Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-07-11

UP any lurtner pretenSe OIL desire to re-
fund the money 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
cat's-paw. During this period of two years
the bank has been robbed in this way of
over $250.0O0, 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 OK
posure must inevitably come sooner or
later, I have suffered the torture of the
damned AT the bank, have been in a
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 paied ut
every approach of one of the officers of the
bank. And yet have not dared to abb
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 1t at night:
l have not even taken the few minutes
during the day which would have been re-
Quired to enable me to obtain hurried
meal. On one pretext or another, during
the last two years, have had to forego my
annual vacation. have dragged myself
to my post when I was SO Ill that | could
hardly stand, because 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 tho 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 a little longer: when suddenly,
this morning, we were informed that q
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. Unjust
be out of the way before the crash comes
or am doomed. can already see the
felon's stripes upon my back; the clang of
the prison gates ring in my ears
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
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 tho great wrong
have done you. dear wife. You will now
be forced to face the world not only UNI
protected by the one whose duty and whose
desire it was to smooth the way for you;
but, what Is worse, oppressed by the bur-
den of his sin.
What little money have left In the saw
ings bank have transferred to your name.
You may use 1t all with clear conscience;
for every dollar of 1t was honestly mine. 1
swear have never had single cent of the
money have stolen. 1t has all been drawn
by Henry Seymour, and used know not
how.
AS soon as I am settled in the place to
which am going l shall try. as far as lies
In my power. to redeem my past by life Of
honest labor; and hope to DO able to con-
tribute to your support in the near future.
"Oh! my wifc my darling wife! Would
that the past could be blotted out. and that
could once more place my hand in yours,
an honest man. Though you may find 1t
hard to forgive me now. perhaps in time
you may NC dpie " tilIlh gently Oh MIN VINO
through all his crime and degradation has
remained
your devoted husband,
JOHN w. ARBOGAST.
my safety depends upon your keeping
the contents of this letter secret for at
least three days. After that time, please
send to Mr.. Dunlap. president of the Knick-
erbocker bank, the inclosed papers, which
will reveal to him the full extent OF my de-
falcations.
II do not hesitate to betray Chatham and
Seymour; they did not scruple to ruin me.
have sent for Chatham, and shall give
him warning of my intended flight. II he
sees fit, he can take such steps as he may
choose to escape his own richly deserved
punishment"
While Sturgis was reading Arbogast's
letter, Dunlap, restlessly pacing the
room, had observed him furtively.
"Well2" he now inquired, stopping
before the reporter, what do youlhink
of that?"
poor woman!" exclaimed Sturgis,
feelingly; sit is terrible to think of
the suffering brought upon her by her
husbands guilt. l ought to be hard
ened to a situation like this; for it
is the inevitable sequel of almost every
crime that is ever committed. But 1
am moved every time by the pathetic
expiration of the innocent for the
guilty"
Eyes. yes; know" said Dunlap, in.
differently; that it not what 1 meant.
Did you not. the amount which this
Ecoundrel confesses he and his accom-
plices have stolen from the bank?"
yes; it is large sum-"
1.-TWO hundred and fifty thousand
dollars! why, man, if that is true, it
is enough to cripple the bank-No, no;
l don't mean that, of course; the bank
is rich and could stand the loss of
four times that amount. But quar-
ter of a million is round sum, Tor all
of that. 1t does not seem possible that,
in spite of all our care, they can have
succeeded in making away with SO
much money. But they did. Theve can
be no doubt about that; for in the pa
pers which Arbogast inclosed for me in
his letter to his wife he explains just
how the thing was done. 1t is simple
enough when you know the trick; but
1t took fiendish cunning to devise it..
never would have thought that ras-
cally bookkeeper intelligent enough TO
concoct such scheme"
IF the scheme is work of genius"
said sturgis, you may rest assured
that 'N'-who may very well be Henry
Seymour-was the author of it"
"Well, at any rate" observed Dunlap,
''there is one thing that must be-done
at once; and that is to find both Chat
ham and Seymour. 1t is not possible
that in two years these men have spent
quarter of million dollars between
them"
ut is ut all events possible that they
may not have done So" replied Sturgis.
"for my Investigations show that both
Arbogast and Chatham have been men
of regular and exemplary habits in
their private lives. They do not up.
pear to have been living much, If nj
all, beyond their means. There does
not seem to have been, in the case OF
either man, any room for adouble ex.
istence, which might otherwise have