"Our action must depend upon the position they take. It is best for us to see your uncle without delay. If Tom hears of your arrival, he may take the money and leave the country. It will be well for you to see him first; I will follow you soon," said Mr. Hale. I procured a carryall at the stable, and drove my mother to the cottage. Old Betsey was delighted to see me. Leaving my mother in the parlor, I went to the door of my uncle's library and knocked. "Ernest!" exclaimed he, starting back. "Yes, sir; I have come to see you." "But--" He paused, his lips quivered, and his frame trembled. "You are not glad to see me?" I added. "I am very glad to see you--more so than you can think. But how is it I see you? Thomas told me you started for England, and was lost overboard on the passage." "Did he tell you that?" I demanded, astonished; and I saw at once that E. Dunkswell, on the arrival of the steamer at Queenstown, where a letter could be mailed, had written to his employer. And Tom Thornton at that moment believed I was lying at the bottom of the sea, no more to disturb him, or threaten his ill-gotten possessions. I told my uncle that my life had been preserved. "Thank God!" said he, so earnestly that I believed he was sincere. "I feared that Thomas, through his agent, had committed a crime greater than mine." "If the intention makes the crime, I think he did commit it. Where is Tom Thornton?" I asked. "He is here to-day," replied my uncle, going to the window and calling his son, who was walking by the lake. "You have been to England, Ernest?" He trembled all over, and I pitied him. "I have, sir." "It was needless for you to go there. If you had listened to me--" "It was not needless. My mother is in the parlor now." "Your mother!" gasped he, springing from his chair, and then falling back again. "You shall see her." "No--no, Ernest!" There was a knock at the door. I opened it, and Tom Thornton entered. He saw me, and turned pale. His victim had risen from the depths of the ocean to confront him. "Ah, Ernest," stammered he. "I am here. E. Dunkswell was a fool as well as a knave." "What shall be done?" groaned my uncle. "I was told that you were lost overboard," said Tom, with a struggle to recover his self-possession. "E. Dunkswell pushed me overboard; but that act proved to be my salvation. I won't trouble you with particulars. My mother is in the parlor." "Your mother!" exclaimed Tom; and from the height of guilty confidence he fell to the depth of hopeless despair. "What shall be done?" repeated my uncle, in hollow tones. "Justice must be done," I replied. "You have been smart, Ernest," added Tom, with a sepulchral laugh. "How can we settle this business?" "By paying over to Mr. Hale every dollar mentioned in my father's will," I replied. "You are hard, Ernest." "But I am your guardian and trustee, Ernest," said my uncle.