Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-11-29


sition.
THE more thought the matter over, the
more became convinced that there might
be another way out of my trouble Was
it not probable that the depositor who had
profited by my mistake had done so inno-
Gently? If so, would he not be willing to
repay the amount overdrawn? At the
worst, If he should refuse to do this, might
1t not be possible for me to scrape together
and borrow enough to make good the de-
ficiency? In this way / could correct the
blunder and no one would be the wiser for
it. But what of that man Chatham? Would
not his report betray me? / recalled his
intimation that the nature of his report
depended upon myself. What did he mean
by that? Probably he would set price
upon his silence. This would add consid-
erably to the amount / should have to
raise: but would not this be better after all.
than the loss of my position? At any rate.
l should not be any the worse off for lis
tenlng to his proposal. whatever it might
be
THAT afternoon. &C soon as the bank had
closed. called at the address Chatham had
given me. He evidently expected me.
With him was q man whom he introduced
as James Withers. the der.ositor in whose
favor my blunder had been made. Had
l not been laboring under great excite
ment, 1t is likely that my suspicious would
have been aroused by the strangeness of
Withers' presence in Chatham room. The
two men received me pleasantly and the
alleged Withers, even before could breach
the subject, expressed his regret at hear
Ing of the error which had been commit
ted. and assured mo OF his willingness to
reimburse the bank; but-ah! there was an
ominous but. He was short of ready
money Just then; everything he had was
tied up in a promising enterprise which
was bound to bring in a magnificent profit
in the course of a few days Il only he could
raise few paltry hundreds to enable him
to hold out a little longer. II he failed
to soraps together this small amount. all
would be lost Insidiously and relentless
ly they drove ME toward the trap they had
prepared, and / was weak enough to fall
into It, Before the interview was over,
had consented to allow Withers to still
further overdraw his account, and ! had
received his solemn promise to refund. be-
fore the end OF the week. the entire amount
he owed the bank. Then Chatham suggest
ed that 1t would be wiser to let the sec
ond oYerdraft come from another ac-
count. Withers agreed with him and stated
that the check could be made in the name
OF Henry Seymour relative Of his. who
had recently opened small account with
the Knickerbocker bank. I strongly OBJ
jected to sharing the secret of my infamy
with any others; but finally allowed my
self to be overruled by the plausible scoun-
drels into whose clutches had fallen.
THE next day l took my first step in
crime. by making such entries as would
insure the honoring of Seymours check.
After that was completely in the power of
these two men. 1t was not long before
discovered that l had been their dupe.
Chatham's acccomplice was not the true
Withers; for this man, few days later.
made large deposit, which more than
covered his previous overdraft. The false
Withers was Henry Seymour himself
las soon as had committed felony, 1t
became unnecessary for Seymour to keep
up any further pretense of desire to re-
fund the money l had helped him to steal.
was now in the meshes of crime as deep
ly as my accomplices; and, from that time
to this they have forced me to act as their
cats-paw. During this period of two years
the bank has been robbed in this way of
over $26O0O0. every cent of which has
gone to Chatham and Seymour.
You can perhaps imagine what a hell
my life has been during that time. With
prison and disgrace staring me in the face:
and with the absolute conviction that ex-
posture must inevitably come sooner or
later, have suffered the torture of the
damned. AT the bank. have been In
perpetual state Of suspense. / have start
ed at every word spoken to me; have
seen suspicion in every glance which has
met mine; l have trembled and paled at
every approach of one of the officers Of the
bank. And yet have not dared to alb
sent myself from my desk for an hour lest
an examination of my books during my
absence should reveal my crime. l have
been the first to reach the bank in the
morning, and the last to leave 1t at night !;
have not even taken the few minutes
during the day which would have been re-
CURED to enable me to obtain hurried
meal. On one preteNt or another. during
the last two years, / have had to forego my
annual vacation. I have dragged myself
to my post when 1 was SO i'll that could
hardly stand, because l could not afford
to have anyone take charge OF my books
for even an hour. And all that time. with
full realization of my degradation and
infamy. have been forced to continue my
frauds, knowing that each one brought
me nearer to the inevitable final exposure;
but knowing equally well that refusal
on my part to continue my stealing would
result in an instant betrayal by my ac-
completes.
"At last further concealment became i'm
possible. week ago the yearly examina
ton of the books took place. The expert
accountant employed was, as usual, Thomas
Chatham. and of course. as usual, his re-
port was entirely satisfactory. 1t seemed.
| therefore. as though discovery could be
postponed little longer; when suddenly,
this morning. we were informed that a
change in the system of bookkeeping would
be adopted after the list of January. saw at
once that all was over. The discovery of
my crime is now a matter of hours. must
be out of the way before the crash comes
or l am doomed. / can already see the
felon's stripes upon my back; the clang of
the prison gates ring in my ears.
Il am too dazed to think; but feel that
my only escape is in death. And yet cling
to life. know that the happy days of the
past are gone forever; and yet feel sort
of numb relief at the thought that the
worst is now certain to come, and to come
at once.
II have carefully prepared my flight, so
that shall have plenty of time to reach
place OF safety. Once there, shall be
free from pursuit; but shall be an exile,
and shall carry with me to the grave the
burden of my sin.
The most bitter pang in my remorse is
caused by the thought of the great wrong
have done you. dear wife. You will now
be forced to face the world not only I'M
protested by the one whose duty and whose
desire 1T was to smooth the ysy fer you;