The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-12

( olL Il AnSef tnau write that letter. TWO
1 mornings later my crammer got a regis
tered letter by post
NOW, l swear to you" Here Bryce
broke off short, and looked me fun in the
eyes i swear that al the time / knew
| nothing whatever about it,
lie opened this letter which contained
a Bank of England note for $780, the val
! ne OF certain shares sold by his broker.
/ lie was alone at the time, and this was
ms own story of what happened. A min
I ute later seeing a man pass the window
with a horse which he, Moore, thought
OF buying, he thrust the note into a draw
er oil his writing table locked it and
went out with the key la his pocket.
HaII an hour later he returned and met
me just leaving the study. where I had
Vainly looked in for him.
what do you want, ManneIing?" said
| ne Sharply; chat was my name then. l
nave taken my mother s-sinceD
NOW seeing he was in a bad humor.
ior me owner would not part with the
morse cheap, all my courage oOzed away
ne truth was that post brought me a
| SAD reply from my mother il grieved her
bitterly TO be in such straitened circum-
stances mat she could not help me for
| some days not even then unless told her
on my honor 1t was necessary. There were
deDts OF my fathers still to pay. For the
nrst tlme she told me frankly how small
al
to keep me at Moore's at ALL"
Il know. Two hundred a year to that
old rascal! What on earth did he do with
all he squeezed out of us?"
lie speculated a good bit; then he had
taken TO drink" answered Bryce in weary
bitterness. But he resumed His former
tone Of hopeless resignation Now nv
feeling for Mona was a very different
thing compared to the alteration in which
mad always held my mother NV heart
melted utterly at her revelation and in an
impulse of remorse l FASTENED to the
study meaning to beg Moore either to al
low me TO leave, or to stay on reduced
terms-an attic, no wine, etc 1t was
boylsh idea, that a man like him would .et
90 bargain once struck. Still | hoped
TO touch his better feelings, and l vowed
to myself that l would pass nv first ex-
animation. Unfortunately, Moore looked
so cross that l stammered-made a poor
eXcuse-and went away crestfallen, think
ing to await better opportunity.
Then Mona met me and overwhelmed
me with tears and reproaches on finding
/ could not help her; l had not tried, she
said.
Soon afterwards Moore opened his
drawer, meaning to put the note in a
safe. 1t was gone!
The whole household was buzzlng with
the news in five minutes like a hive of
edge Of the note; the police came, and after
examining the drawer. said the lock ap-
peared to have been tempered with
mat night l was sitting alone in the
pupils room-brooding. Monas unkind-
ness had cut me to the heart; also I was
reading my mothers letter once more over
the fire with tears in my eyes She had
desired me to burn it. having written so
fully of our private affairs. Now it was
folded in three, for she used the oid-fash-
Toned envelopes-mark this, please
tore it up Carefully, because all she wrote
was too sacred for careless handling, and
put the bits in the flames, except one OBJ
long piece, There were some specially
loving words in il which l was reading
over for the last time, when the door
opened Being surprised, l thrust the
scrap of paper into the heart Of the Goals,
and turned round to see the housekeeper
She looked at me strangely in a way I did
not like, then she exclaimed, Thief! That
was the motel" My heart stood still. Next
instant l tried to pluck out the shriveled
remains, but its ashes fluttered from my
burnt fingers up the chimney.
My God! when / remember that night
my brain seems bursting. Before an hour
was over ] was arrested; the police
searched and found a key hidden away.
they said, In my desk, which clumsily fit
ted the drawer. In vain l declared ii was
bureau al home.
mo one but my mother believed me, and
a few old friends. Perhaps you don't
The jury did not"
There are more asses than wise men
in the world" quoth I sententously. but
what evidence had they against you, boy,
excepting the housekeeper's fancy. Did
she stick to it?''
Yes; on her oath. try to think she
was not prejudiced. But she latterly dis
liked me-Mona used to say the woman
was jealous of herself and hated her
friends Still / don't see why
docking at Bryce's singularly hand
some face, l thought I did. Old human
nature-)
AL all was against me, sir. The pawn
ing of my watch; then Moore declared
truly enough I was confused when he
caught me as he called it, in his study;
worst of ALL he swore to having spoken
in my presence of his sale of stock and
how he hoped to realize more than he
gave for ii. Possibly he did, for he often
prated of his 'flutters' on the stock ex-
change not that any of us fellows paid
much attention to him.
when the trial came on my one anchor
of hope was-Mona. 1t seemed dishonor-
able to tell myself, but she knew why
had pawned my watch. l never doubted
but that she would come forward to save
father met me, l told her my one hope OF
getting her the cash has failed. In vain
even my mother urged me to confess why
1 wanted money. Perhaps my lawyer
guessed, for he insisted on asking Mona
that question. First she replied evasively.
she really could not say; when pressed she
swore she did not know. ! turned faint
at that: there We're some Kisses in court,
for most Of the pupils were my friends and
they believed 1 had done 1t for Mona's
sake,
well, the jury found me guilty. After
that nothing else mattered. When / was
set free my mother was dead. But she
believed firmly in my innocence to the
last. That was my only ray Of consola-
ton"
After a considerable interval. I queried
And the note has never been traced?"
Never. The bank was so convinced the
original had been burned that they replac-
ed ~
Now. who in the name of mischief took
that note? That's what we've got to find
out-and why should we not?" l soliloquiz-
ed lost ia meditation Of the problem.
Bryce gave sound between a sob and
a cry.
Then you believe in me?"
God bless you. my poor lad" said I
why of course, l do"