"I am glad to hear that, Uncle Jacob. You deserve to succeed, you are so kind to others." "I am glad you think so, Bert. I want to do some good while I live. It gives a man something to live for." After supper, which was taken at a restaurant near by, Uncle Jacob said: "Now let us come to business. I promised your father that I would do what I could to prove him innocent of the charge made against him ten years since." "Where is my father? Is he in the city?" "No; it is not safe for him to stay here, as he is subject to arrest, and might be recognized. He has gone back to Canada. Do you know the particulars of his story?" "Yes; mother told me all about it last night." "You know, then, that a young man named Ralph Harding informed against him, and that it was his testimony that led to your father's arrest." "Yes." "Your father is under the impression that this Harding was in league with Albert Marlowe, and was employed by him to throw suspicion upon your father. The weak point of the prosecution was that your father could only be connected with the five-hundred dollar bond found in his overcoat pocket, while a large balance was wholly unaccounted for. That made it seem like a cunning conspiracy, as undoubtedly it was." "Were the other bonds never traced?" "I understand not. No list of the numbers had been kept, and, not being registered, they could easily be sold. Your father thinks that upon these the present prosperity of Albert Marlowe was built up." "How are we to prove that?" "It will be difficult. One thing is absolutely essential. We must find this Ralph Harding, and persuade him, if we can, to exonerate your father and place the guilt where it properly belongs." "Does father know where to find Harding?" "No; if he did, the greatest difficulty in our way would be removed." "Then I don't see that we can do anything," said Bert, disappointed. "The task is difficult, but not impossible. All we know is, that only two months after the robbery Harding disappeared. It was reported that he went to the West, but this was by no means certain. From that day to this, nothing is positively known as to his whereabouts." "Then I don't see what can be done," repeated Bert. "There is one thing to guide us," continued Uncle Jacob; "the man's occupation. There is a fair probability that he is working in some shoe town, that is, if he is still alive." "There are a good many shoe towns," objected Bert. "True; the clew is only a faint one, yet sometimes a faint clew leads to important discoveries." "Have you taken any steps yet, Uncle Jacob?" "Yes; your father remembered that Harding was a Pennsylvanian by birth, and this made it possible, at least, that he had gone back to his native State. Accordingly, last week, I inserted an advertisement in two daily papers printed in Philadelphia, calling for information touching the man of whom we are in search. I will show you a copy of it."