Litchfield enquirer., 1880-06-03

have given up the world and affianced them selves to Heaven. Instead of the work which she had So assiduously pnfsued for loYe's sake she now gave up he:lesure time to ministra- lions anon g the poor., E., .....n;j -ss ..,..,
 1t was more than month after his sons catastrophe before Mfr Jacob Rayn6r reappear- .:d at the office, and when he did so he was scarcely recognizable His hair, which had been iron gray, was now become snow white {; his erect form was bowed, and instead of look ing those who spoke with him in the face he studlously kept his eyes averted from them, and generally fixed upon the ground There was no need to speak of the disgrace that his only son had inflicted on hlnl, for it could be read in his face, in his voice and even in his very movements, which, heretofore somewhat, stiff and pompons, had become vague ana shambling For my own part confess (though could not but pity him) his presence was'even less agreeable to me than before, though it had no longer any fears for me; he never asked us for subscriptions to this or that benevolent object now never found fault with our caligraphy; never administered little private lectures of hls own, or invited us to at- tend his private ones. But I could not for get that if this man had been less unyielding in the matter of his sons affections, less stern in forbidding him both companionship and correspondence with the object of them, Fred would never have gone so fatally astray. He had, it is true acted within his rights as father, but he had exercised them, as it seem- ed to me, III manner inconsistent with those professions of kindness and good will to all men, of the genuineness of which was still far from deubting. Indeed one of the most painful features of his case was that his occu- patton in tue way of public well-doing seemed to have gone simply through lack, not of will, but of ''heart" for it; his backbone, as one of my fellow clerks expressed it. appeared to have slipped out and left him limp, yet with no one to lean on and it was rumored that at home he would now sit for hours muttering to himself and staring at the wall He did his office work notwithstanding with his usual mechanical exactness, so that there was no need for his employers to extend to him the indulgence which would certainly not have been wanting, however inadequately he might have served them. @ s7s
 Neither they nor their subordinates ever ven- tured to speak to him concerning his son, but It was somehow generally understood that the old man was saving all he could, and sending it from time to time across the seas for the benefit of the unhappy exile. 1 had no doubt that, now his expenses in the way of public charity had ceased, the savings were consider able; but took no account of them in connec- tion with my poor sister if Frederic Raynor had grown ever so prosperous, whether by his own eXertions or by his fathers help, I could not have welcomed him as my brother-in-law and l should have been sorry to hear of his return to England, because knew Kitty loved him still. My affection for my sister must be my excuse for any hardness may seem t" have shown toward my former friend ,and in- deed, by reason of the change I saw in her, and of the indignation I experienced on be- holding it, my very employment with Halland Brothers had become distasteful to me, from it's connection with her misfortune. Other wise l had reason to be more than satisfied with the behavior of the firm, who (doubtless from what had told them on that unhappy day, though they never referred to it) had become unexpectedly alive to my merits, and conferred upon me considerable promotion When l brought her the good news, Kitty con- gratulated me much more warmly than had expected; it seemed to me that there was a certain unpleasantness in deriving prosperity from source which, however indirectly, had been the ruin of her happiness; but her char acteristic unselflshness Gas supposed) pre-. vented the dear girl from looking on the mat ter with jaundiced eye, but rather regarded it as the natural reward ot good desert
 About four years after poor Fred's depart ure, during which time not one word had dropped concerning him from his fathers lips, an important change took place in the ofice
 It had been, as have mentioned, the GUS tom ever since it's establishment for one at least of the members of the firm to reside on the business premises, and they had up to this time been inhabited by the younger Mr. Hal land but circumstances now occurred (and very unexpected they were-namely, his mar riage) which took him elsewhere.
 Mr ,IacOb RaVn0r vaQ tharpunOD renupetod to take his place, and certainly in very grat- flying way. In order to keep up the rule of the house, he was to take possession as resi- dent partner-a considerable sun, amounting indeed to @, 900, being paid over to him at the same time as his necessary qualfica- ton.
 Indifferent as he had long become to most matters, this seemed to rouse the old man from his lethargy, though, curiously enough, without producing any exultation. He seem- ed to be impressed by the magnitude of his new responsibility rather than by it's advan- tages, and went about with a more thought ful face than ever, though his manner was no longer so absent and dreamy as heretofore. By his promotion step was gained by all the juniors, and for my part found myself the second clerk, the duties of which post brought me into immediate contact with the principals According, on the very morning after Mir. Raynor had taken possession, l was the first to go into his private room (lately occupied by Mir. Halland, junior) with the usual pile of office letters. This apartment was on the ground floor, but separated from the rest of the premises by long stone passage, and en- sured an absolute privacy for all business in- terviews I did not much relish my new en- ployment, on account of it's bringing me into connection with Mir. Raynor; but if I had hot to of I have been junlor all my daysth have gone through such an experience.
 The first object that met my eyes as enter ed the parlor, as it was called, was the new partner sitting in his chair, with his head fai- len forward on the desk before him in a pool of bleod; pistol was clutched in his right hand with which he had with terrible literal ness blown his brains out, for they were scat tered on the opposite wall.
 It appeared afterWard that he had not been to bed the previous night. at all, but had sat up where had found him, and shortly after day light had committed the fatal deed; but at that time so overcome was by the shock that I understood little beyond the fact that the un- happy man, whose life had been one at least of good intentions, and which had certainly been .actuated by good principles, had put an end to his existence by his own hand All business was of course suspended for that day. and was obliged to tell Kitty what had oc- cured (and indeed I could hardly have kept so sad secret to myselG to explain my re- turn home at such an unusually early hour All she said was, e'God forgive him !" and then, as if unvoluntarily, "My poor Fred :" which showed whither the thoughts of her bruised heart were tending still. .-...-
 l was of course a witness at the inquest, where the fact of Mir. Raynor's suicide was clearly proved, and, attributed, as was natural to perturbation of mind induced by his sudden change of fortune acting upon an enfeebled system. ..4 ss9t-,.s.. .. -. .....
 The day after the funeral was sent for by the surviving partners, when the following particulars were communicated to me- Mir. Jacob Raynor had shot himself from remorse It washe, and not his son, who had robbed his employers, and poor Fred had known it and sacrificed himself for his fathers sake. All this was stated in letter written by the unhappy man before he, destroyed himself, T an the gniltiest wretch alive" it said,