THE MOORISH GOLD.
The mountains and the lake swam before Richard's eye, as the two policemen took him between them, and walked him off to the railway station; he was frightened, but bewildered, and throughout the long journey he preserved a dogged silence, till at last the train arrived at B———, and there stood his master and the old gentleman waiting for him.
'This is the young fellow, sir, is'nt it?' inquired the policemen confidently.
'Yes,' said his master, in a tone of deep regret; 'I grieve to say it is.'
The next morning he was examined before a magistrate, but alas! during the night he had reflected that no one could prove his having stolen the coins (for on their account he never doubted that he had been arrested); he had also reflected that to tell the honest truth about them was most certainly to lose all; moreover, he had made up his mind that nothing worse than a month's imprisonment was at all likely to befall him, even if a case could be made out against him. He therefore resolved to run all risks, and declare that he had found the coins and the jewels in his father's potato-garden; he had turned them up with a hoe. How the time passed with Richard until his trial, I do not know, but his kind old master visited him frequently, and told him it would be his duty to give evidence against him.
Richard, however, persisted in his tale, though he became quieter and more fearful as the assizes drew near.
At length the eventful day of trial came on; his turn came; he felt guilty, though not of the crime
