Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-02-19
and little dreamed of the circumstances
under which he was to meet him again.
CHAPTER XVII.


their stocks, unwilling to throw them on a
hopelessly demoralized market, began to
throw them out on the first signs of recov-
Charlie was surprised at not seeing Daw-
fish ON the street, but it soon became plain
to him that everything was lost. He
saw that their margin was hopelessly swal-
lowed up, and that whatever money he had
given Dawlish might just as well
have been thrown into the bay. He did
not care about his private funds which had
been sacrificed he did not even give a
thought to the large sum which might
have been realized had they sold out at
l40, so much was he worried about the
money of his employers which he had given
Dawlish. In the course of the day he in
quired of his friends ON the street and else
where if anything had been seen of Dawlish,
but nobody seemed to know nything ofhlm.
Some of the ingenious youth OF his ac-
quaintance playfully opined that &c Master
Frank had stepped out between two days, ="
and asked Charlie if he was lone OF the VIC
tins. 1t may be imagined how cheering
was such CHASTITY pleasantly, and Charlie
hurried across the bay to find out if Mrs
whereabouts. He found her at the board
ing-house, and hurriedly asked her If she
knew where Frank was
Why, yes" she said. He was here
for an instant this morning, and left
for the country on business for about
week, he said. He did not
leave any address, as he expect
ed to be moving about from place place,
and he SAID need not write, as he would
be back so soon. hope nothing has hap
pened to him. You quite brighten me. F"
&" No." said Charlie. " Nothing that
know of. 1 merely wanted to see him
about that money he raised on your prop
erty yesterday"
" Money he raised on my property
yesterday? l never had any property to
raise money on yesterday or any other day.
There must be some mistake.
eyes" said Charlie, 81 think there is.
But never mind, it will be all right when
he comes back.
1t was plain enough to Charlie that
Dawlish had given them the slip but he
shrunk from inhicting needless pain on
gentle Mrs. Dawlish who, perhaps, had
seen her husband for the last time. 1t
was evident that she was no party to her
husbands wrong doing, and in Charles
heart there was still some room for pity
for the now deserted, simple, kindly little
woman.
He next sought the broker with whom
he knew Dawhsh had been in the habit of
dealing, and with difficulty obtained an
audience from that worried man. He
showed him the acknowledgment by Daw-
lish of his interest in their venture, by way
of preliminary, and then asked what had
been done with an Endorsed check payable
to Steams & Darkle and deposited by Daw-
lish as collateral He wanted to redeem
it, and begged that it might not be cashed,
if that could be managed in any way. He
would give a note, bearing any in
terest demanded, with his fathers
Endorsement, which he knew he
could obtain. All this he poured forth
to the astonished broker, without taking
breath and in an excited manner. When
the latter could edge in word, he said :
g You must be laboring under some mis-
take, Mr.. Gould. Mr.. Dawlish never de-
posted any check here, whatever. He
was here Yesterday morning and drew
what was left of his margin on those Lone
Jack shares. We paid him about 81, 600,
| think. l can tell you exactly how much
in an instant, but l have been very busy,
and the exact amount has escaped my
memory l hope there is nothing wrong!'
81 am afraid there is something very
wrong, indeed, said Charlie, going out.
1t seemed to him that the only honest
course left was to inform his employers of
what had happened, so far as he knew it.
OF course, he would lose his position and
the money in their hands as security /; but
while there was life there was hope, and,
although ruin stared him in the face, he
hoped to avert disgrace. Humbly he
sought the lair of Mr.. Steams, and unfolded
his miserable story to that astonished gen.
tleman.
"And So sir, you tell me that you and
your confederate have embezzled check
for $780, and used it to gamble with
1 might have known what you would
come to, when l saw you so much with
that disreputable hound, Dawlish =
He paused Indignantly for reply, but
Charlie said nothing, for he felt that his
conduct was without excuse.
"Of course" continued Mr.. Steams,
you will consider yourself dismissed at
once, and your bond forfeited. Your ac-
counts will be inspected, and, if there are
no other defalcations, whatever is due you
will be paid. You may consider yourself
lucky if you are not prosecuted as you de-
serve" Then he resumed his writing, and
as Charlie listened to the pen scratching on
the paper he wondered if he might con-
slider the interview at an end.
If you do not want anything further
from me at present, Mr.. Steams, | will go. J"
g You may go and be damned !"
Mr.. Steams' politeness had entirely
evaporated before possible inroad on his
pocket. In fact the skin, although glitter
ing, was not very thick, and it did not
need much scratching to disclose the Tar
tar beneath. Politeness to the outside
world is generally paying investment ;
but at home or to our dependents it Is en-.
tirely superfluous, and is only waste of
valuable material. Charlie SUNK away
feeling as if the lash had been laid on
his back he had nothing to offer
in his defense, and he knew that
the indignant virtue of Mr.. Steams
was iustihable, and would have been still
more indignant had that worthy not felt
that his sacred pocket was at least safe, SO
far as he knew. With shame. faced haste
he hurried away from the haunts of his
acquaintance, feeling as if every one he
met knew him for a convicted thief. 1t
was drawing towards evening, and he was
ashamed to go home to the boarding
house and take his part in the stale gossip
of every day. He even shrank from meet
ing the eager, afectionate inquiries of his
mistress, and sought a lodging in the city,
as wounded animal crawls into hole to
die. Life was over for him, he thought,
and he was Indifferent to what came next.
To be continued.
THE FAME OF TIE CITY.