They all thought in their innocence that Hardie _v_. Hardie was now at
an end, with Captain Dodd ready to prove Alfred's sanity; but the lawyer
advised them not to put the captain to the agitation of the witness-box.

Mr. Thomas Hardie, the defendant, won the case for Alfred by admitting
in the witness-box that his brother Richard had declared that "if you
don't put Alfred in a madhouse, I will put you in one."

The jury found for the plaintiff, Alfred Hardie, and gave the damages at
£3,000. The verdict was received with acclamation by the people, and in
the midst of this Alfred's lawyer announced that the plaintiff had just
gained his first class at Oxford.

Mr. Richard Hardie restored the £14,000, and a few years later died a
monomaniac, believing himself penniless when he possessed £60,000.

Alfred married Julia, and, with the consent of his wife, took his father
to live with them. Then Alfred determined to pay in full all who had
been ruined by the bank failure, and in time the old bank was reopened
with Edward Dodd as managing partner. In the end, no creditor of Richard
Hardie was left unpaid. Alfred went in for politics and became an M.P.
for Barkington; whence to dislodge him I pity anyone who tries.

* * * * *




It Is Never Too Late to Mend