St. Paul daily globe., 1891-07-05
GUILTY MAGISTRATE.
How a Partisan Judge Had a
Crime Brought Back
to Him.
Robbing an Employers Safe
to Pay a Gambling
Debt.
He Breaks the Bank and Re-
stores the Money Un-
detected.
A Thief on the Judicial
Bench Tries Another
Thief.

Georges de Chaverny was studying
law. His family had bequeathed him a
spotless name, with traditions of pride
and honor, but his father. small coun-
try magistrate, was without fortune,
having preferred a marriage for love to
espousing a dowry. Georges mother
had been dead a long while, and the
Count de Chaverny, when he saw that
| his last hour had come, summoned his
son TO his bedside and said to him:
II leave you no debts-that's all my
fortune. Your preliminary studies are
finished. Go to Paris and present this
letter to Maitre Lance, the lawyer. He
| is friend and viii take you in his Of
fee. In that way you Will make your
living. Finish your legal education and
when, in your turn, you are magis-
trate. do not forget that your father died
with tranquil mind because lie always
| obeyed only his conscience.
He had turned toward Georges his
| face, yellowed by illness and emaciated
| by suffering.
Kiss me for the last timer"
Georges kissed the cold forehead,
upon which death had set its seal. The
old man lost consciousness. An hour
later he seemed to awake and murmured
twice:
II am going-I am going"
Then, looking at his son with strange
expression, he added:
Conscience
And he died.
A month afterward Georges was Mai
tire Lance'S secretary.
The lawyer was a rigid man, who re-
gained by his silence in his study the
flood of words which had flowed from
him in the palace of justice. Very
learned, quite eloquent. witty and some
times dangerous. he was much feared
and not at all beloved.
Georges de Chaverny earned in his
Office 500 francs per month. This was
certainly great deal more than he re-
quired to live moderately and pay for
his books and court iLserptiOns; but he
was weak. Gifted with a pleasing
physiognomy, tall and handsome. he
failed 10 resist the temptations of every
kind offered him by fashionable life in
Paris. lie played, won and lost, run
ming, in proportion 10 his winnings and
losses, the gamut of all the violent emo
tionS which accompany gambling.
At the club money is a chip: the
game accustOms one to money. which
no longer has value TO the man who
plays. Every gambler is prodigsl.
spending money as freely as he wins il.
He literally wastes it, scattering it
about with lavish hand.
The GamesIerss Temptation.
One morning Chaverny entered his
office at Mailre Lance'S on the BOule-
ward Saint-Germain, pale and worn out,
having passed the night at the club. The
sleeves of his coat were green bydint of
rubbing against the cloth of the table on
which he had lost all his winnings of
| the previous night and $4,000 francs
more, for which he had given his l. o.
L.
He had until the following day. no
longer, according to the received code
of honor, to pay his debt, to raise the 25,-
600 francs. In his Office. all of fever,
with red eyes and his chin in his hand.
he wondered what he was to do and
what would become of him.
How was he to earn the money, of
whom was he to borrow it? OF his en-
plOyer, the hard lawyer, inaccessible TO
such weakness, who surely would not
hesitate to sacrifice him in order to pun
ish him, instead OF coming to his rescue?
Never would he have dared 10 try. To
confess his loss would mean his eXpul-
sion and finding himself without bread.
in the blackest poverty. in that city
which has smiles only for fortunate pe0-
pie.
His eyes Strayed toward the safe, of
which he had the key and knew the Sc
cret, toward the safe IN which were
$4,000 francs. Safety was there, but
there also was crime!
Amid his anguish the morning passed.
Maitre Lance was continually entering.
then condemned himW
Can you understand the terrible
anguish of that heart in which the menl-
ory of the old sin had been softened
without being wiped out? He felt like
stepping aside, sending in his Tesigna-
tiOn-but why? Another would take
his place, more severe. perhaps, and
would sentence Lavardin to the maxi
mum punishment. On the contrary,
was it not his duty to remain. that ne
might be iHdulgent to the poor man?
And he remained, since it was his
duty.
The day of the trial came. Lavardin
appeared almost calm, before the
trembling magistrate, whose face was
crimson with shame. The proceedings
could not be long, for the confession
was complete.
II had no intention of stealing" said
Lavardin, with tears in his eyes. Il be-
Iieved | would win and repay my en-
pIoyer so soon that he would have no
suspicion. This | was unable to do the
following day: l should perhaps have
done 1t the next. And l was determined,
if misfortune continued to pursue NE,
10 kill myself. l was not given the
time!'
A Strange HaIIucinatiOn.
The president listened to him. He
gaZed with such persistent attention at
the desperate man who was lamenting
his career. forever blasted, that grad
ually a strange thing took place IN his
brain. He seemed to be detached from
himself, so to speak, 10 have stripped
of his ermine-bordered red robe. which
was so Chaverny's Office from his own
private study. The young mali was so
pale and his troubled look so strange
that the lawyer asked him brusquely:
''Are you ill?''
''No, nothing ails me,' answered
Georges, in a changed voice.
He went out about II o'clock to break
fast, but it was impossible for him to
eat. Then he strayed along the quays.
his head ready to burst. pursued by the
obstinate idea of the robbery.
Would 1t be robbery? No-only an
unknown loan. He would take 10000
francs. pay his debt, and try his luck
with the remaining 5000, A voice with
in him said: "You will win and pay
back the money! Save yourself-do
not hesitate.
The Robbery.
Toward o'clock he was again in his