Litchfield enquirer., 1880-06-03

l nm all puOllc sname lie sails for Australia next week. In a new land and under newin- duence there is still aIhepe that he may make amehas and hasd i9r ms slntapay, his crimpal-act ""Oh, sir, but are you quite sure he did it ?' t@"fes. he confessed as much to my brother l ant myself this morning, and in his fathers presence; it is wonder that murder-parri- l cide-was not added to his other crime, for thought it would have killed the old man"
 ''Alt will kill Kitty" cried vehemently. ~' '.No, no," said the younger brother s'it will not kill her if, as we doubt not, she is a good girl She will see that this young man is not worthy of her, and in the end wifi make & better choice" '''- 4''.'S'." o"@ ,f' <,
 Can see him, @sir?" ea . .,gs fef.G
 ''No, my lad it is his own wish that he should see no one till he sets sail An inter- view with him would only pain you, for see you have tender heart We must forget him, that is the kindest thing to be done on all accounts; and above all things let no one speak of him to his fathsrg', '-0i7a s:a~s a7gs
 HCould you ask him to write to Kitty ?" said simply. had selfish hope that I might be spared the telling of his disgrace with my own lips. :..
 'We could, of course," said Mir. Halland but if you will take our advice you will not ask It. He would only unsettle her by dwell ling. perhaps, upon possibilities that may never be realized. We are very sorry for you. We shall think no worse of you, but better, for having spoken in his behalf; but his case is, in our opinion, hopeless one It will be best, much best, to represent it as being so to your sister 'a+2
 Then made my bow and departed in sad distress, only, ere Idid so, Mr. John Halland held out his hand, which had never been done to me, or to any of the clerks, as believe, before; an hour before it would have made me very proud but there was small comfort to me now Tn such mark of honor.
 found Kitty that evening, as usual, at her embroidery, in which kind of work she had really attained great procifiency she had called to me from the parlor as came in, in bright cheery way, which showed me that she had same good news to communicate, doubt less concerning increased prlces paid to her by | those who bought her work; but the smile faded from her face directly she caught sight of mine. .:'..-..,
 ''There is nothing the matter with Freder- ic l? she cried, with agitation. '.- r-
 Mot as to health, darling; but in other ways, alas theresis." And then I told her all It was an easier task than I expected, from her never making the least interruption: but listening with pale face and rigid lips un- til the end--and even when had done there l was no outburst
 2'rhen you believe, Frank that Frederic Raynor your old friend, has been guilty of fraud ?" was allshe said
 My darling" cried I, q have no choice but to believe it, though Heaven knows would give all have to think him innocent. He has confessed to it himself" 9,
 'Did you hear him did you see him 2" in quired Kitty, in quick, passionate tones
 'No, dear but both the Messrs. Hallands were present when" H
 What do I care for the Messrs Halands 2" she broke forth. ''What do I know of them that l should believe it night because they say so, although the sun is shining do know Fred. He is good and honest, generous and kind. If your employers called your sister thief, would you believe them then It would be more likely to be true than this is It is they who are thieves, for they have stolen his good name." #s g1.l =a- B .. ..
 could not have dreamed that there was such force and fury in Kitty's gentle nature as shone forth in her looks and tone she did not spare even myself. esssr.a. frt.-s,-.s.r s4t
 You are coward, and not worthy of such friend, Frank. If had been in your place, l would have said, You lie! you liep" .- ." ,;-r-
 My darling calm yourself" said as gent ly as could, for really feared that, in her ex- treme excitement, she would do herself some serious mischief. ''It is a question of proof and fact. If a man confesses to a crlme, there is an end to all doubts" . -..
 Let him confess it to me, ' she cried ''let him tell me with his own lips. I have falsifi- ed niy fathers accounts. 1 have robbed the men who gave me bread.' And not even then would 1 Say I believe it. I would say: You are mad, and know not what you say.
 It was idle, of course, to reason with her after this, and did not attempt to do so. I spoke of the probability oi Raynors writing to her himself before he left England for had made up my mind in spite of Mr. Hal lands advice to ask him to do soe It was clear that no hand but his could open her eyes; and he was bound-alas 1 could no longer say lin ,honor''-but in common hu. nianity, to release her from her engagement
 If he writes to say he is innocent" said I, ''then will believe him, though you and should be the only persons to do so"
 He will not do that 2 answered the girl; flor he will know that shall take his inno- cence for granted"
 And 80 tine matter was left In the letter I addressed to Frederic Raynor, l adiured him to make clean breast ot the matter in which he stood accused, for my sisters sake If he was guiltless he had only to say 80, and we at least would would continue to hold him inno- cent, though all the world should be on the other side. But if he had really disgraced | himself, was it not his duty to confess it to us that time might erase his image from my sis ter's heart, and leave it open to the reception ot another? lput all this in as gentle lan- | guage as 1 could, consistently with Klttys in- terest, but l felt they were hard terms. It was humiliation enough that he had already owned his crime to his employers, without my consti- tuting myself his father -confessor; and it must be added that after that affair of the music hall had not the confidence in his word which now professed.
 | His raDlV was Of an evaciva pafura ho 'd;6 not write to Kitty at all and only these few words to me, with neither commencement nor signature: Kitty IS quite free, and may her l next choice be a less unhappy one. God bless you both" .,4s .~,f Of course this was tantamount to an ac knowledgment of .hls crime but it was not precisely so, which thought cruel. I saw 1 that my poor sister was not even yet convinc- l ed by it; so without saying one word to her I, went down to Clapham that very evening to 1 see Frederic face to face. He had set off to 1 Liverpoolto go on board ship an hour before | arrived; and on my asking to see his father 1 1 was informed that Mir. Jacob Raynor was too i'll to speak with any one. 9'< ga 1 ;i s..t .o,sun II. r9xg s..s s...,l; ,-.-.. .- Under nc circumstances, it is probable would the hrm have prosecuted Fred ; but the defalcations of which he had been guilty were not very serious, and only extended over eighteen months or So. They were discovered quite accidentally by MT. Halland though, had 1t been otherwise-that is, if Mr. Raynor himself had found it ut-I did not believe he would have concealed his sons depravity for | an instant It shocked me to think that each l of those 'windfalls, of which the unhappy; young fellow used to talk so lightly, had prob | ably been successful fraud upon his employ l CTS. andl no longer wondered at the haggard weary looks which had accompanied his in- troduction to crime. T. should have desired Kitty to return those little presents to- her, which felt had not been his to. give, but that l in the first place, my lips were sealed upon all concerning him; and secondly knew those relics of her iostl tlove were her greatest treas ures.al IneYer saw them, but when I came