Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-04-26

1
shall not give you up and [ shall see
you every opportunity [ can, so long
as it doesn't bother you. Dad knows
| all about it and he's with me-"
The judge wanted to shout "Good
for dad" but he didn't.
Then they got up to go, and after
another longer silence they left him
alone. He knew all about the trouble,
and pretty mean he felt about it, too.
AS he rode slowly home he turned
the little tragedy over and over in his
mind, and the more he thought about
it the more he felt that he had made
mistake by staying and listening.
At last he evolved C plan calculated
to ease his own conscience and give
the young man some courage. So the
judge sent him this letter:
"Mr, Edwin Grant, had the misfortune
to overhenr pnrt OF your conversation With
Miss Rand to-day, although in quite an ac-
! cidental manner. IT, as l surmise, you are
| the son os Grant. OF the Supreme, you are
| made OF the right sort OF stuff to regard
| Miss Rand's Views rs only n temporary OBJ
stacle to your happiness. L sentenced
| Rand, and IL you care to call on me | shoui
| be glad to see you. Perhaps we may think
of some arguments to make Miss Rand look
at the ease differently. At any rate l agree
! with his honor, your father, and am also
with you Yours, ROBERT SroRRow."
The next day the Judge was obliged
t. 30 to a distant city to act as referee
| III = case.
rhe Rand case was almost purely o
r;r,:umstantial one and hung on the
.vtndwriting i'll which the false entries
had been made in the books. The
handwriting experts all agreed that
the entries had been made by Rand +;
indeed, the prisoner admitted as much
He had pleaded mot guilty" and
when he admitted the identity of the
handwriting there was little left to do
for him. His counsel was completely
batfled by the admission and Rand re-
fused to explain it in any way. Try
as he would, the lawyer could elicit
nothing further and the jury had to
bring in verdict of guilty.
1t could never be found how Rand
had disposed of the sum he embezzled
In fact, not a penny OF the missing
money was ever found, and the bank
bhul Stt ~ ~ PiOlt anu iosS.
Hooper, the president of the bank
was in constant attendance at the trial
and expressed great sorrow for Rand.
Shortly after the sentence Hooper left
the bank and went to another city,
where he engaged in private bank
ing anu brokerage business. 1T was
in this city that Judge Storrow was
now sitting.
One night at the club the converse.
ton drifted -ound to money and bank
ing. The judge made the remark that
he wished to procure a letter of credit
for his niece who was going abroad
and some one suggested Hooper b
house as the best place to get it.
"By the way" said his adviser,
you sentenced the cashier OF the
bank of which Hooper used to be
president, didn't you?" The Judge
said he did.
"Well," continued the man, "thnt' )
the way some men treat those who
have been kind to them. My wife
grew up in the village where Hooper
and Rand were boys together. Rand
was not in very good circumstances.
while Hooper bad plenty of money.
At that time Hooper was quietly buy
ing up great deal of land through
which he knew railroad was pro-
| iected. He let Rand in on the ground
| lloor, lent him money aud then, when
they realized, collected Rand's notes,
! and in this way they both made money
and Raud's share was a moderate for
tune to man in his circumstances.
1t wasn't many years before Rand had
/ lost his money in foolish investments.
| Then Hooper got him the position OF
cashier in the bank where lie was
president. 1t seems pretty tough for
| Rand to have stolen all that money.
The directors asked Hooper for his
resignation, Of course, and he was
obliged to come here and start fresh. "
Now this wRs part of the story
that the judge had never heard be-
fore. 1t little agreed with his per-
sonal impressions, which of course
had nothing to do " ith the claw and
evidence" He had an idea that Rand
was not that sort OF a man, and curl
ously enough. he had acquired an
antipathy for Hooper.
That night he woke thinking of the
case. Gradually he found himself
forced to conclusion for which there
was little reason-he somehow
thought that Hooper was the guilty
man and Rand the innocent. He had
known few similar cases of quixotic
| gratitude.
The next day he called at the bank
ing house of Hooper IL Co. AS he was
leaving he met Hooper face to face.
The man went white and staggered
against the door iainb as if he had
been struck.
"Why-how d'y do? Why-I didu't
expect to see you," he stammered.
Anything we can do for you?"
The Judge looked him square in the