The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-03-16

ton.
eve are quite alone" replied MIR.
Emmons; ''but what is the matter2 Has
anything happened to the bank"
"Almost the worst. Ono Of our clerks
is a defaulter; he has during the past
year appropriated money to the amount
of several thousand dollars. 1t has been
done so gradually and in such an inge-
NOUS manner that the cmbcZzlcmcnt
might havc gone on undiscovered, but
for Il singular incident this afternoon"
"Who is the thief" demanded MI.
Emmons. -
The cashier was silent, but his awed
and sorrowful countenancc was answer
enough.
Can it be my son2" exclaimed Mr..
Emmons.
at is he" replied the cashier, wiping
his face with his handkerchief. "But,"
he added quickly, "I nave come as soon
rs possible, Mr.. Emmons, before the
matter has got beyond the bank, to see
If it cannot be paid and hushed up"
Mr.. Emmons looked like a man who
had received n heavy blow; but he an
swered firmly, though in IL terribly
broken voice:
cit can be paid, but it cannot be
hushcd. l said the last time that an
affair of this kind was hushcd up in this
city, after more than one young man
had been tempted to embczzlement by
just such cloaking Of fraud, that | would
never connive to let any young man go
free of his country's laws. 1 said it
openly, and now l will not shield my
son from the punishment he so richly
deserves. There is but one thing to be
done Mt present, and that is to arrest
the culprit at once"
The cashier begged Mr.. Emmons not
to be hasty; to consider the mothers
and sisters grief. Waters youth, and
the incffaccablc blot which would be
cast upon his future. He spoke of the
young mans amiability and generosity,
of his being such u ~favoritc in society"
"Not to save my own life, or that of
wife or daughter, will l be more lenicnt
to my son than | would be to any other
MANS" replied Mr.. Emmons firmly.
eff you will not inform the sheriff l will
go myself"
"No, I will CO." replied the cashier.
"You will be needed here to prepare
your family for the blow"
When Walter reached home, it was to
find his mother and sister in tears and
sobs, his father looking ten years older
than when he last saw him ut the upper
table, and the sheriff solcmnly awaiting
him in the midst of the ~agoniZcd group
After a brief but distressing scene the
young mar was led away by the officer,
and his mother sank fainting into his
fathers arms.
AS soon as possible Mr.. Emmons fol-.
lowed his son to the Jail, and there, in
the quiet of the drcary cell, the young
man confessed all, even to the fact of
his having told Frederick Copp how to
d to his salary by theft, and persuaded
the young man to think seriously of IN
attempt to do so Now that Walter
was brought to view his act from his
fathers standpoint, he began to realize
the enormity of his crime, not only
against the bank, but the common
wealth and the family whose happiness
depended on his honor and his good
name.
He humbly promised his father to
abide strictly by the ~lattcr's advice,
which was that he should declare him
self guilty, and take his State Prison
sentence rs the best thing for himself
and the community. During years of
solitude and hard labor there would be
opportunity for the iron conviction that
honesty is one of the most necessary
foundations of manly character to sink
deep into his soul. Then. if he could
come out purified as by fire, and face
the community he had wrongcd, with
the determination to live down a dis
grace SO terrible, and firmly carry out
that determination, let the world sheer
as it might ut this error Of the past, it
could not rob him of the satisfaction of
having suffered for his sin. and become
hcroically manly on account of it.
Walter EmmOns was taken from the
Jail to serve out his sentence in State
Prison, while John Holloway, whose
honesty had been as accidentally and
clearly established as had Walters guilt,
was, upon MIR. Emmons' representation,
promoted to the place Walter had held
in the bank.
During the years that followed John
took the place of a kind and thoughtful
son and brother in that sorrowing
family.
After five long years had passed, Wal
ter returned home. a grave, serious,
earnest man, with The one purpose in
life to win back the confidence of his
friends and the community in general.
He declined to accept any position of
trust, although several such positions
were offered by those who were conf
dent that he, of all men, would now DO
honest; he preferred to go into a manu-
featuring establishment and perform
manual labor, as this was a position not
calculated to awaken remarks regarding
his past breach of trust. He applied
himself steadily to his work, dressed
plainly, and laid aside all that he could