The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-10-04

NEW J
man employing funds in his charge In
speculations sometimes successful and some
times not but at all times secured By his
personal probity and reliability. He had. In
| fact, moro than once restored all that he
had taken. and he had come to trust him
self In tho course Of these transactions a. fully
as he was trusted By the men who were ieno-
rant OF his Irregularities. He was somehow
nsttered By the complete confidence they re-
posed in him. though he really felt II to be no
more than his due: he had always merited
and received the confidence Of men associated
with him in business, and he had come to re-
gard the funds Of the corporation as practical
" his own. In the early days Of his connection
with the company. It largely owed It's prosper
ity to his wise and careful management: one
might say that 1t was not until tho last when
he got SO badly caught by that drop In rail-
roads. that he had felt anything wrong
to his convertible use OF Its money.
It was an informality: he would not
have denied that, but It was merely An inior-
mality. Then his losses suddenly leaped be-
yond his ability to mako them good: then. for
the FIRST time. he began to practice that system
in keeping the books which the furious Presi-
dent called juggling with them. Even this
measure he considered . justiHable means Of
self-defence pending the difficulties which be-
set him. and until he could make his losses
good By other operations. From time to time
he was moro fortunate. and Whenever he
dramstized himself In an explanation to the
directors. as he oftan did, especially Of late he
easily satisfied them as to the nature Of his
motives and the propriety OF his be-
havior by calling their attention to these
successful deals. and to tho probability.
the entire probability. that he could be at any
moment In position to repay all he had bor-
rowed Of the company. He called II borrowing.
and in bis long habit Of making himself these
loans and returning them. he had como to have
sort Of vague feeling that the company was
privy to them: that It was almost an under
stood thing. The Presidents violence was the
flrst intimation to reach him in the heart Of his
artificial consciousness that his action was ct
all in the line Of those foolish REGULATORS whose
discovery and flight to Canada was tho COM
monplace Of every mornings paper: such
commonplace that he had been hen.
sible OF an effort in the papers to
vary the tiresome repetition Of the same
old fact BY some novel grace Of wit,
or some fresh picturesqueness in putting It.
In the presence Of the directors he had refused
to admit it to himself: but after they ad-
journsd. and he was left alone. he realized the
truth. He was like those fools. exactly like
them. In what they had done and In the way
ofdoing 1t: he was like them in motive and
principle. All Of them had used others money
in speculation. expecting to replace II, had
not been able to replace II. and then had
skipped. as the newspapers said
Whether he should complete the parallel and
okfn tor vva n mi fvuhi oh ho hoA ~ a.
knowledged to himself that he had decided.
He never had believed that 1t need come to
that; but for an instant when the President
said he could wish him nothing better on his
way home than good railroad accident It
flashed upon him that one OF the three alterns-
hves before him was to skip. He had the
choice to kill himself which was supposed to
be the gentemanly way out Of his difficulties.
and would leave his family unstained By
his crime; that matter had sometimes
been discussed In his presence. and
every ono had agreed that IL vss
the only thing for q gentleman to
do after he had pllfered people Of money he
could not pay back. There was something else
that man Of other instincts and weaker fibre
might do. and that was TO stand his trial for
embezzlement, and take his punishment Or
q man. II he WIS that kind Of man. could
skip. The question with Northwick was
whether he was that kind Of man. or whether.
II he skipped. he would be that kind OF man:
whether tho skipping would make him that
kind Of man.
The question was q cruel ono for the SELF
respect which he had 30 euriously kept intact.
He had been respectable ever since he was
born; II he was born with any instinct It was
the instinct Of responsibility. the wish to be
honored for what he seemed. II was all the
stronger In him because his father had never
had 1t: perhaps an hereditary trait found ex-
preston In him after passing over one gen.
GRAFTON; perhaps an snte-natal influence
formed him to that type. His mother was al
ways striving to keep the man she had married
worthy Of her choice In the eyes of her neigh
bors; but he had never seconded her efforts.
He had been educated a doctor. but never
practtsed medicine; in carrying on the drug
and book business OF the village. he cared
much more for tho literary than the pharma-
oeutical side Of it; he liked to have q circle Of
cronies about the wood stove In his store till
midnight, and discuss morals and religion
with them; and one night when denying the
planary inspiration Of the Scriptures. he went
to the wrong jar for an ingredient Of the pre-
scription he was making up: the patient died
Of his mistake. The disgrace and the disaster
broke his wife's heart: but he lived on to
son In total disoccupRtion. The elder North
wick used sometime to speak Of his son and
his success In the world; not boastfully, but
with o certain sarcasm for tho source OF his
bounty. as q boy who had always diBappoint-
cd him by narrowness OF ambition. He
called him Milt, and he said no supposed
now Milt was tho most self-satisded man
In Massachusetts: he implied that there were
better things than material success. He did
not say what they were. and he could have
found very few people In that village to agree
with him. or to admit that the Treasurer OF the
Ponkwasset Mills had come IN anywise short
OF the destiny OF man whose father had
started him In life with the name OF John Mil
ton. They called him Milt, too among them
selves. and perhaps here and there holder
spirit might have called him so to his face II
he had ever come back to the village. But he
had not He had. as they had all heard. that |
splendid summer place ut Hstboro'. where he |
spent his time when he was not at his house |
In Boston. and when they verified the |
~ ~ Inv arih hy tr