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Silas did not speak for a moment．Then he said，‘God knows I did not steal the money．Search my room－you won't find the money．I'm not a thief．’
‘You were the only one in our dead friend's house last night，when the money was stolen，'said Mr Paston．‘William tells us he was suddenly ill，which prevented him from coming to take your place．We will search your room．
And when they went to Silas's room，Willia m fond the missing bag，now empty，under Silas's bed．
‘Silas，my friend，’cried William，‘confess your crime to us now！Send the devil away from your soul！’
Silas turned to the man he had always trusted．‘William，in the nine years since we've been friends，have I ever told you a lie？But God will prove the truth．’
As he looked at William，he suddenly remembered something，and reddened．He said in a trembling voice，‘The knife wasn't in my pocket last night！’
‘I don't know what you mean，'replied William coldly．
In the strange little world of the Light Street chapel，they did not believe in the law or judges．They thought only God knew the answers，so they agreed to draw lots to decide what had happened．They all went down on their knees to ask for God's help in finding th truth．Silas knelt with them，sure that God would prove his honesty．There was silence，as the minister took one of the papers out of the covered box．
‘The lots say that Silas Marner has stolen the money，’he said．‘You will leave the chapel，Silas Marner，and you will not be accepted back until you confess your crime．’
Silas listened in horror．At last he walked over to William Dane and said firmly，‘I lent you my knife，you know that．You stole the money，while I was having a fit，and you've blamed me for it．But perhaps you'll never be punished，since there is no God who takes care of the good and punishes the bad，only a God of lies．’
‘You hear，my friends？'said William，smiling sadly．‘ This is the voice of the devil speaking．’
Silas went home．The next day he sat alone for the whole day，too miserable to do anything．On the second day the min－ ister came to tell him that Sarah had decided she could not marry him．Only a month later，Sarah married William Dane，and soon afterwards Silas Marner left the town．
At Raveloe，Silas shut himself away in his cottage．He did not want to think about the disaster he had experienced．He could not understand why God had refused to help him．But now that his trust in God and his friends had been broken， he did not feel strong enough to build up that trust again，in a new church and with new friends．From now on，he would live in a dark，loveless，hopeless world．
All that was left to him was his weaving，and he sat at his loom seven days a week，working all the daylight hours．In the town he had earned less，and had given much of his money to the chapel，for the old，the poor，and the sick．But now he be－gan to earn more than ever before，and there was no reason for him to give away any of it．He was often paid for his linen in gold．He discovered that he liked holding the shining coins in his hand and looking at their bright faces．
In his childhood，Silas had been taught，by his mother，to make simple medicines from wild flowers and plants．One day he saw the shoemaker's wife，Sally Oates，sitting at her cottage door，and he realized she had all the signs of the illness which had killed his mother．He felt sorry for Sally，and although he knew he could not prevent her dying，he prepared some medicine for her which made her feel much better．The vil－lagers considered this a good example of Silas's strange，fright－ening power，but as it had worked for Sally，they started visit…ing Silas to ask for help with their own illnesses．But Silas was too honest to take their money and give them useless medicine．He knew he had no special power，and so he sent them away．The villagers believed he was refusing to help them，and they were angry with him．They blamed him for accidents that hap－pened to them，and deaths in the village．So poor Silas's kind－ness to Sally did not help him make friends in Raveloe．
But little by little，the piles of gold coins in his cottage grew higher．The harder he worked，the less he spent on himself．He counted the coins into piles of ten，and wanted to see them grow into a square，and then into a larger square．He was de－lighted with every new coin，but it made him want another．His gold became a habit，a delight，a reason for living，almost a reli－gion．He began to think the coins were his friends，who made the cottage less lonely for him．But it was only at night， when he had finished his work，that he spent time with them．He kept them in two bags，under the floorboards near the loom．Like a thirsty man who needs a drink，he took them out every evening to look at them，feel them，and count them．The coins shone in the firelight，and Silas loved every one of them．When he looked at his loom，he thought fondly of the half－earned gold in the work he was doing，and he looked forward to the years ahead of him，the countless days of weaving and the growing piles of gold．
2 Godfrey and Dunstan Cass
The most important person in Raveloe was Squire Cass， a gentleman farmer，who lived with his three sons in the handsome Red House opposite the church，and owned a num…her of farms outside the village．His wife had died many years before．
One dark November evening，fifteen years after Silas Marner had first arrived in Raveloe，some of the villagers were drinking beer in the public house，the Rainbow．Old Mr Macey，the church clerk，was remembering the Squire's wife．
‘She was a wonderful lady，’he said，shaking his grey head sadly．‘Everything was always so pretty and clean at the Red House when she was alive！When she died，all those years ago，the poor Squire，well，he didn't know what to do．And he's still lonely，believe me！That's why we often see him in here in the evenings．And another thing，if poor Mrs Cass were alive today，I'm sure she'd be very disappointed with her sons．The Squire should make those boys do some work，but in－stead he lets them stay at home and gives them money to spend on horses，or gambling，or women！ ’
‘Come，come，Mr Macey，'said the landlord．‘They're rich young gentlemen，after all．You can't expect them to work on the farms like us country people．But you're right about Dun－stan Cass．He's a bad one，he is．Always borrowing money，and never paying it back．Always gambling，always in trouble！He'll come to a bad end，he will！’
‘But the other two are different，'said the butcher，a red…faced，smiling man．‘Bob Cass is still only a boy．And Mr God…frey，the eldest，well，I don't believe he'll be like his brother Dunstan．Just look at him！He's got an open，honest face．And he's going to inherit the Squire's money and all the land．And what's more，he's going to marry Miss Nancy Lammeter．When she moves into the Red House as Mrs Godfrey Cass，she'll make life more comfortable for all the Casses．She'll save the Squire money too—the Lammeters have the best of every－thing in their house，but they're very careful with their mon