially after the charge against me. But now I am ready to stay and face it. I can prove that I had nothing to do with the wrecking, and that as soon as I learned that Hemp and his gang were concerned in it I left them. If we can get hold of Hemp I can easily make him acknowledge this."

"You can easily get hold of him," said Blake. "He and his crowd are all in jail. They were caught in the act of setting a false light."

"And I don't believe you'll even have to prove your innocence," said Mr. Ringold. "They'll be convicted, and their evidence will never be accepted. You are already cleared, Mr. Duncan."

"My name cleared—and my son with me—what else could I want?" murmured the happy man.

"But, Dad," asked Joe, his face showing his delight that he could now use that word. "Why did you have to leave so suddenly?"

"To try and find your sister, Joe."

"My sister?"

Yes, I have a daughter, as well as a son," went on Mr. Duncan. "I have found one, and now to find the other."

"Where is she?" cried Joe. "What is she like? Did I ever see her when we were both little?"

"Indeed you did, and when your mother died