Page:Her Benny - Silas K Hocking (Warne, 1890).djvu/208



I knew, I knew it could not last; 'Twas bright, 'twas heavenly, but 'tis past. Oh, ever thus from childhood's hour Fve seen my fondest hopes decay. I never nursed a tree or flower But 'twas the first to fade away; I never nursed a dear gazelle To glad me with its soft black eye, But when it came to know me well. And love me, it was sure to die. .

On the Monday morning Benny was brought before the magistrates' charged with stealing five pounds from his master's office. He was almost ready to faint when placed in the dock; but,conscious of his own innocence, he gathered up his courage, and answered fearlessly the questions that were addressed to him. Inspector Sharp gave the particulars of the case, adding that though the money had not been found on the prisoner, or indeed anywhere else, yet he had no doubt that the lad had accomplices to whom he had given the missing property.

Benny denied most emphatically that he had seen the