He was calm and resigned and very brave about it, but to me it was a dreadful shock.

You see, he had taken so little money, not much over two thousand dollars.

We could have borrowed it, I'm sure; he and I could have worked out the debt together.

We could have done it; I would have worked at anything, no matter how hard, rather than have my brother branded all his life with the disgrace of having been in prison.

But the man for whom he had worked was furiously angry at what he called Charlie's ingratitude; he would teach the young thief a lesson, he said.