The other turned to him suddenly. “I don't think you quite realize the circumstances,” said he. “You come to me with this tale about Mr. Hickman. Do you know that he is my brother-in-law?” Samuel clutched the arms of his chair and stared aghast. “Your brother-in-law!” he gasped. “Yes,” said the other. “He is my wife's only brother.” Samuel was dumb with dismay. And the doctor continued to pace the floor. “You see,” he said, “the position you put me in.” “Yes,” said the boy. “I see. It's very terrible.” But then he rushed on in dreadful anxiety: “But, doctor, you didn't know it. Oh, I'm sure--please tell me that you didn't know it!” “I didn't know it!” exclaimed the doctor. “And what is more, I don't know it now! I have heard these rumors, of course. Mr. Hickman is a man of vast responsibilities, and he has many enemies. Am I to believe every tale that I hear about him?” “No,” said Samuel, taken aback. “But this is something that everyone knows.” “Everyone!” cried the other. “Who is everyone? Who told it to you?” “I--I can't tell,” stammered the boy. “How does he know it?” continued the doctor. “And what sort of a man is he? Is he a good man?” “No,” admitted Samuel weakly. “I am afraid he is not.” “Is he a man who loves and serves others? A man who never speaks falsehood--whom you would believe in a matter that involved your dearest friends? Would believe him if he told you that I was a briber and a scoundrel?” Samuel was obliged to admit that Charlie Swift was not a man like that. “Dr. Vince,” he said quickly, “I admit that I am at fault. I have come to you too soon. I will find out about these things; and if they are true, I will prove them to you. If they are not, I will go away in shame, and never come to trouble you again as long as I live.” Samuel said this very humbly; and yet there was a note of grim resolution in his voice--which the doctor did not fail to note. “But, Samuel!” he protested. “Why--why should you meddle in these things?” “Meddle in them!” exclaimed the other. “Surely, if they are true, I have to. You don't mean that if they were proven, you would let such men remain in your church?” “I don't think,” said the doctor gravely, “that I can say what I should do in case of anything so terrible.” “No,” was Samuel's reply, “you are right. The first thing is to find out the truth.” And so Samuel took his departure. He went straight to his friend Finnegan. “Hello!” exclaimed Finnegan. Then, “What about that job of mine?” he asked with a broad grin. “Dr. Vince says he will look out for you,” was the boy's reply. “But I'm not ready to talk about that yet. There's something else come up.” He waited until his friend had attended to the wants of a customer, and until the customer had consumed a glass of beer and departed. Then he called the bartender into a corner. “Mr. Finnegan,” he said, “I want to know something very important.” “What is it?” asked the other.