The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1897-01-29

fhut 90 you think IlfmmiugWaY
would have done such a thngq"
Gle did so fifteen minutes after
read Your note. lie saw that had al.
ready heard IL, and IL panied him
deeply 60 know that tho news had
reached me go soon. OF course. i
could not tell him you had written me
about II as soon as You saw him nc the
club, and 80 the poor follow thinks
that The report rs general, 70. m your
zeal 10 BIO my friend. You have dc.
priyod man of an invaluable
privilege and put me iu an awkward
position.
The face Of the young man fell. To
was angry, and ho hardly know WHY
he was so. He sat down near tho girl
aud bent toward her
81 love You more than he does any.
way" he said, pgasiouately. "It /
had promised you 20 let drink alone ]
would have done il lit killed me.
You must be mine. cannot live
without you. You arc the only wo-
man / ever loved, and yet you con.
stantly make me feel that you do not
wholly approve OF my character You
seem TO think Lam not fair and above
board. Now listen 20 me, ] am going
70 say something that wall astouish
you. The other night 1 heard a man
say that one who would take an unfair
advantage of another, would, under
sufficient pressure, steal. Now you
contend that l have treated Hem
mingway unfairly, and l cannot con.
vince You that / have not; but ] can
prove TO you that nothing on the face
Of the earth could make me dishonest.
Most men think they are honest, but
they have not been tested. i have
been tested and know what am talk
ing about know beyond q shadow
Of q doubt that / am an honest man.
snow, don't speak till I get through.
! am going to confess something to
you that have never breathed 10 but
one other human being. ! am going
to do it because / believe you will
think more Of my character when you
know what l have encountered and
overcome in the way OF temptation.
"You remember the sad death oil
John Billingsley when he went with
me on my yacht for a cruise five years
ago. You know he was drowned in a
squall that struck as one night. Well,
that very day he had told me some,
thing that he said no one else in the
world knew, that no had twenty thou,
sand dollars hidden in the wainscotinp
of his cabin, which he intended to give
his mother as q surprise as soon as We
returned.
"Now, don't be shocked till you
know the outcome of my story; but
declare / was so much wrought az
over the poor fellows death that
completely forgot what he told me
about the hidden money until he haC
been buried a week. ! had just start
ed to go to my yacht to get the money
to give to Mrs. Billingsley when wa
informed of the most serious fnancia
loss of my life. found myself with
out a dollar to my credit, in debt to
bank for exactly the amount of Bill
ingsley's money, and threatened will
instant ruin. / was often in deer
water in those days, before 1 hal
made my financial position as firm q
it now is; but that was crisis OF my
life. I was tempted to use Billings
ley's money till I could get on my fee
again but l did not do it.
al left to it where it was, and went K
the bank and succeeded in getting tn
paper extended for three month
longer. Then went to my yacht TO
the money to send to Mrs. Billingsley
but was suddenly seized with an over
towering fear that if / turned tn
money over to it's owner / would b.
giving up all the security l would hav
in case | could not meet the obligation
at the end of three months. dit
wrong, of course; but decided to lie
the money remain where it was unit
| knew that l was safe.
"About that time" spoke up th
girl, II think you lent your yacht t,
Captain TImmons, of the Ligh
GuardsP"
ooh yes, and he was cruising abou
for six weeks in it, never dreaming
that there was 80 much money hidde,
in one of the cabins; but am onl,
getting to the interesting part of m.
story.
"The time passed rapidly. Every
{ thing ] touched was failure. At tn
, end of the three months I was in
worse fincancial condition than ever
Absolute ruin was facing me. kne,
that Billingsley's money would say
me, aud ut times the temptation to ne
it temporarily was almost more than
> could withstand.
? "On the day before my note was Il
fall due / went to my yacht, took on
? the money, carried it to my room an
Q put it in a drawer. Lampson, th
= cashier of the bank, called on me tina
} night to tell me how he hated to TAX
the step he was obliged to take til
= next morning.
en- ,,,oc ,;kA;rr. ~ ,,oxr 1orI- ,,~1 .