The herald., 1896-02-22
A FATHERS SIN.

bore the character of stern, hard man.
But stranger might have read his nature
u his face-in the cold grny eyes, thin,
Glosely compressed lips and severe aspect
His neiRhbors in Bardsley said he never
smiled. Certainly he smiled very seldom
end laughed even less frequently. No
fkivolity of any kind had he ever allowed
- creep into his life. His nature diG not
xequire relaxation. Music dancing, play
going, cricket, football golf, skittles-he
seorned them all. Life was too serious for
such follies.
In one characteristic he took the great
ct pride. Never In his recollection had
be willingly broken his word. Perfectly
Straightforward in all his dealings, soru-
pulously honest, he had marked out for
himself line Of conduct from which he
never diverged, and he expected his family
70 walk along the same rigid chalk mark
With stops rs unfaltering as his own.
The severe home discipline CALLED bis
only son terribly. When q lad Is forbid
den any amusement more exciting than
an occasional lecture at tho assembly
rooms, 1t would be strange il he did not
rebel. Tom Marston revolted, and the
consequences were serious.
He visited the theater Some busybody
saw him and told his father. Silas Mars.
Ton did not storm, desperately angry
though he was. That was not his way.
"Theaters are catchpits, he said. "If
you 60 again, will turn you out of
DOORS
Tom knew-none better-that his father
would most assuredly do as he said, and
for nearly 12 months he avoided the ban
ned building on Bardsley Green. But one
morning q conrade jeered at him and
dared him to go. That night he broke
Silas Marston's law for the second time,
and again he WAS found out. On his re-
turn his father met him at the door.
you have been to the theater," he said
In the calm, cold, equable voice which he
habitually uscd whether angry or pleased.
"What money have you?'
In fear and trembling Tom produced
his purse and counted its contents with
nervous fingers.
"Sev-sevcn and ninepence, father" he
faltered
Eilas Marston placed two sovereigns In
the boys shaking hand.
"Take these and CO." be said. 1T dis
own you"
He opened the door. Next moment the
motherless boy was in the street-without
. home.
If Silas Marston we're in any way dis
turbed by his sons absence, he gave no
outward sign Of 1t. He went to his bust
ness just as regularly as before and was as
constant in his attendance at church. To
all inquiries, which we're many his all
swer was the saire
HE disobeyed me, and I sent him
away
What had become Of the lad he did not
know. He had kept his word, and the
satisfaction thus derived was strong
enough to silence his conscience-at least
% 1t appeared.
Seven months had passed. 1t was the
last day Of the Leeds winter assizes. Silas
Marston had been summoned on the jury.
The last case on the calendar was one of
forgery. The clerk called out the name of
"Joscph Taylor and the jailer brought
MP his prisoner, lad of II, poorly clad
and apparently half starved. He trembled
as he stepped to the front of the dock, and
his face, as lie glanced furtively about,
was deathly pale.
box he staggered, clutched at the dock
railings and chung convulsively, while his
face alternately paled and crimsoned. So
he remained, with eyes cast down.
Had a curious spectator been watching
Silas Marston closely he might have seen
that jurymans cold eyes dilate and his
lips part slightly, while an ashen pallor
overspread his features. But those signs
- To-, ID
oovering himsalf in an instant, Silas folded
his arms, and, leaning back, stared at the
boy with stony eyes that revealed no in
forest whatever. Doubtless it was great
victory.
Counsel for the prosecution opened the
case against the wretched lad. The ac-
oused, he said, had been in the employ
ment of Messrs. Clifford & Rice as er-
sand boy. 1t was also his duty to sweep
up the counting house. A forged checl,
for 275, in favor of Mr.. barley, with whom
the arm had dealings, had been presented
ut Clifford s. Rice's bankers and cashed.
When it was discovered that several forms
Wore missing from a checkbook. suspi-
cion fell upon the prisoner who had access
to tho drawer where the book was kept
and had been seen in the company of no.
furious crininal-not in custody. He was
nccused and searched, when three blank
forms, next in sequence to that which had
been Dashed, were found upon him. The
body Of the check had not been filled up
by the accused, nor did he present it, but
he was charged with forging Messrs. Cliff
ford g. Rice's signature and the indorse-
ment, both of which were excellent imita-
tions and must have been copied from
genuine signatures.
The boy was asked to plead He STAN
mercd something unintelligible and burst
into tears. The gentleman who had been
requested by the court to defend him rose
hastily and pleaded mot guilty on his
behalf.
Silas Marston frowned.
"It's waste of time, he muttered to his
neighbor on the left, the foreman Of the
Jury.
.'Ithink it is" rejoined that gentleman,
ssbut let the boy have Il chance.'
Counsel for tho prosecution called wit
ness after witness, whose evidence made it
0bundantly clear that the accused was
guilty, but that he had been the dups of
m cider criminal, who had escaped with
the plumber
Counsel for The defense, finding himself
unable to contest the evidence, appealed
10 tho court
oner was sent away from home only few
nnopths ago to sink or swim. He had dis
ebsyed his father, man Of considerable
DeenA who turned him out Of doors. do
nqfzanxx sthatx man'e feellngg when. be