The suburban citizen., 1901-01-19


anxious faces. Many had In It the saw
ings of a lifetime, and they stared at
the portentous words with wildly beat
| ing hearts. There was the most out.
spoken indignation when the truth be-
came known. The fact was thar the
Hon. Horace Devlin had brought
shame and disgrace on an old and hon.
orsd name, and prlyation and possible
poverty to many homes by becoming
a defaulter.
1t was discovered that he had for
years been speculating with money be-
! longing to the bank, and his defalca-
tions were sufficient to embarrass it.
1t was feared that its doors must he
permanently closed, and that the de,
positors would lose all, or at least the
most, Of their savings. The Hon. Hor-
ace Devlin was missing, and no trace
of his whereabouts could be found
A week after the closing of the bank
another notice appeared on its doors.
The second notice was as follows:
Notice-All creditors of the Wendell
Savings Bank are hereby requested to
meet in the town hall on Friday even
Ing at s o'clock
Many who were not creditors of the
bank crowded into the town hall with
the bank depositors on Friday even
ing. Indeed, the hall was filed to
overfowing, and no one seemed to
have any definite idea Of what was to
be done.
When o'clock came no one had
yet appeared on the platform, but
few minutes later a door at the rear
opened, and to the amazement of all
present, Miss Maria Devlin walked
forward and faced the people
There was an instant hush. One
could almost hear the breathing of the
spectators. Miss Maria herself seemed
calmer than any of them. Her voice
was perfectly steady when she began
to speak. Every word could be heard
in all parts of the hall.
my friends" she said, simply, 81
am here to make reparation for the
wrong done you by my brother Hor
ace pevlin. The Devlins have always
been honest people. No man ever had
a higher or a more deserved reputation
for honesty than my father. He owed
no man anything, nor do /. feel that
l owe Il to my father to make full
amends for his sons wrongdoing, and
to do all that 1 can to remove the
shame and disgrace he has brought on
a good and honorable name.
"Now 1 am here to say that 1 will !
pay every dollar due the depositors
who had money in the Wenield Saw
ings Bank, and"
"Hooray for Miss Mariaw shouted a
wildly excited man in the rear of tho |
hall. "Hoorayw
The crowd took up the cry and the
hall rang as it had never had before.
"Hoopay for the Devlin manner
shrleked some one else, when partial !
order had been restored, "Hooray for
old Judge Devlln, as good and honest |
a man as ever walked the earthl Three |
cheers for him and his honest daugh-
ter, Miss MaTiaW
Again the hall resounded with the
plaudits Of the multitude When or
der was finally restored Miss Maria
said quietly:
MY lawyer, Mr.. Dawson, will take
charge Of the matter Of making the
payments due. That is Gll I have to /
say, except to express my deep T5gret ]
that this shameful thing hashappened, /
Good night"
Queer Miss Maria left the hall amid
the renewed applause Of the great
crowd.
"She is her fathers daughter, that's
what she lsr' said DR.. Hale, as the
people were going out Of the hall.
"You couldn't say a better thing
about her" said Dawson, the lawyer
From that time forth Miss Maria
had a new place in the affections and
respect of the people Of Wenfeld.
She was still "queer Miss Maria" but
the people knew that her heart was
riob+ Voutn's COmDonion