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Just then Silas's white face appeared suddenly in the door－way．He had run all the way from his cottage，so he could not speak for a moment．He stared silently at the men with his strange staring eyes，looking exactly like a ghost．For a few minutes nobody said anything，while Silas tried to control his breathing．Then the landlord spoke．
‘What do you want，Master Marner？Come，tell us．’
‘Robbed！’cried Silas，suddenly able to speak．‘I've been robbed！I want the police，and the Squire！’He waved his arms wildly as he spoke．
‘Hold him，Jem，'said the landlord to the poacher，who was sitting near the door．‘I think he's gone mad．’
But Jem moved quickly away．‘Not me！’he replied．‘I don't want anything to do with a ghost！’
‘Jem Rodney！’cried Silas，turning and staring at the man he suspected．
‘Yes，Master Marner？’answered Jem，trembling a little．
‘If it was you who stole my money，'said Silas，going close to Jem，‘just give it back to me，and I won't tell the police．Please—just give it back．’
‘Stole your money！’cried Jem angrily．‘I'll throw this glass at you if you accuse me of stealing your money！’
‘Come now，Master Matner，'said the landlord firmly，tak－ing Silas by the arm．‘You must explain what you mean if you want us to believe you．And sit down by the fire to dry your clothes．You're very wet．’
‘That's right，'said the farrier．‘No more staring like a madman．That's what I thought you were at first—not a ghost，of course．’
The weaver sat down，in the centre of the little group of men，and told his story．It felt strange but pleasant to him，to talk to his neighbours and tell them his problems．The men re－alized at once that Silas was telling the truth．They had sus－pected him of working for the devil，but they knew now that the devil was no longer taking care of him．
‘Well，Master Marner，'said the landlord in the end，‘you mustn't accuse poor Jem．He sometimes steals a chicken，we all know that，but he's been sitting here drinking with us all evening．So he's not the thief．’
‘That's right，'said old Mr Macey．‘You can't accuse someone who hasn't done anything wrong，Master Marner．’
These words brought the past back to Silas，and he remem－bered standing in front of his accusers in the Light Street chapel．He went up to Jem．
‘I was wrong，’he said miserably．‘I'm sorry，Jem．I had no reason to accuse you．But—where can my gold be？’
‘Perhaps some stranger came to your cottage while you were out，'said the farrier．‘But we must report the robbery to the police and the Squire immediately．’
Next morning，when the whole village heard about the stolen gold，they all discussed it excitedly．A few people still did not trust Silas or believe his story．Most people，however，were suspicious of the pedlar who had visited Raveloe the month be－fore．Perhaps he had returned to hide near the quarry，and steal the money when Silas left his cottage．Several villagers thought they remembered his evil…looking face，and felt sure he was not honest．
Silas himself remembered that the pedlar had come to his cottage door recently．He hoped the pedlar was indeed the thief，because the police could catch him and make him give back the money．His home seemed very empty to him without his gold，and he desperately wanted to get it back．
4 Godfrey is in trouble
Godfrey was not very surprised to find that Dunstan had not come home after his day's hunting．Perhaps he was staying the night at a public house．But when Dunstan did not return home the next day，Godfrey began to worry about Wild…fire．He did not trust his brother，and wondered if Dunstan had gone away to spend the money on gambling．So he decided to go to look for him．On the road near Raveloe he met his neigh…bour，John Bryce，who had arranged to buy Wildfire from Dun－stan．
‘Well，Godfrey，'said Bryce，‘did your brother tell you about the horse？’
‘What do you mean，John？'replied Godfrey quickly．‘No，he hasn't been home yet．What's happened to my horse？’
‘Ah，so he was yours，was he？Dunstan told me you'd giv…en him Wildfire．I was going to buy him，you know．’
‘What's Dunstan done？Is Wildfire hurt？’asked Godfrey crossly．
‘Worse than that，’answered Bryce．‘I'm afraid your horse is dead． We've only just found him．Your brother rode him to the hunt and the horse fell at a gate and broke his back．So you haven't seen Dunstan since yesterday？’
‘No，and he'd better not come home now！'replied Godfrey angrily．‘How stupid I was to trust him with my horse！’
‘But where can Dunstan be？I suppose he wasn't hurt，be－cause we didn't find him near the horse．’
‘Him？'said Godfrey bitterly．‘Oh，he'll be all right．He'll never be hurt—he only ever hurts other people！We'll hear of him soon enough，don't worry． ’
Bryce said goodbye and rode away．Godfrey rode slowly back into Raveloe，thinking about what he would very soon have to do．There was no longer any escape．He must confess the whole truth to his father．For the rest of the day he planned what he would say．He would explain that he had lent Fowler's money to Dunstan，because Dunstan knew his secret．That would be the right moment to tell the Squire about his secret marriage to Molly．‘But he'll be very angry！'thought Godfrey．‘And when he's angry with people，he just wants to punish them！He won't listen or calm down！But perhaps he'll keep my se…cret—he's so proud of the family name！And if he disinherited me，everyone would talk about it．’
When he went to bed that night， Godfrey thought he had decided what to say．But when he woke up in the morning，he could not see any reason to confess to the marriage．Why should he lose the chance of marrying Nancy？ Why should he tell the whole truth now， when perhaps it was not necessary？No，it would be better to go on in the same way as before．Per haps Dunstan would stay away for a while，and then there would be no need to tell his father about Molly．‘But today I'll tell the Squire about the money，’he thought．‘He'll have to know about that．’
Godfrey was already in the dining…room when his father ar…rived for breakfast．The Squire sat down at the head of the table and ordered the servant to bring him some beer．
‘Haven't you had breakfast yet，Godfrey？’he asked．
‘Yes，I have，sir，'replied Godfrey，‘but I was waiting to speak to you．’
‘Well，you young people have plenty of time，’answered the Squire．‘We older ones have to do all the work．’
Godfrey looked straight at his father．‘Sir，’he said bravely，‘I must tell you－something very unfortunate has happened to Wildfire．’
‘What！Has he broken a leg？I thought you could ride bet…ter than that！Well，you can't expect me to pay for a new horse．I'm very short of money at the moment．And I'm angry with Fowler－he still hasn't paid me what he owes me．If he doesn't pay today，he'll go to prison！'the Squire's face was red， and he banged angrily on the table as he spoke．
‘It's worse than breaking a leg，’continued Godfrey miser…ably．‘Wildfire's dead．But I don't want you to buy me anoth…er horse．I just feel sorry I can't pay you－you see，sir，the truth is，I'm very sorry，Fowler did pay the money．He gave it to me，and I was stupid enough to let Dunstan have it．And he was going to sell Wildfire and then I was going to repay you the money．’
The Squire's face was purple now，and for a moment he could not speak．‘You—you let Dunstan have my money？Why did you give it to him？ And why did he want it？Where's Dunstan now？He'll answer my questions， or leave this house！Go and fetch him at once！’
‘Dunstan hasn't come home，sir．The horse was found dead，and nobody knows where Dunstan is．’‘Well，why did you let him have my money？ Answer me！'said the Squire，staring angrily at Godfrey．
‘Well，sir，I don't know，'replied Godfrey，hesitating．He was not good at lying，and was not prepared for his father's questions．
‘You don't know？'the Squire repeated scornfully．‘Well， I know why． I think you've done something wrong， and you've bribed Dunstan to keep it a secret！That's it，isn't it？’
The Squire had made a very clever guess，and Godfrey's heart banged in sudden alarm．He was not ready to confess ev－erything yet．‘Well，sir，’he said，trying to speak carelessly，‘it was just a little business between Dunstan and me． You wouldn't be interested in it，you know．’
‘How old are you now？Twenty－six？’asked the Squire an－grily．‘Old enough to look after your money and mine too！I've been much too generous to you boys， but I'm going to be harder on you all from now on． You've got a weak character，Godfrey， like your poor mother． I think you need a wife who knows what she wants， because you can't decide anything by yourself！When you were thinking of marrying Nancy Lammeter，I agreed， didn't I？Have you asked her or not？She hasn't refused to marry you， has she？’
‘No，I haven't asked her，'said Godfrey，feeling very hot ad uncomfortable，‘but I don't think she'll accept me．’
‘Don't be stupid， Godfrey！'said the Sqiuire with a sc