The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1894-09-04
'TARSNEY'S TEMPTATION

time ! not because he expected O let
ter, but because the p~ostofice was in
o grocery store plentifully supplied
Wien comfortable box, barrel and
opportunities for sly nibblings of
crackers and cheese, and was the clear
ing-house for the gossip of the village.
When, one day, the postmaster did
really hand Tarsney a letter, he was
much surprised, and examined it
doubtlully. The envelope was adj
dressed plainly enough, and bore the
New York postmark. Who In the
world could be writing him from New
York?
Tarsney went to one side and opened
tho letter with mingled eagerness and
doubt. Perhaps somebody had died
and left him ", fortune!-strangc
things had been heard of. When he
had gained u partial understanding Of
the contents, he hurriedly left the
post-ofiice, his whole lazy body culver
ing with excitement.
Around the corner he paused, unde-
cided where to 60 to examine his
prize In secret. Then he slouched
with unaccustomed energy out of the
village and into the woods, turning
abruptly from the beaten path, as soon
as he was out of sight Of any house,
~ hOCPlhE VII VIII no lciO ouIC IS wax
in no danger OF being seen.
He wormed his way into the midst
Of u thicket, and re-examined his
prize. The contents of the envelope
consisted OF q neat circular, printed
in imitatian Of the work Of u typo
writer, q strip %purporting to be q
clipping from u newspaper, and u
small slip bearing a name and address.
Tarsney read the circular carefully.
1t was couched In q strain well calcu-
lated to hatter the vanity and whet
the greed Of the reader. After stating
that the writer was DESTROYS Of obtain
ing a shrewd man to handle his goods,
which were nowhere mentioned as
counterfeit money, but always as
goods" the circular continued
You can mako money faster and
easier by dealing in my goods than
you ever dreamed OF before in your
life. 1t was never intended hat one
man should have millions and another
nothing. The wealth and good things
81 this world are too %unevenly distri-
buted.
"Unless you have money enough to
live on comfortably for the rest of
your life, this is just the business you
should take hold of, as my goods can
be handled with perfect srfety and
immense profits, and enable you to
provide yourself with q competency
for your old age and pass your re-
naming years in ease and comfort.
There is no wrong about it
Uncle Sam has millions of our MONEY
locked up in the Treasury, uselessly
and unjustly So"
So on went the letter to q considera-
BILE length, in a way shrewdly calcu-
lated to find tho weak point OF such a
man as Dyman Tarsney. When he
had finished reading the circular, he
was gasping at the magnitude Of the
possibilities which seemed suddenly to
have opened before him. His hand
trembled as he turned hungrily to the
printed slip that accompanied the cir
cular.
1t purported to be n newspaper clip
ping, setting forth that, in spite of
the utmost vigilance of the officials,
certain engraved plates have been
stolen from the United State Treasury,
as the genuine except that they did
not have the sanction of the Govern
ment-were being printed by the
thousands Of dollars worth. The fol-
lowing extract is u fair sample of the
sophistry of the article:
las the Ease stands the people in
New York have everything their own
way, for their shrewd work seems to
be carried OF in perfect safety, and
there is not the slightest chance Of
detecting them or the people with
a positive fact that they are in pos
session OF duplicate Treasury plates
exactly the same as those used by the
Government, and the paper is similar
TO that upon which the genuine notes
Jhe"printed. 1t Is a profound mystery
how and from whom they obtain it.
The greenbacks which the New York
%scoundrels are dealing in are so fine
and perfect that there is not one
chance in ten thousond of detecting
them, and all the detectives have failed
to unearth the slightest clue to makers
or users"
Lyman Tarsney had mover been des-
perate or depraved. His sins had been
chiefly of omission. He had never
stolen aught except precious time, and
the happiness and comfort of his wife
and children.
He had always been one of those
sanguine souls who are content to
wait patiently for something to turn
up, instead of rolling high their,
sleevesa and turning up something for
themselves.
In the old home State he had done
frirly, we'll, till finally he conceived the
belief that in Missouri was located the
Ell Dorado where kindly nature re-
turned a maximum of toll. Thither
he had journeyed with his little flock,
and purchased q rundown farm con
time" The succeeding season was a
poor one, and Tarsney's minimum of
labor brought him so little of reward
that he was unable to make the neces-
sary payments on the farm, and in due
time lost it.
The family presently found shelter
In a shabby rented house in the out
skirts of the village, and Lyman
degenerated by degrees into O good
natured loafer, u trader of horses and
catcher of fish-a worthless cumberer
Of the ground.
The green goods" circular came to
him | k a revelation. 1t aroused his
avarice and his long dormant ambi-
tion. He had never had his chance
before, he told himself but now his
chance had ONE The artful argu-
ment seemed prepared especially to fit
his case. They stilled his dull eyes
THE wealth and good things of this
world are too %unevenly distributed. |
1t was never intended that one man
should have millions and another
nothing"
The words met with T~arsney's un-
qualified Endorsement. The appeal to |
his desire for comfort in his old age
seemedlike the plying words of a kind
friend. True, 1t was counterfeit
money. Ha! Was it?
Did not the newspaper clipping dis
tinctly state that the notes were print
ed from genuine plates made by the