River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-07-08
4TRAMP,S TEMPTATION.
The vagabond who Neglected tossteal
aF0rtcue.
San Francisco Chronicle.

how threw it. The express office at
Coyoteville was kept by one Jasper,
Somehow, from dropping in daily at
his place of business, / drifted into the
position of an assistant. He pat in my
charge nearly everything but the de-
posts of treasure which were shipped
regularly every morning by the stage
,, to San Francisco. From ten to forty
thousand dollars nightly found tenn
porary deposit in the office. | slept
there, Jaspers house was some distance
up the street. Still he kept the safe
key in his own hands and came AT 3
o'clock in the morning darkness 10 slap
the treasure. His was an indolent MT
ture, and this disturbance of the cream
of his mornings smmber was a great
cross to him. | knew from several
hints he had previously given that he
longed to intrust the safe to nae, but
dared not. | was still comparative
stranger. Ofmy past he knew nothing.
His business, reputation, income, every
thing lay at the mercy of the mau to
whom he should intrust that safe key.
Possibly | won his confidence more
and more; if did, it was not designed.
Naturally, we drifted into lose com
panionship.
He was very tired one night A large
quantity of coin and dust had been put
in their separate bags and packages,
sealed up and the necessary papers
made out for shipment. 1t was mid
night ere we were through with our la
bors. The treasure was deposited in
the case. Jasper locked it, and, toying
with the key, leaned abstractedly on
the counter. / knew of what he VAS
thinking. His thoughts ran: shall
intrust the key with this man, In
clination said, yes" prudence NO. ;"
To give it up once was TO give II up so
long as / remained there. TO demand
it again would imply distrust. Finally
he gave me the key. He would not
sermoniZe or exhort me to fidelity and
honesty. STILL that was in his heart.
As to peace of mind, he was no better
off than before. He had secured lit
tie ease at the risk of everything. Ne
walked off home an unhappy man.
And |? | had at that moment $4,000
in my grasp. /, poor, almost penniless,
summing up the result of ten years
past labor in n trunk and few well-worn
clothes; looking ever on the worlds de-
lights with hungry, longing eyes; seeing
the door to thousand pleasures closed
to me for lack of money; feelings even
that woman's love was denied nae
through poverty. ! had ii all there N
a few pounds of yellow metal
How secure it without detection? The
plan instantly presented itself Feign
| the assault and robbery of myself by
others. 1t was necessary to open the
office a quarter of an hour before the
stages arrival. Not a soul was stirring
at that time in the little camp. a bold
robber could stun me with a blow as
pushed open the iron doors. The bul-
| lion was always taken from the safe and
| placed on the counter. A self-inficted
wound on the forehead, clothes saturat-
ed with blood, found lying ON the Office
| floor ;nsinsible when the stage drove
up; found thus by the driver The
treasure gone; where? bury it ON the
creek bank Just behind the Office; there
let it lie for months, and then disintcr
and get off with it discreetly); a story
ON reviving of blow from behind; re-
collection gone. What would be the
reward for this villiany2 Acting with
| Judgment, a standing among men,
name, place, responsibility: something
new, fashionable, and glossy to wear
other than my seedy suit which nat,se-
ated me little every morning as | put
on; tempory relief at all events
from this worry, fret, and anxiety about
getting on in the world. With $4,000
! / could ''start n business" / could be
a man amongst men; | should feel that
accession of respect and difference on
entering house, store, and saloon from
master, merchant, bartender, and
funky.
| craved these attentions, | felt the
| thousand nameless sights bestowed o'i
poverty. had more than once sought
companionship with men and found
myself snubbed and cast out, when
had | been able to bear the golden idol
with me they would have fallen down
and worshipped it-not me. These
were my thoughts in the Office that
night. Money! Are we not justified in
robbing, sterling, lying, plundering for
it? Is the premium held out for honesty
or dishonesty? The more signs Of p0v-
erty / bear, the closer does respectable
ty close its ranks against me. A rag
| ged coat and rent boot will keep nae
out of position in your leading bank
ing or mercantile establishments. JAS
per was not ruined. No one lost pen
ny. The tempter was overcome. Alive
and hearty and unwounded. [ placed
the S35, 900, bag after bag, package af-
ter package, ON the stage, safe under
the back seat. The tompter was over
come Honesty prevailed Angels
smiled. There was joy in heaven. The
recorder above wrote opposite my name
a big credit Stuff! rubbish! Two
things only prevented me from ca ~
ing out my design. First, it would
have ruined Jasper. He was a true
man, and had to me proved a true
| friend. But had he been miser, had
| he been a millionaire, / know of moth
ing which would have prevented my
carrying out my design save fear-fear
of detection, capture, the states prison,
loss of liberty. In my heart the crime
would have been committed. | feared
the law. Law obliged me to pay Ger
| tain penalties in case / failed to play
my games well. The result of law is
incentive and demand for higher skill
in using the cards. should have dis
trusted my skill. The law held the
best hand.
But had you no fear of God who
would overlook and punish this act if
men did not?"
ayes, a sort of half fear, half belief
that this might be; half belief, half
hope that it might not be. | heard on
all sides purity, honesty, rectitude, the
highest qualities of the Christian char
acter, preached. Where, on examine
ton, did soc them acted? What was
the reward Tor endeavoring. to initiate
the example of the meek anu lowly
Nazarene? Poverty, slight, half scon,
low place in the estimation of society
| thought in substance something like
this: There may be a God. | may
fall under his displeasure for this act
Possibly in time may be obliged to re
pent and confess. If eternal hell exists
it is an awful thing. But my youth is
passing away and | want my share OF
the worlds pleasure That may be all
can ever realize. Death may mean
humiliation. Thus far, existence for
me has been mean and beggariy
This matter of religion seems very I'M
certain. Its professors, preaching from
the same book. do not get on well tor
gether. They disagree; they quarrel.
one points to this road, another to that.
At all events, II risk il. | am no"