Waterbury Democrat., 1900-12-01

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. fN
 My first step on reaching the bank the next day was to verify Chatham state ments. Alas! they were only too true. There was the terrible blunder staring me in the face. l 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 tfme;, now saw clearly that I was a ruined man.
 There was only one honorable course open to me-to frankly confess my respon- sibility for the blunder and take the con- sequences, whatever they might be- I hesitated, and I was lost. L--i
 "I hesitated because felt that my posi- ton at stake. Would not my error appear inexcusable to the officers of the bank, since could find no palliation for it i'll my own eyes? I was 50 years old. I shrank from the necessity of beginning again at the foot of the ladder which had so laboriously climbed after lifetime of conscientious plodding. It would be no easy matter for me to find another po- sition. nl s. --
 ''The more I 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
 
 and borrow enough to make good the de- ticiency? In this way could correct the biunder and no one would be the wiser for it. But what of that man Chatham? Would not his report betray me? 1 recalled his intima ton 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 consd crably to the amount 1 should have to raise; but would not this be better, after all, than the loss of my position? At any rate, I should not be any the worse off for lis tening to his proposal, whatever it might be.
 That afternoon, soon as the bank had closed, I called at the address Chatham had given me. He evidently expected me. With him was man whom he introduced as James Withers, the depositor in whose favor my blunder had been made. Had I not been laboring under great excite ment, it is likely that my suspicious would have been aroused by the strangeness Of Withers' presence in Chatham n's room. The two men received me pleasantly, and the alleged WitherS, even before could broach the subject, expressed his regret at hear Ing of the error which had been commit ted, and assured me 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 promising enterprise which was bound to bring in a magnificent profit in the course of few days if only he could raise few paltry hundreds to enable him to hold out little longer. If he failed to Scrape together this small amount, all would be lost Insidiously and relentless ly they drove me toward the trap they had prepared and l was weak enough to fall into it. Before the interview was over, l had consented to allow Withers to still further ,overdraw his account, and I 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 it would be wiser to let the sec ond overhaul 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 a small account with the knickerbocker bank l strongly o5 jected to sharing the secret of my infamy with any others; but finally allowed my self to be overruled by the plausible scoun- dfes into whose clutches I had fallen.
 ''The next day l took my first step in crime, by making such entries would insure the honoring of Seymour's. check After that was completely in the power of these two men. It was not long before discovered that l had been their dupe thatham'S s acccomplice was not the true Withers; for this man, a few days later, made a large deposit, which more than covered his previous overdraft. The false Withers was Henry Seymour himself
 "AS soon as had committed felony, it became unnecessary for Seymour to keep up any further pretense of desire to re- fund the money I had helped him to steal l ly my accomplices; and, from that time to this they have forced me to act as their cat's-paw. During this period of two years the bank has been robbed in this way of over $250,000, every cent of which has gone to Chatham and Seymour.
 You can perhaps imagine what 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. I have been in perpetual state of suSp ense. I 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 l have not dared to ab- sent myself from my desk for an hour, lest an examination of my books during my absence should reveal my crime. have been the first to reach the bank in the morning, and the last to leave it a night; l have not even taken the few minutes during the day which would have been Quired to enable me to obtain hurried meal On one pretext or another, during the last two years, 1 have had to forego my annual vacation l have dragged myself to my post when Twas so i'll that I could hardly stand, because 1 could not afford to have anyone take charge of my books for even an hour. And all that time, with a 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- complices. ,
 At last further concealment became i'm possible. A week ago the yearly examina- tion of the books took place. The expert accountant employed was, as usual. Thomas Chatham, and of course, usual, his re- port was entirely satisfactory. It seemed. therefore. as though discovery could be postponed a little longer; when suddenly, this morning, we were informed that change in the system of bookkeeping would be adopted after the 1st of January 1 saw at once that all was over. The discovery of my crime is now g. matter of hours. must be out of the way before the crash comes or l am doomed. 1 can already see the felons stripes upon my back; the clang of the prison gates ring in my ears.
 1 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. .. 4
 T have carefully prepared my flight, so that shall have plenty of time to reach place of safety. Once there, I shall be free from pursuit; but shall be an exile,