The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1894-08-31
miscellaneous.
TARSNEY'S TEMPTATION.
BY TOM p. MORGAN.

BY TOM p. MORGAN.
Unless there was ahorse-tradeors some
thing of equal Importance on hand,
Lyman Tarsney was pretty sure to be
| found at the postoffice at mail-time
not because he expected letter, but
because the postoffice was grocery
store plentifully supplied with com,
| Portable box, barrel and counter seats.
1t offered abundant opportunities for
sly nibblings of crackers and cheese,
and was the clearinghouse for the
gossip of the village.
When, one day, the postmaster real
| " did hand Tarsney letter, he was
| doubtfully. 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 open
ed the letter with mingled eagerness
and doubt. Perhaps somebody had
died and left him a fortune stranger
| things had been heard of. When he
| had gained Il partial understanding of
| the contents, he hurriedly left the
postoffice, his whole lazy body CULVER
| ing with excitement.
| Around the corner he paused, unde-
cided where to go to examine his prize
in secret Then he slouched with I'M
accustomed 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, and
keeping on till he felt sure he was in
no danger of being seen.
He wormed his way into the midst
of thicket, and re-eXamined his
prize. The contents of the envelope
consisted of a neat circular, printed in
| imitation of the work of Il type writer,
strip purporting to be a clipping
| from Il newspaper, and small slip
| bearing a name and address.
Tarsney read the circular carefully.
| 1t was couched in a strain well calcu-
lated to flatter the vanity and whet
the greed of the reader. After stating
that the writer was DESTROYS of obtain
ing II shrewd man to handle his goods,
which were nowhere mentioned as
counterfeit money, but always as
goods the circular continued.
You can make money faster and
easier by dealing in my goods than
you ever dreamed of before in your
life. 1t was never intended that one
man should have millions and an
other nothing The wealth and good
things of this world are too unevenly
distributed.
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 safety and
immense profits, and enable you to
provide yourself with a competency
for your old age and pass your remain
ing 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 I'M
Justly so"
So on went the letter to a consider
able length, in a way shrewdly calcu-
lated to find the weak point of such a
man us Lyman 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 a newspaper clip
ping, setting forth that IN spite of
certain engraved plates had been
stolen from the United States Treas
ury, from which notes-exactly the
same as the genuine except that they
did not have the sanction of the gov
ernment-were being printed by the
thousands of dollars worth. The fol-
lowing extract is a fair sample of the
sophistry of the article:
'As the case stands these people in
New York have everything their own
way, for their shrewd work seems to
be carried on in perfect safety, and
there is not the slightest chance of de-
tecting them or the people with whom
they do business. 1t seems to be a
positive fact that they are in posses
sion of duplicate Treasury plates ex-
actly the same as those used by the
government, and the paper is similar to
that upon which the genuine notes
are printed. tits a profound mystery
how and from whence 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 thousand of detecting
them, and all the detectives have fail
ed to unearth the slightest clue to the
makers or users"
Lyman Tarsney had never been des-
perate or depraved. His sins had
been chiefly of omission rather than
of commission. He had never stolen
aught except precious time, and the
happiness and comforts of his wife
and children.
He had always been one of those
sanguine souls who are content to
wait patiently for something to turn
MP, instead of rolling high their sleeves
and turning up something for them
| selves.
In the old home State he had done
fairly well, till finally he conceived the
belief that in Missouri was located the
Ell. Dorado where kindly nature re-
turned a maximum of reward for a
minimum of toll Thither he had
iourneyed with his little flock and
purchased run down farm ION 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 necessary
payments on the farm, and in due
! time lost it.
The family presently found shelter
in shabby rented house in the out
skirts of the village, and Lyman de-
generated by degrees into Il good
natured loafer, a trader of horses and
catcher of fish-a worthless cumberer
of the ground.
The green goods circular came to
him like revelation. 1t aroused his
avarice and his long dormant ambi,
ton. He had never had his chance
before, he told himself; but now his
| chance had come, The artful argu.