"Mr. Hendrix, will you look at this picture and tell me if you recognize the person it represents?" Hendrix took the bromide print from the lawyer's hand, and saw--the entrance of the Whitonville Bank; a man was just issuing from the door; one hand was on the knob in the act of closing the door, while the other hand was holding his hat firmly on his head to prevent its being blown away; the man's face was clearly distinguishable; _it was himself_! [Illustration: THE EFFECT UPON THE GUILTY MAN WAS PITIFUL.] The effect upon the guilty man was pitiful. He shook with fear; his head dropped upon his breast, and the picture fell from his nerveless grasp to the floor. The lawyer quickly handed the print to the jury, and then turning to the judge, said: "Your honor, our side of the case has been presented. We have finished." The jury promptly acquitted Frank, who was surrounded by friends eager to congratulate him on his wonderful escape. Tom was the hero of the hour, and received compliments enough to turn the head of any fellow less modest and unassuming. Hendrix's story is quickly told. Speculation, losses, peculation in small sums to make good the losses, and finally robbery to cover the petty thievings. He made a full confession--told how he put the bonds in Frank's drawer to avert suspicion from himself, using a duplicate key to open the drawer. He is now undergoing a long term of imprisonment in Auburn. Frank Wentworth is the new cashier of the Whitonville Bank, and enjoys the friendship and regard of the entire community. RICK DALE. BY KIRK MUNROE. CHAPTER V. FIRST MATE BONNY BROOKS. Alaric Todd's sensations as he sat on that log and watched the ship in which he was supposed to be a passenger steam away without him were probably as curious as any ever experienced by a boy. He had deliberately abandoned a life of luxury, as well as a position that most people are striving with all their energies to obtain, and accepted in its place--what? He did not know, and for the moment he did not care. He only knew that the Sonntaggs were gone beyond a chance of return, at least for some weeks, and that during that time there was no possible way in which they could reach him or communicate with his family. He realized that he was in a strange city, not one of whose busy population either knew or cared to know a thing about him. But what of that? If they did not know him they could never call him by the hated name of "Allie." If he succeeded in making friends, it would be because of himself, and not on account of his father's wealth. Above all, those now about him did not know and should never know, if he could help it, that he was thought to be possessed of a weak heart. Certainly if excitement could injure his heart, it ought to be completely ruined at the present moment, for he had never been so excited in his life, and doubted if he ever should be again.