Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1858-06-24

lnero Is no TulC WITHOUT all CACcpllOu.
These moral convictions are sometimes
very strong, but they may be wrong. /
will illustrate it.
Larkin, dealer in hats, caps, and furs,
had come to the knowledge that his
money-drawer was regularly and sys-
tematically robbed. Yet, so a%rtfully
was the theft committed that he could
form no idea of the identity of the gull
ty party.
He had two clerks, whomIwill-nah
n1uuv rHu rtuuuy.-
Both had the reputation of being very
f ne and exemplary young men, and he
was very unwilling to believe that either
of them could descend to the littleness
Of stealing.
After trying various ~expedients, he
mentioned the facts to ME, more as an ex-
pert than as an officer. He told me,
what schemes he had used to discover
them, and that they had all failed.
"What kind of fellows are your
clerks
"First-ratc fellows
"Show them to me, sometime
81 will. Fred is a right down good
felio w-jolly, wide awake, full of jokes
and fun"
docs he live fast?"
faNo."
aWhat is the other?"
"Ones of your moral. pious, serious
young men, who would rather die than
think wrong. He belongs to the church,
has a class in the Sunday school, makes
prayers and exhortations in the confer
ence meetings"
"Of course it can't be he, then, L
added, with a smile.
ssNo; and, on the other hand, it seems
Just as absurd to me to suppose it is
Fred
A few days after, he pointed them out
to me, SO that the young men not aware
1 had spotted them. For the next
month, I was ON the lookout for Fred.
/ followed two er three times when he
left the store at night, to ascertain whe-
Their he visited any bad places; but he
went straight to his clearinghouse,
without even stopping to 'smile' on the
way.
. But at q later period I obtained some
more satisfactory information. AS l
was walking down Washington street.,
Boston, I saw an abandoned woman
dressed in the most extravaeant style,
and leading a little girl, Haunting along
the. sidewalk. 1 passed on the opposite
side of the way to observe her for a mo-
ment, when l discovered Frank Lane
sauntering leisurely along. As he APP
approached the outcast woman, [ was
astonished to see him touch his hat and
bow.politely to her as though she had
been one of the upper ten.
nTboE, aporob (; ,nutfnrnd To NV
self. aft you keep that kind of compa-
ny, and are so lost to all self respect as
to bow to such creatures in the street,
why, 1 know where the money goes
we'll enough"
Twas fully satisfied in my own mind
that Fred was no ordinary sinner. OF
course a young fellow who had been in
the CITY a few months could not have
been SO green as to mistake the charac-
ter of the nymph. Fred was doomed.
The next day, while l was at the Of
fee, Larkin came to see me. He was
much excited.
81 have found the rogue, and [ want
him arrested" he pulled.
"Have your"
I have. You will be astonished."
81 guess not, my mind has been made
up since yesterday.
"Ah!'
eyes, sir! You ca It get ahead of me
on these things. 1 snuffed him"
Did you?"
"Yes; but how did you corner him?'
81 got my wife's sister, who is a stran-
ger to him, to buy a muff. I gave her
a marked bill; and when l came to look
in the drawer for it, it was gone After
that 1 followed him down t wn. He
went into a store and purchased some
gloves. 1 entered as soon as he left,
and wished to examine the bill L had
seen him offer in ayment. 1t was the
very bill 1 had given my wife's sister.
What do you think of that?"
"AH right; he is a hard one, you
NAV depend upon it. When 1 saw him
bow to a loose woman on the street, !
was satisfied"
"M hatl"
I repeated my remark.
edward Finney bow to a"
"Who?n 1 exclaimed, as~tonishedin my
turn.
Chimney"
"Was it Finney?'
.To be sure it was-my psalm-sing
ing praying Finneyl I would not have
believed it"
"But it was Fred I speak of"
ssFred2'
We both looked shcepish then and
was Obliged to cave in. | had made
blunder. My moral con viction haC
comedy the board.
A warrant was procured and the Mr.
Edward Finney's surprise md constcr
nation, he soon found himself in Jail
Of course everybody was astonishe'
that such a very careful, exemplar.
young man, should have been detected
in crime; and possibly some Of my cit.
readers will remember the affair.
1 was not satisfied in regard to Fred
That scene on Washington street wa
hard to get over, and when I called a
tho store after the arrest l asked him
he knew the lady, calling her by name
TO whom he had bowed.
No." replied he, Il got acc lainte