Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-07-06

1000 morning. os passed through,
and wondered whethee Il wss sulky
guilt or Indignant virtue that kept him
silent
Az soon as Ihad got through the morn
ing letters and given directions thereon,
wrote line 10 the manager Of the bank:
"Dear Crosley-Will you let me know
directly my cheque No, e,0S1 is present.
Cd for payment Yours faithfully,
"0nALD QuINroN."
sent Richards on with this, bidding
him hold his tongue outside; and In less
than q quarter Of an hour the answer
came hack:
"Dear Quinton-o.0S .0Si was presented
yesterday and cashed between 10 and 1.
Your inquiry has led to the discovery
that the signature II . forgery. We havo
put the matter In the hands Of our usual
agent, who will call ON you during tho
morning for any information you can
give him on the subject. Yours faith.
fully, MARTIN CRossLKY."
This was quicker work than I had an
ticipated. The person who had present
cd the cheque had certainly lost no time;
and this hurry looked to me like guilty
knowledge-as II the presenter had
known of the doubtful nature Of the
cheque no was offering, and was anxious
to get Il of his hands before its worth
lessness was discovered. Then the time,
too-between 10 and 1, when the first
batch Of clerks was out for dinneri The
more thought Of Il the blacker II looked
against Horace, and the more decidedly
! made up my mind that should have
to lose the amount Of the cheque and the
price Of q good round bribe to the detect
i've besides to hush the affair UP with tho
bank people.
While I was still thinking ruefully of
the loss Of this unknown sum--for no
man relishes tho notion Of sitting down
quietly while another puts his hands into
his money box and helps himself-one of
the clerks knocked at the door and an
nounced that lady wished to SEQ me.
Thinking IL was Sister Of Charity on
q begging expedition, or something of
the kind, was about to say ! could not
be seen Just then, when I heard the rus
tie Of skirts, and, turning round, found
that II was Cynthiai
This was tho first visit she had paid
mo since her fathers death, and ! sprang
forward eagerly to greet her. Before /
reached her side, however, some inde-
scribable change In her manner checked
my impulsiveness.
As held her hand tightly In both of
mine, I saw with pain how her sweet
hazel eyes seemed to have lost all their
charming tenderness, and gazed upon
me with cold, stern, resolute expression
which filed my soul with o PRESENT.
ment Of coming evil
"Come and sit down, Cynthia, }" I said,
trying to draw her to my easy chair by
tho fire; "you must be cold. I am 80
glad to SEQ you In Billiter street again"
"rd rather stand while tell you what
I have come to say" she answered, hold
ing back, and speaking In q curiously
constrained tone; II shall say 1t little
easier standing"
"There's something odd about you,
and fancy you've got somo silly beo
buzzing in your bonnet" suggested, as
lightly rs I could, though my voice
quavered and my heart was heavy.
"Come--let us get 1t overi What won.
der have you como to tell meT'
"Horace told mo everything last
nightr'
carelessly, though watched her mar
rowly the while. "And suppose you've
rushed off down here to me with an alb
surdly exaggerated idea Of this peccadillo
Of tho boy'si Ny dear Cynthia, lot mo
beg you not to get morbid idea Of this
business into your head. Many boy
makes little mistake Of this kind In the
beginning Of his career, and finishes by
being thoroughly trustworthy man OF
business. Iassure you we think nothing
Of first event Of this naturei' Good
heavens, how eagerly piled up the lies
as saw her face hardening-slowly but
surely hardening-under my gaze,
She put up her hand and looked at me
with such sternness in her beautiful eyes
that further lying was impossible.
II had a very long talk with Horace
last night" she said. in measured tones.
as though all feeling and emotion had
ceased to stir her breast, "and no told
me 1t meant five years penal servitude,
and moral and social ruin afterwards.
He said, too, that even IL you let tho
matter drop tho bank would insist upon
following it up"
"But the bank shall do nothing Of the
kind! I'll manage that-never fear!"
cried, trying again to draw her to me,
for yearned to comfort her and drive
that terrible expression Of despair out of
her face. ''It's q splendid sign, his
having confessed. Wen pull him
through
She pushed mo from her with sudden
vehemence.
"What arc you saying9" she asked. "I
did not tell you he had confessedi Ill
swear In a court Of law that never said
such thing. How could when it is
not true"
"Not true?" I echoed incredulously.
"But understood you that he had told
you everything"
"Yes-everything you said to him
your accusation, your threats and the re-
suits IL he were tried and found guilty;
the strong appearances against him too;
all this he told me, but not that he had
really done this thing. How could he
say such thing as that3 He did not
steal your cheque-it was II"
l took q step backwards, and felt
blindly for something to hold on to, for I
was falling, falling, falling-always fall
ing into an abyss Of pitchy blackness; and
asl went down, down, down, down, there
was the roaring Of q veritable Niagara
in my ears 1t seemed to me that went
on thus falling through space, with that
hurricane of sound in my ears. for many
years; and yet, when my sight and hear
ing came back to me, was standing
there in my office, holding the back of
my easy chair, with Cynthia's white,
stricken face close tn nina "a sha loos