Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-02-27


me. and credit my statements.
Il dou't believe it. What proofs can
you otfsr7"
-Oh, Cousin Gilbertl- cried the claim
ant, with sudden gentleness. do you
force me to my proofs, but be Just, be
generous. Think of how you influenced
me to abandon wife, and child, and
country; think Of my years of painful,
precarious exile; think of how long and
nncomplainingly 1 have borne the foul
stigma of gdilt that belongs to you, to
you aloDel"
Silenee-hold your tongue, rufhani
But you're madman. I don't know
what you are talking about"
Don't you, indeed2" cried the other,
with sudden indignation. Then 1t be-
comes me TO revive your recollections.
You know best, perhaps, whether or not
you forged Thomas Alworth's signature to
draft calling for everything he was
worth. Whether or not you then dis
guised yourself as countryman, and alb
stracted from Lawyer Croak's desk, with
his full conniyance, the letter of intro
duction designed for Alworth, whether or
not, thus armed, you hastened to London
in advance of him, and thus, securing
your identification by reputable man,
managed to draw the entire eighteen
thousand pounds without detection or
delay. And whether or not. you made
your way back home in your proper per-
son-after secretly shedding your dis
guise in the dressing-room of q railway
station on the way back-there to de-
post your plumber with old Croak, until
such time as you could conveniently bor-
row it again for investment in your busi-
ness, with the lawyer himself as silent
partaker of the profits, as hush-moneyl"
-Measureless liarl" exclaimed Gilbert,
gritting his teeth and clinchlng his hands.
Would you dare"
BE quiet and let me talk. Turn and
turn about is fair play. These items
of real history, in sequence, have come
to me through reflection during my
years of exile. confess they did
not occur to me at first. But you will
acknowledge that my name, before my
insane fight abroad, was not dreamed of
in connection with the forgery.
Il will not dwell on the arts and argu-
ments by which permitted you to per-
suade me that appearances would array
themselves against me-that, if did not
fly, should surely be suspected, arrest
ed, tried upon the charge, and convicted,
in spite of my innocence and my utter ig-
norance of the disposition that had been
made of the stolen funds.
mo; such review of my pusillanimity,
nv cowardice, my feeble surrender to
your powerful will, willingly forego.
But years of reflection and privation
have, thank heaven! made another man
ofme. am no longer the contemplate
nature, the putty image that was but as
wax in your molding grasp. But even this
was not enough.
Even after having been thus, in q
measure, persuaded, still refused to fly.
What did you resort to? loved my wife
I adored my child. You undertook tc
prove that the former was unworthy oi
my confdence-that I would sacrifice
nothing in abandoning her.
WAS she not so proven2"
II doubt il, though was mad enough
| to believe it then. You took me to win
| dow secretly overlooking and within
earshot of an interview which she wal
holding in our garden with o man-witl
| stranger to me. Their relative attitudes
| betokened intimate acquaintanceship, nj
more, but my awakening jealousy invested
| the rendezvous with an unjustiiable sig.
| nifcance. I likewise overheard her com
| panion beseech her for money, and ther
thought heard her promise to try to pro
| cure some from me for his benefit. lhav'
since thought that he might have been
| some dissipated or needy relative Of hers
| seeking her assistance out of some entan-
clement. She had such relatives, who wer
/ personally unknown to me; and six word
Of explanation from her, IL frankly request
ed, might have cleared up all. Blu
this is irrelevant now. You have Sc
cured your infamous end. Then
4 believed in her unworthiness Of con
fidence--I believed she had ceased Il
care for me--the very thought of ou
child became temporarily hateful to me
consented to bear the stain of you
guilt--to go far away, never to return, q
the receipt of six hundred pounds fror
you, together with your written promis
to send me, at the end of one year. fv
thousand more, in full, for my interes
in the bank here. Well, hard pressed o
+. you were, you raised for me the first
mentioned amount on thar very day. Yo
had not the cash yourself; but poor, mis-
used, plundered old Alworth still he
about the required amount in yonde
| vault. You appropriated it, covering n
the transaction by series of false en-
tries against his account, and gave 10
the money"
Il 'Tis false! This is monstrousi"
i aSoftly, softly, as you yourself on
Joined but short while agoi There
still more. Having got the moneyhaN
ing proceeded thus far in your tolls
hesitated again. wanted better gual
anty for the future. I still refused t
fee, without written acknowledges
on ysur part Of my total innocence an