The daily gazette., 1881-11-18
HOME ONCE MORE.
"id MANS Recollection of the
Criminal Past.

crimtmal Past.
You didn't know the old bons. q, -,
viii 1t Jsysf - II isn't the same place now
wan a lts front door always open, and II,
IhnIIsrpeted ohIs balls through which The
sniiaren OF more than one family tramn
uour aiter hour like small army.
throughout the livelong day. Looking
ouSoVer the neglected grounds where
SILL "many garden flower grows wild. u
pictured to myself lawn party winch
was gwen there forty years ago. when
sne, ior whom risked all and dared
an, was the light of the feast, resplen.
ueht In costly raiment and shining
eWeis. Ah, well, Is II right 10 sacrifice
truth, honor, manhood, for a woman? /
trox not, and yet If it were TO do again
anu 1ne quick life current of thirty
coursed through my veins instead of the
sluggish stream ofseventy, am not
sure that l could resist the temptation
70 peril everything to make her happy.
"Do whal?" you say.
We'll, sit you down on this broken
step beneath this archway with its empty
lantern niche, and l will III Won
Forty years ago l dwelt here in comfort.
was rich, happy, respected. A man
10 thoss days might be wealthy without
counting his possessions by millions. and
with fifty or hundred thousand doIlars
might live in luxury. l had inberited
money, and that with my position in
the-Bank gave me an income cana.
1.e oI meeting every want. We were
happy, my wife and l, and our little
ONES mad. every reason to share our
content.
But the storm that often turks be.
yond the fairest horizon was broodinp
for us, even then. There came to onr
neighborhood fine lady who had
been abroad. It was a comparatively
rare thing then for Americans to 90 to
urope, and she dazxled the neigh.
borhood with her fine airs, her splen-
parts.
My young wife, who had been sntil
tnen The center of the social circle in
which we moved, began to feel that
ner light was paling, and woman-like
she did not want to give up her SOW
ereighity without struggle. She had
no idea OF the value of money. How
should she? She had been brought
up in an indulgent home, from which
LOOK her at seventeen, and she was
still in the bloom of early womanhood.
She had always had every want graft
led, without question, and when she
'aid she wanted to 60 to Paris, knew
40 reason why she should be re :.
fused.
1t was in vain / demonstrated. Go
she would, and at last yielded 10 her |
and away she went to |
earn the arts and graces by which her |
'ival usurped the place which she had |
loped to retain know not how long, |
Does woman ever set any limit to the
lime when she shall be attractive ?
At first l met all the frequent pecu-
nary demands in her correspondence
Without trouble. She was spending
money like princess, and her letters
o her feminine relatives contained
ndless and minute descriptions of the
gorgeous costumes which she had
purchased. But at last | made some
Unfortunate speoulations. | found
ny income suddenly shrink, and when
here came by the foreign mail urgent
alls for more means for gratifying
vanity, in at Of desperation
appropriated some OF the funds of
he funds of the bank to my own use.
attending of course to replace them
ghen had tded over the present
ifficulty. Alas that time never
anne. A period Of financial depres-
ION set in, and my affairs went from
ad to worse, and In the midst of my
rouble my wife returned, radiant with
er new requirements and accom-
/ met her with a smile
n my lips. There was none in my
cart.
My house was now one continual
,ene of festivities. Party followed
arty in endless succession, and my
'ife's social supremacy was again es-
sblished. This was, of course, grati-
Iing to her, but it was death to me. To
leet the bills for these extravagances |
las forced to steal more and more, un-
i detection stared me In the face.
The inevitable came at last, and it
,as at the lawn party Which / have
lready mentioned, that If overlook
le. My wife was at her gayest, and
1as surrounded BY a large crowd of
dmirers, male and female, over whom
he welded her scspter with supreme
uthority. They smiled when she
miled, and hung upon her words as
they were as precious as the dia.
,onds she wore. l, myself, had never
ssumed such guise of merriment.
was as boisterous as good breeding
'ould allow, and relieved my inward
Misery by the light badinage with
,hich We frequently assuage our dir.
st agony. Even my wife was aston
she'd at my apparent mirthfulness, for
was of rather serious disposition,
nd given, the world said, to religious
The sun was sinking in the west,
he grass was flooded with golden
ght in which the Prettily disposed
roups of figures assumed pictur-
squeness l had not noticed before and
had nearly lost my gloomy forebod-
n contemplating their artistic effect,
1hen suddenly espied two men
up the walk. Ona was the
resident of the bank, and the other
new not, but my fears told me before
word was spoken. A private inter-
lew in my library, q clean confession
+ my guilt, hurried departure with
note Of explanation to my wife, and
hen l was an acknowledged criminal
a the hands of the law.
interviewing had not then become a
ne art, but the next day the papers