San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-12-01


that had penned the letter signed "Lina
off impatiently; duly wondering the
while what new word of evil he should
find therein. Almost at once a marked
paragraph stood out, as though it were
printed in capitals. 1t read:
George Chalmers, the embezzling
cashier of the - National bank, was
yesterday adjudged guilty on each count
Of the Indictment and sentenced to ten
years of hard labor in the state peniten-
tiary ct Columbus"
The paper was a Cleveland paper Of
January first. The tragedy was COM
plete in three acts.
Chalmers went on with his breakfast,
as he would under almost any circum-
stances whatever have gone on with any
thing in which he happened to be en-
gagged. But this action was mechanical,
as after the first daze had passed away
he began to think clearly and rapidly
about the matter in hand. By the time
he had finished his coffee and dropped
fee in the palm of the attentive waiter
he had every detail of action systemat-
ically arranged.
"You may cancel my room," he said
to the man at the desk as he returned to
the hotel Office. 81 shall go on north by
the first train. How soon can l leave"
"There will be nothing now until
night, sir. The first train is out at nine
fifteen. Sorry you are going to leave us
so soon," went on the clerk affably.
Good time to see New Orleans, sir;
French opera tonight and plenty of
quadroon balls going, if you care for
that sort of thing"
Chalmers stared hard at the man and
waited until he had finished. Then he
said quietly:
"See that my luggage is sent down in
time for that train and have it checked
for Cleveland, and get me Pullman
section through as far as you can. Now
please give me some telegraph blanks"
He penned two kilograms. One was
to Lima Tenant and was as follows:
81 have just heard; shall leave for
Cleveland tonight"
The other was to Winston, Lanny and
Company, Broad street, New York 1t
said:
Turn everyth ing you can into cash
and have subject % sight draft within
three days. Shall want at least one
hundred thousand"
When he had sem these it was not
quite eleven o'clock. Ten hours of en-
forced idleness, of al solute inactivity,
were before him just at the time when
it was more important than it had ever
yet been in his whole life that he should
be doing something. He had not planned
for this, and so chafed under the delay
and sought for some means by which the
time might be employed. Once he thought
he would write to George; then he de-
cided to wait and see Lima Tenant and
the bank people and learn the whole
story. He would make sure of what he
could do before writing to George or
going to Columbus. That he could do
something with the means at his COM
mand he never doubted for a moment.
AS to what that something would be,
what form it would take, his ideas as
yet were indefinite. That would depend
upon what he learned at Cleveland.
The long day dragged itself on and
came to close at last. 1t was raining
when it was time for him to go to the
train, and all through the night he could
hear the storm beating in gusts against
the windows Of his berth. All the next
day, as the train speeded on northward
through the boundless pine forests OF
Alabama, the rain kept pouring steadily
down and adding dreariness to every
dreary hour. 1t would have been enough
had his errand and his thoughts been OF
the pleasantest. But as it was, with his
mind fixed so steadily upon the one
wretched fact before him, the monOtOny
was almost unbearable.
At Cincinnati, as he changed cars the
nett morning, the rain had given place
to snow, and as he still went on north
ward through Ohio the white blanke
grew deeper and deeper over the land
The monOtony of it was awful; like
shroud spreading itself out over thu
, earth and, thought Chalmers, winding
ever closer and closer about himself
Would it wind him so close in its fold
, that he could do nothing in this matte
J upon which he had come up into thi
| inhospitable wintry land? Toward nool
t the snow had grown so deep that it be
], gan to impede the progress Of the train
frequently it stopped, while the engin
u was driven ahead to clear the track.
snowplOw was put on and it threw u
great solid walls of snow, like quarrie
i marble, on either side the line.
,. seemed as if the snow would never sto
Y coming and as though they must b
d swallowed up in the white desolation.
t A passenger in the seat opposite Cha