In the morning the strangely altered face of her son as he met his mother at the breakfast table, struck alarm to her heart.  He was silent, and evaded all her questions.  While they still sat at the table, the door bell rang loudly.  The sound startled James, and he turned his head nervously to listen.

“Who is it?” asked Mrs. Lewis.

“A gentleman who wishes to see Mr. James,” replied the girl.

James rose instantly and went out into the hall, shutting the dining-room door as he did so.  Mrs. Lewis sat waiting her son’s return.  She heard him coming back in a few moments; but he did not enter the dining-room.  Then he returned along the hall to the street door, and she heard it shut.  All was silent.  Starting up, she ran into the passage, but James was not there.  He had gone away with the person who called.

Ah, that was a sad home leaving.  Mr. Carman had spent half the night in examining the accounts that had been kept by James.  He discovered frauds of over six thousand dollars.  Blindly indignant, he had sent an officer to arrest him early in the morning.  It was with this officer that he went away from his mother, never to return.

[Illustration:  The Arrest of James]

“The young villain shall lie in the bed he has made for himself!” exclaimed Mr. Carman, in his bitter indignation.  And he made a complete exposure.  At the trial he showed an eager desire to have him convicted, and presented such an array of evidence that the jury could not give any other verdict than guilty.

The poor mother was in court, and sobbed as she heard the evidences of the guilt of her son.  The presiding judge addressed the culprit, and asked if he had anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced against him.  The prisoner arose, and said: 

[Illustration:  “I went into that man’s store an innocent boy.”]

“Will it please your honor to ask my prosecutor to come a little nearer, so that I can look at him and your honor at the same time?”

Mr. Carman was directed to come forward.  James looked at him a few moments, and turned to the judge.

“What I have to say to your honor is this” (he spoke calmly and distinctly), “and it may, in a degree, excuse, though it cannot justify, my crime.  I went into that man’s store an innocent boy.  If he had been an honest man, I would not stand before you to-day as a criminal!”

Mr. Carman appealed to the court for protection against that which he called an outrageous attack upon his character; but he was ordered to be silent.  James went on in a firm voice:—­

“Only a few weeks after I began work in this man’s store, I examined a bill, by his direction, and discovered an error of twenty dollars.”

The face of Mr. Carman was crimson.

“You remember it, I see,” said James, “and I shall have cause to remember it as long as I live.  I asked if I should correct the figures, and you answered:—­