Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-01-24


other contents Of my pockets when l un-
dressed The figure was busy with these ar
ticles, turning them over, as If making a Sc
lection and for a few seconds / lay still
watching him. / saw him take something
which from the sound l thought must be a. let
ter, and after examining the address, clasp it
eagerly in his hand and then he turned to
leave the room, walking with stealthy steps
and carefully shading the light from my eyes
with his hand.
was determined not to be robbed ia this
manner and, slipping hastily out Of bed
contrived to reach the door and intercept his
retreat. almost before he knew he had been
observed. In his surprise he dropped the
candle, and with n sudden gasp or excaina-
tion stood still before me. making no effort to
escape, and presently began to sob hyster-
ically. | closed and locked the door and
then, MS quickly as l could lighted my candle
To my great surprise and sorrow found that
the person | had detected was no other than
the sad old gentleman whom | had noticed in
the cofTee-room reading the Times, as I have
told you.
perceived Immediately that my watch and
purse, with one or two rings, were lying on
the table undisturbed. 1t was evident, there
fore, that this was 10 common thief
"What have you taken Z" I asked "what
motive had you in coming to my room?"
felt very sorry for the poor man. hc
seemed in such distress and suppose some
thing in my look or tone of voice, made him
aware Of it,
~ will tell you, >" he said, "f you will only
be silent and promise not to betray me. |
am the most unfortunate of men but will
tell you everything, and then throw myself
upon your mercy. | am entirely in your
power but, if you believe my story, you
will be sorry for me. am quite innocent Of
any wrong in this matter, innocent AS your
self, and, might say. even more so :"
"How can that be p / asked.
See" said he, this is the only thing
have robbed you Of and this is mine, not
yours" and he showed me the envelope with
my name upon il.
Then why did you not claim it - asked
you saw it in my hand yesterday Why did
you not ask for it Z"
II dared not, and am going to tell you
why"
"How came my name upon it;'
at is my name, not yours or, rather,
mine as well as yours.
But the waiter told me your name was
Pierce, not Dickens
Pierce is the name 90 by here. Let me
sit down; will explain everything"
He seated himself by my bedside wrapped
in travelling-rug which lent him for he
was shivering, as much from nervousness,
perhaps. as from cold aud he told me his
story in few words
He was a bankers clerk, high up. of long
standing, and very much respected in his
house. He had-or, | may say, has-a son
grown up and daughter. The former had
been idle and unsteady until about year
ago he had held one or two situations, and
lost them from misconduct. At length he
seemed determined to reform and, As he had
never been suspected Of anything worse than
unpunctuality and iuattention to business,
his father consented, upon his earnest prom
Use Of good conduct, to apply for a situation
for him in the bank and under his own i'm
mediate supervision. For time the young
man went on well but he grew weary of the
confinement, and often talked Of emigrating,
"a proposal to which, he was his only
son, the father would not listen for mo-
ment
At length one day the son disappeared and
"A letter arrived by post next morning from
Liverpool, saying that he was on the point Of
sailing for New York, begging forgiveness
for the secrecy and suddenness Of his depart
ure, which he could only Justify on the plea
that be knew ii would be useless to ask his
fathers consent The letter was full of good
resolutions and afTectionate promises but be-
fore they could reply to it lie had sailed.
Here | would have comfortod the old man
again after time, and probably in prosper
ous circumstances; but he interrupted me.
You have heard nothing yet, he said,
and then proceeded to tell me, with faltering
words and burning .ars, that day or two
after the departure of his son, it was found
that a sum Of money, amounting to several
hundred pounds, which had been entrusted
to him in the course Of his duties, was miss
ing. 1t ought to have been paid to the ac-
II. L
but had never been delivered therein
word. his son was a dcfaultcr The father,
too, was implicated; indeed, the ouus rested
upon him. for it was he who entrusted the
young man with the money, and had sent him
on his crRnd, and no one else in the bank
knew that hc had done So Therefore, he
could only justify himself by accusing his
son, and even then he had no proof to offer,
and could not be sure that he would be exon
Grated. The poor old man, as soon rs he had
learned what had happened, seemed to have
lost his better judgment. He took immodi-
ate steps to raise money, by the help of his
friends, to replace that which was lost but
felt that until this was done he could not face
his principals nor his fellow-clerks and he
seems to have thought that by absenting him
self on some fictitious plea, the inquiry might
be deferred and exposure avoided. In a fit
of Nervousness and alarm (such as | plead
guilty TO myself when ! ran away from the
Frenchmen), he took train and came at once
to Dicppc; at the same time he assumed an
other uamc and, for greater security, would
not even allow his daughter to write to him,
but contriyed a plan of communication by
means of advertisements in the Times. in
which the letters were To be transposed as
to be incomprehensible las they imagined) to
any one who was not acquainted with the key.
That key he had lost he saw it in my hands,
but dared not ask for it, 1t had been placed
in an envelope for him by his daughter who
hnd thoughtlessly, but very naturally, written
his real name upon it, He feared that if he
should ask me for it, it would be the means
of his betrayal. He did not know me- of
course, or hope he would have had better
opinion of me. The Times of the previous
day lad few lines in the second column
which he was sure was meant for him, but he
could not decipher them The poor mans
anxiety again got the better of his discretion
and he adopted the means which | have de-
scribcd to recover possession of the all-im-
portant document, of which, as he truly re-
marked, had robbed him, rather than he
me
need not tell you that exonerated him at
once from all blame, and promised that, what
ever happened, l would keep his secret.
should have gone on to offer my assistance in
arranging matters for him at home, but he in
terrupted me.
Oh if l could see the Times" he said
Il will go down to the coffee-room and fetch
it. | cannot wait till morning to read the
message"
He did so Il would have gone with him but
that feared to meet the cook again upon the
stairs), and returned, clasping the paper in
his trembling hands.
There is your key" said, take it, and
may it bring you good news"
"Oh, help !" he exclaimed, you know
all about it, have no secrets from you help
me to make it out, the letters all seem to
swim before my eyes"
The advertisement did indeed look formi-
dable. have it here in my pocket-boo and
can show it to you here it is"
"Zmmh slkg Dtccrik yg fmdl rmdl msbv
dygctel fmd rmdl tc msf. Tzslg."
"Now for the key" 1 said, "but what is
this ? The envelope is empty"
n