Produced by Al Haines. [Illustration: Cover art] *TARNISHED SILVER* By MARY FRANCES OUTRAM Author of "The Story of a Log-house," "The Mystery of the Ash Tree," etc ILLUSTRATED BY STANLEY L. WOOD LONDON THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY Bouverie Street and 65 St. Paul’s Churchyard 1914 "_The eyes of the Lord are in every place,_ _beholding the evil and the good._" *CONTENTS* CHAPTER I Mr. Field Lays Down the Law II Forbidden Fruit III Judge Simmons IV Timothy’s Three Friends V A Thief in the Night VI That Terrible Eye VII The Mysterious Packets VIII Robin Hood’s Lair IX The Tramp X A Flash of Lightning XI The Treacherous Shore XII Death and the Tide XIII Near Death’s Door XIV Pin-pricks and Pellets XV Alive from the Dead XVI For Conscience’ Sake XVII Well-founded Fears XVIII Judge Simmons Again XIX Revelations XX Good Hope *TARNISHED SILVER* *CHAPTER I* *Mr. Field Lays Down the Law* In the breakfast-room of a large house near the seacoast Mr. Thomas Algernon Field sat eating a plain boiled egg. It was a long time since he had tasted such a rarity, and he was enjoying it to the full. Not that eggs were scarce in his establishment, but it was seldom that they found their way to his table in so simple a form. The Earl of Monfort, the owner of the adjoining estate, regularly ate a boiled egg every morning of his life--three hundred and sixty-five in the year, and one more in leap year, so he made his boast--but to Mr. Thomas Algernon Field this would have been sheer folly and waste. Mr. Field had a French cook--a French cook whose salary far exceeded that of many a hard-worked clerk; and of what use was such an expensive treasure unless to turn out elaborate and costly menus? So to the detriment of his digestion, but with a brave effort to keep up the honour of his table, the master of the house wrestled daily with complicated dishes burdened with high-sounding names, though often longing secretly in his heart of hearts for plainer and more wholesome fare.