Willmar tribune., 1900-09-05

look OF agony pass over ner features
az she instinctively pressed her hand tc
her heart. knew then that the let.
ter contained some important revela-
ton, and became anxious to obtain
possession of it. When she had done, ]
could see that she was laboring under
strong emotion; but she controlled
herself, replaced the letter in it's en-
velope and said, merely: This does
not tell me my husbands whereabouts;
but shall doubtless have fur ther news
of him in the course of few days.
saw that she was attempting to shield
him in the supposition that he was still
alive. therefore broke the news OF
his death to her as gently as could.
The first shock seemed to utterly un.'
nerve her; but after awhile she became
somewhat calmer. After all, it is bet
ter so,' she said, at last. Then she
handed me this letter. There was no
further reason for Withholding it. Read
it now.'
ut is postmarked at the general post
Office at five O'clock said Sturgis; lit
was therefore mailed Before or during
Chatham's visit to the bank. 1t may
have been mailed by Arbogast before
the scrubbing was done, or perhaps by
the chorewoman when she left the
bank"
The reporter drew the letter from its
envelope and read:
"The Knickerbocker Bank,
New York, Dec. 81, 1896.
my Darling Wife: When you receive
this letter shall be far away-a disgraced
criminal-and you will be worse than a
widow.
II dare not ask your forgiveness for the
trouble I am bringing upon you; for
realize all too clearly the extent of the
wrong I have done you. But feel irresist-
IDLY impelled to lay before you in all their
nakedness, as do before my own conscience,
the circumstances which have led to my
downfall. A knowledge Of these may per-
haps enable you to understand, In a meas
ure, the temptation to which have sue
cumbed; although I find it hard myself,
now that all is over, to realize how came
to yield to it.
Perhaps you may remember the cele-
bration of my fiftieth anniversary. We
were having most enjoyable evening in
the company of the friends whom you had
| invited to participate in the festivities,
when caller was announced. was obliged
to leave our guests In order to receive him
| in the library. This man lost no time In
stating the nature of his business with me
His name was Thomas Chatham; he was
an expert accountant, who had been en-
ployed at the Knickerbocker bank to ex-
anime the books. and he coolly informed
me that he had just discovered serious
error In my boOks-one that had enabled
| depositor to overdraw his account by
a large amount. At first refused to be-
| lieve him, although he submitted copies
from the books showing exactly how the
blunder had been made. When he intimated
| that it only rested with me whether the
error should be reported to the bank, ]
| Indignantly refused to listen to him. He
| remained perfectly unruftled during ou1
| interview and left me at last with the
statement that he would wait "A hours be.
fore handing In his report to the presi-
dent.
my first step on reaching the bank
thenext day was to verify Chatham state.
| ments. Alas! they were only too true: There
was the terrible blunder staring me in the
| face. could not understand how had
| come to make it; but there it was, and
nothing could explain it away. Ihad hoped
against hope up to this time; now I saw
clearly that was a ruined man. &..
There was only one honorable course
| sibility for the blunder and take the con.
sequences, whatever they might be. ]
| hesitated, and was lost. ,. =.
Il hesitated because I felt that my posi-.
! ton was at stake. Would not my error
| appear inexcusable to the officers Of the
| bank, since could find no palliation for II
In my own eyes? I was SO years old. ]
shrank from the necessity of beginning
again at the foot of the ladder which
/ ha 90 1oh hor iyoho of<
OF conscientious plOdding. It would be
no easy matter for me to find another DO.
| sition. 5.s@: ~ z<lssS{ + Z
''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 whoahaG
profted by my mistake had done so limo.
Gently? Il SO, would he not be willing tc
repay the amount over1rawn? At the
worst. II he should refuse to do this, might
ft2not be possible for me to scrape together
and borrow enough to make good the de.
fciency? In this way could correct the
blunder and no one would be the wiser fol
It. But what Of that man Chatham? Would
not his report betray me? j recalled his
tntimation 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 I should have I'd
lraise; but would not this be better, afterall
than the loss Of my post tion? !? AT any rate
should not be any the worse on for lis.
tening TO his proposal, whatever Il might
[To Be Continued
I@#az ---.-.
Every square mile Of ssea 70 estimats<
I sto contain 1901 900, 900 11sh