Volcano weekly ledger., 1856-12-06
:ience. "my opinion is unehanred.n y

'By my faith. I'm innocent" she family
sighed, and, swooning, fell back upon the
pavement, and doubtless would have sustain
ed some very serious injury, had not the boy
interposed all the strength he could command
to break the fall When he saw her notion
less at his feet, oh, how freely he forgave herl
He wished he had never said word about
the half-dolar at all, but quietly borne the
loss.
No sooner had she fallen than a knot of
by-standers gathered around her, each advis-
ing some means of restoration
John rushed into the office, and was in the
act of drawing some water for the poor wo-
man, when Mr. Fleecem entered and desired
his immediate services up stairs upon special
business Knowing there was no means of
eluding, even for an instant, the lynx-eye Of
his employer, and fearing to say aught about
the matter, lest he should endanger the wo-
mans means of subsistence, at once putting
on the best appearance he could command, he
proceeded up stairs In the course of an
hour he came down again, and having aseer-
tanned, by indirectly questioning Swivel, that
the woman had recovered, and was attending
the sale of her fruit, he felt somewhat reliev-
ed; but resolved, as soon as an opportunity
should occur, to go and offer her a free par
don, with the half-dolar into the bargain, if
she would confess the offence, of which he
was perfectly convinced she was guilty. BY
some unusual fatality, however, hour after
hour elapsed without any chance occurring;
and thus the day gradually wore away, till
post time arrived and now he felt fully as
sured that nothing could prevent the carrying
out of his determination, seeing that it was
his particular duty to post the letters But
he was again doomed to disappointment, for
one of the other clerks, having occasion to
90 out at this moment, took the letters also
Another hour having elapsed, John found
himself alone; but the opportunity now offer
ed proved useless, as the woman had shut up
her goods and departed
Suddenly Mr. Goodwin, who was alone in
Mr.. Fleecem's room, summoned John into his
presence. "Close the door," said he as he en-
tered John obeyed.
II have" continued he, Something more
to say respecting your loss the other night.
Now, are you quite positire that you gave the
woman outside the halfdollar? are you quite
surew
"Oh, sir" he cried in a suppicating tone,
as policemen, station-houses, Newgate cells
and apple-women crowded thick and fast upon
his mental vision; "oh, sir, hope you don't
intend sending her to prison, or taking her
only means of livelihood away"
ANSWER my question:" was the cool re-
turn.
Eyes, sir; / am quite sure"
"Then," exclaimed Mr.. Goodwin, with
marked emphasis, "you are most certainly in
errorr'
John stood dumbfounded
"While journeying homeward on that night
the idea struck me that you might possibly
have made the mistake at the post-ofiice; and,
in justice to the poor woman implicated,
felt it to be my duty to make some inquiry
Accordingly, to-day paid a visit there, and
soon ascertained that a lad of your descrip-
ton, in posting two letters on that evening,
had paid bya mistake half dollar for a
penny, and disappeared before the error could
be made known to him.
Unable longer to suppress his emotion,
John sank into a chair and burst into a
food of tears. Mr. Goodwin remained silent
few seconds then reminding him that tears
were of little avail, now that the fault was
committed, bade him listen to word of ad-
vice.
"John," said he, "you have been the unin-
tentional means of indicting great wrong
upon poor woman, who has for years pre-
served character for uprigbtness and integ-
rity; and had | not been so fortunate as to
discover the mistake and prove her innocence
there is great probability that she would
have been deprived Of the means of subsst-
ence, and perhaps eventually driven to the
commission of crime, which at the present
moment her nature would revolt at Let
this prove useful lesson to you, ynd for the
future, nerer be TOO posstlre in matters affecting
the character, interest, or happiness Of any
one, when there is the least shadow of doubt :
for should you be proved in the wrong, in this
particular case, what modification you SUBJ
ject yourself to! And if, on the other hand,
you should be correct, your generous forbear.
ance would be sure to win you the approba-
ton and applause of all good and honest
men,"
At the conclusion of this excellent admo
milton, in tremulous tone of voice, John
begged his good friends advice as to the best
means of making the poor woman some com
pensation.
Let your mind" he replied, ''be at rest
upon that matter, as ! Immediately, upon
discovering your error made the woman ac-
quainted with the fact and gave her, also,
the recovered half-dollar, as small compen-
sation for the injury she had sustained.
"Mr. Goodwin" said the boy, in an earnest
tone, as he was about to quit the room, IL
feel, sir, keenly feel, how grieveously | have
erred, and also how much | am indebted to