The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1895-11-29

tual. 1hC stranger rose to his feet. n
picture of astonIslment and confusion.
He was a strikingly handsome man,
tall and straight as an arrow, with Il
dropping brown mustache. He cer-
tainly had not the appearance of
tramp, except that his clothing was
threadbare, and even ragged in places,
and he wore no overcoat.
III beg pardon." he stammered. "I
did not know"
But Miss Kingsley seemed to sud-
denly recover her self-possession. Turn
ing to the cook she said:
Never mind, Hannah; l will see this
gentleman myself. He is an old friend
OF the family" Then, addressing the
man: 'Will you please come with me,
Mr.. Granby?"
He looked as if he would have pre-
ferred to sink through the floor, but she
had turned and was leaving the kitchen
before he could reply. He followed
her hesitatingly, mechanically, like one
in dream. She led the way to a small
room adjoining the library. There she
turned and faced him.
"Mr. CRANKY, will you kindly tell me
what this rneans?"
He stood before her, fumbling his hat
In his hands. Her question seemed to
increase his confusion, and he had to
clear his throat several times before he
could find his voice.
ic oil m, mn b 1.
exclaimed at last. 81 did not know that
this was your home. I CHANGED to be
passing and thought-well, sl--was
hungry, and mo, | will not sit down"
as she waved her hand toward a chair.
"If you will be good enough to let me
go now l will be careful not to intrude
upon you again."
"You mistake my meaning" said Miss
Kingsley, with a look of distress. 81
am not asking why you are here. God
knows I am glad to see you. What
want to know is what has brought you
to this-this-condition? 1 cannot be-
heve that you have voluntarily adopted
the life of "a"
"Of tramp?" he said, finishing her
sentence with bitter smile.
pardon me-" she added, hastily; ST
have no right to question you. Pray,
don't misjudge my motive. know that
you are not to blame for the change in
your fortunes; know that you are in
capable of a wrong act"
He gave her sharp look, as If he
would read her thoughts.
'That is remarkable statement" he
said, slowly. "Can it be that you have
forgotten why ran away from home
five years ago?"
81 have not forgotten the miserable
story that was told at that time," she re-
piled, firmly; "but have heard differ
ent story since. Mr.. Cranky, my unhap-
py brother has told me everything"
The man started.
''He has told me-" continued the wom-
an, her face white with suppressed ex-
citement, "that it was he and not you
who forged the check for $15,OOO!"
"He told you that? Good heavensl
does your father knoww
gone to another world, Mr.. CRANKY.
Robert and have been orphans for
three years. 1t was not until after their
death that he ndzde hiss confession to
me. He told use Of his youthful In
fatu,Albn for gsmblipgSma horse races;
how he became SO deeply involved that
in a moment of desperation, to avert
the disgrace he saw staring him in the
face, he forged the signature of de-
positor in fathers bank, hoping thus to
retrieve his losses and replace themoney
before it's withdrawal was discovered.
You, as teller of the bank, cashed the
check without suspicion. Afterward,
when the money was squandered, and
Robert realized that he could not hope
to conceal his crime, he confided in you
and begged you to help him out of his
trouble. He said that his exposure
would kill his mother, bring disgrace
upon his family, and cause his father
to forever disown him. Then it was
that you sacrificed yourself to save
him and his family. You told him you
would divert suspicion from him if he
would keep his own counsel and promise
on his oath to never gamble again. You
kept your word by suddenly disap-
pearing, thus bringing suspicion upon
yourself, SO that when the forgery was
discovered nobody could doubt that you
were the criminal, and that you. had
fed to escape the consequences of your
crime. Oh, it was noble thing to do!
Not one man in million could have
made such sacrificed" Miss Kings
ley's voice betrayed her agitation now,
and there were tears in her eyes. But
you do not know what a shock it was
to-to-father and the rest of us to be
forced to believe you guilty. We had
such faith in you. Thank heaven, the
story never got into the papers. Robert
and have tried hard for two years to
find some trace of you, that we might
make such reparation as lay in our