“You are not likely to meet him here, Squire.  A year ago he happened to be over at Chippenham one market day.  There were a dozen of us there, and I can tell you we gave him such a reception that he mounted his horse and rode straight on again.  If he hadn’t, I believe that we should have horsewhipped him through the town.  Three months afterwards his estate was put up for sale, and he has never been down in this part of the country since; not that he was ever here much before.  London suited him better.  You see, his mother was, as I have heard, the daughter of a banker, and an only child; and even if he hadn’t had the estate he would have been a rich man.  Anyhow, I am heartily glad that he has left the county.”

“I, too, am glad that he has gone, Lechmere.  I have not met him for years, but if we had both been down here we must have run against each other sometimes, and after some matters that had passed between us years ago we could scarcely have met on friendly terms.  However, as there is nothing beyond mere suspicion against him, he may in this case be innocent.  You see, I was suspected unjustly myself, and the same thing may be the case with him.”

“That is so, Squire; though I don’t think that there is any mistake this time.  In fact, I believe she told her mother, though she kept it from her father for fear he would break the law.  At any rate, it is a good thing he has gone; for he was a hard landlord, and there was not a good word for him among his tenants.”

“That makes the probability of a mistake all the more likely,” Frank said.  “If I, who as a landlord, as far as I know, have given no grounds for dislike to my tenants, was suspected unjustly; this would be still more likely to be the case with one who was generally unpopular.

“And now, how has the farm been going on since I was away?”

“Just about as usual, Squire.  Bob is not such a good judge of horses and cattle as George was, but in other respects I think he knows more.  George did not care for reading, and Bob is always at the papers and getting up the last things these scientific chaps have found out; so matters are pretty well squared.  Altogether, I have no call to grumble, and I ain’t likely, Squire, to have to ask for time on rent day.  We were worried sorely about George as long as that matter hung over him; but since that was cleared up, and we heard of his having saved your life, we have been happy again.  We got a big shock yesterday, however, when we heard what had happened out there.”

“Well, that is all past and over long ago, and we have none of us any cause to regret it.  It has done George a great deal of good, and as for me, I might not be here now talking to you if it had not taken place, for it was the memory of that which led George to the desperate action which saved my life.  Besides, you see, it has gained for me an attached and faithful friend, for it is as a friend rather than as a servant that I regard your son.”