The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1882-02-01

sensibly startled by this incident. Ny
concern was not diminished by observ-
ing that he had removed his boots from
his feet, and was then standing as he had
come up. in his stockings. Ny first inn.
pulse and act was TO takethe water out of
his hand. Not being quite ready to use
It put the envelope Of money on the
top of it as the most convenient thing
to keep it hot. / did not turn the su-
prescription downward, because feared
1t would betray the suspicion which 1
now positively entertained of evil in
tentions on the part of my entertainer,
who bad quilted the room as noiselessly
as he had entered. I imagined a great
many ways in which he could have
become acquainted with the cause of
my journey, and came rapidly to the
conclusion that my employers funds
were in danger. That they were actually
so became evident before the night had
passed I recalled the mans counte-
nance wildly to my recollection, and
examined from memory his features, so
as to make some estimate of the char
acter with which I had to deal. Phy-
sically he was more than my equal.
When finst alighted at the house it
struck me / had seen him before, and
after some moments of further and pro-
found reflection / distinctly recalled
him to my mind as merchant who had
dealt with our firm during my early
connection with it, and who lad failed
through the dishonesty of friends whom
he had assisted. I remembered him as
having been spoken ofas disgusted with
trade, and as having sought q home in
the wilderness with his family, and
earning living literally by the sweat
of his brow.
There were but two bedrooms in the
house, both on the same floor, passage
which commenced at the head of the
stairs dividing them. While the
thoughts which / have related were
passing through my mind 1 heard voices
in the other bedroom and quietly
opened my door, which my host had
closed behind him. Standing out in
the passage could distinguish mans
and woman's voice. At first their Ian
guage was unintelligible, but gradually
my ear became accustomed to the duty
| endeavored to put it to, and could
distinguish that the burden of their
talk was their domestic expenses, and
the general current OF their thoughts
was the difficulty of getting through
with certain undertakings they had in
co ntemplaion or had commenced. It
was evident that the man was more
hopeful than the woman. My excited
imagination at once framed the theory
that the treasure in my possession was
designed by them to solve this diff
Guilty, and that the reluctant man was
being urged on by the less scrupulous
" braver woman.
A sudden movement OF one of them
toward the door caused me to retreat
into my room. heard the bolt of their
door moved, and supposing it was to
unfasten it, hurried back into my own
apartment and caught at the envelope,
intending to hasten it out of sight. In
my eagerness to grasp it, it fell off the
tumbler with the wafered side upper
most and opened The waters had
been so far dissolved by the heat and
upjstvro % split in two, leaving one
half of each there we're three) on the
flap, and the other half of each on the
body of the envelope. Meanwhile,
there was no sign or sound of an inroad.
into my room, which had seen it was
impossible to fasten the door save by
moving some of the furniture against
it. / became convinced that as vel
everything was safe, and yielding to 9
feeling OF curiosity drew the money
from the inclosure and counted it over
! There were ten one thousand dollars
bills Twas astounded, and for the time
forgot the fear that so recently har
assed me. looked at the memorandum
on the back of the envelope.
It was "$5, ,000." The letter wa
opened before me. / read it over. /
named $1,000 as the sum inclosed
There was evidently an error. / counted
it over again. Ten thousand dollarI
was the sum before mel Again anS
again counted it. had been used t,
handling large sums and counting
large sums of money daily but actu
ally found more difficulty in arriving
at the actual count of ten bank bill
before me than / ever before or sine
encountered in counting any sum, how
ever large or however numerous tn
notes. Finally, putting chair agains
the door, I spread the notes out singl
on the little table. in a row, and ccunte'
them with my finger. Then / mad
( two rows of five notes each and agai
counted them then five rows of tw
each and counted them. / finally
though slowly, became satisfied that
) had in my possession double the amour
of money 1 was expected to delive
} to my employers agent. Temptatio
! entered my soul.
Five thousand dollars would relieV
me of all my debts. Here it was with
my grasp. had but to seal up the er
? yelope by rewetting the waters, inclosin
4 but half the money, and deliver it scale
I to the agent and my trust would be, t
all appearances, faithfully discharged
' Once the thought occurred to me tbs
!, possibly it was trap set for me by m