The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1900-11-15
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no explanation, Mr.. Halbon," tn
senior partner was saying to me, yer,
quietly. NO" he went on, as / wa
on the point of interrupting him
"either to excuse or to incriminat,
yourself. For the sake of your ia
ther, who was one of the staunches
and best servants the. firm ever pos
sessed, and 1or the sake of his widow
Mr.. Sampson and myself have deter
mined to make his son every allow
ance. AS the matter stands. there IL
a balance of cor unaccounte~ for. ant
you are the only person who car
make it right. If the amount is
hem!-replaced by this day fort
nights nothing more will be said
But If not Then, went on Mr.
Sampson, the junior partner. 'the firm
will require your services no longer
Mr.. Halbon. Possibly, for the sake
of those whom Mr.. Marsh has men
toned, we shall not take any more
stringent measures; but, of course
such dismissal, without reason or
references, would be ruin toyou. We
trust, therefore, that you will be able
TO rectify the mistake. Good after.
noon"
Ruin! That was just the word for
IT all, and it rang in my ears with
terrible significance as | left the
presence of the two partners and took
my seat at a desk in the Office outside.
For although they had not named the
word, the terrible charge that was
staring me in the face was embezzle.
ment. They had discovered it all
Fool that l had been: alasl the dupli.
cate of many. Not half dozen years
out of my teens, with a berth that
many an Older man might have en-.
We'd, the under-cashier in the wealthy
firm of Marsh & Sampson. of Silk.
minister, one of the largest houses in
the Midlands.
Could | do it? l asked myself the
question that night in the solitude of
my lodgings. | had been invited out
to spend the evening at the house
of my tiancee. ASas! l dared not face
her now. So | sat alone in an agony
OF anxious thought. Time after time
l counted out my resources. The ut
most l could scrape together was
"a shillings, and, look where ] would.
] could not see my way to laying my
hand on more
The game was up; that was evident.
And out of the situation there grew
the desire, stronger ana stronger, to
get away, anywhere from Silkminster
Ito London, perhaps-London. with
er every fortune-hunter or fortune
loser turns his steps. At length a
definite plan took possession of me.
Hastily I packed few things in
my bicycle "hold-all," filled my lamp.
knocked at my landlady's door, and
said: II am going for a long ride,
Mrs. Smith-to see friend. He'll be
almost sure to ask me to stay the
night, so don't expect me till to-mor-
row evening""
And in another minute / was bowl.
ing through the suburbs of Silkmin-
ster, until the houses became more
and more scattered, the lamp-posts be-
gan to disappear, and at length was
out in the open country speeding
away on the road that led to London.
Dullminster was now good five
miles behind me, and had entered
upon stretch of road that was more
than usually dreary and secluded. On
my right was an open expanse of COM
mon, and on my left, on the top of an
embankment, the main line of the
Great West-Northern railway ran for
some two or three miles parallel with
the road, hedge between me and the
bottom of the embankment. The mo-
mentary flash of warning red light
on signal-post as | began riding by
the SIDE OF this embankment set my
mind flowing in a new channel. The
whole country had recently been
aroused to the sense of a terrible dan
ger. The most cold-blooded and das-
tardly attempts were being made on |
certain of our great trunk RAILWAYS to /
wreck express trains. Some of these |
attempts were successful, and more.
than one accident was the result:
some were discovered only Just in time |
to prevent an appalling disaster; while
others fortunately proved powerless
TO upset the magnificent engines and |
trains for which they were intended.
suddenly as / was riding thus slow |
~, happened to glance upward at the
railway embankment, and started vio-
lently at what | saw. There. outlined
against the dim sky, was the figure of a
man. now standing, now stooping
downward, seemingly doing something
TO the metals. The situation flashed
across me IN moment. 1t was the
lraln-wrecking fiend at work! Careful.
" alighted from my machine. MAX
ing up my mind the while how to act
Inc whole thing came as u flood of re-
nei to me. If he were really placing
on the line he was desper-
ATE Fellow, apd to attack him would be
uesperate--Just the very thing for a
man in my mood. And then there came
across me another thought. The Great
Nest-Northern had offered al0o re-
Nard' What if l should win it? If so.
was saved!
lhls idea gave me courage as clam
Dered over the low hedua ond oro,.,,