The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-11-12
CHAPTER NII.-CoNT1SuED.

CHAPTER NII.-CoNTINUED
Continuation of Abrogast's letter:
<~Tbat afternoon, as soon as the bank had
closed, called at the address Chatham had
given me. He evidently expected me-
Nth mir, was man whom he introduced
sEss James Withers. the depositor in whose
faror my blunder had been made. Had
not been laboring under great excite
g,ssnt, it is likely that my suspicious would
s.aaye been aroused by the strangeness of
SSthers' presence in Chatham S room. Tho
T1wa men received me pleasantly. and the
alleged Withers, even before could breach
Sha subject, expressed his regret at hear
5ass OF the error which had been commit
dgM. and assured me of his willingness to
reimburse the bank; but-sh! there was an
s0minous but He was short OF ready
's1psney just then; everything he had was
lied up in a promising enterprise which
'9as bound to bring in magnificent profit
in cine course of a few days if only he could
raise a few paltry hundreds to enable him
To hold out a little longer. If he failed
to scrape together this small amount, all
'srousa be lost. 1nsidiOusly and relentless
Ny they drove ME toward the trap they had
SyypDared, and 1 was weak enough to fall
szato it. Before the interview was over.
7G had consented to allow Withers to still
surther overdraw his account. and l had
sereirsd his solemn promise to refund. be-
aere the end of the week. the entire amount
ss owed the bank. Then Chatham suggest
ed that it would be wiser to let the sec
.nna orerdraft come from another ac-
count Withers agreed with him and stated
SasaS the check could be made in the name
al Henry Seymour. n relative OF his, who
hEs1 recently opened a small account with
aas llnickerbocker bank. I strongly OBJ
1ezssed to sharing the secret Of my infamy
with any others; but finally allowed my
self To be oyerruled by the plausible scoun-
sssTess into whose clutches l had fallen.
erhe next day / took my first step in
crime by making such entries as would
sns,re the honoring of Seymours check.
After that was completely in the power OF
1tif.se two men. 1t was not long before I
discovered that / had been their dupc.
acccomplice was not the true
sSifhers, for this man, few days later,
xnn,1e Il large deposit, which more than
covered his previous overdraft The false
@sSiEDsss was Henry Seymour himself.
AS soon as had committed q felony, it
became Unnecessary for Seymour to keep
rap any further pretensc of u desire TO re-
Gus,H the money l had helped him to steal.
& was nov in the meshes of crime as deep
fg sas my accomplices; and. from that time
20 this they have forced me to act as their
ssaTs-paw. During this period of two years
ane bank has been robbed in this way of
sy1cr $250.000. every cent of which has
,ssonc to Chatham and Seymour.
H<You can perhaps imagine what hell
rDy life has been during that time. With
s,Sison and disgrace staring me in the face;
a4rsG with the absolute conviction that eX-
g,osure must inevitably como sooner or
later. ! have suffered the torture of the
r1a1nned. At the bank, / have been in q
perpetual state of suspense. I have start
ssa atsevery word spoken to me; | have
ssss1 suspicion in every glance which has
rr.,f p,,t, 4 ~Inl n lad
s.fery approach of one of the officers of the
RANK. And yet l have not dared to alb
ssfsnf myself from my desk for an hour lest
asm examination Of my books during my
=kEn,ence should reveal my crime ] have
aaeen the first TO reach the bank in the
1DBrning, and the last to leave it at night:
alaFe not even taken the few minutes
sznring the day which would have been re-
@saired to enable me to obtain u hurried
zneai- On one preteXt or another, during
sSae last two years, have had to forego my
annual vacation. l have dragged myself
re my post when L was so i'll that could
Aisrdly stand, because l could not afford
I'm have anyone take charge of my books
Err even an hour. And all that time will
- Suil realization of my degradation aRC
Essfany, 1 have been forced to continue my
frauds, knowing that each one brought
Rz3se nearer to the inevitable final exposure
Gent knowing equally well that a refuSa
result in an instant betrayal by my ac
complies.
~tAt last further concealment became i'm
yyaasa!ble. A week ago the yearly examina
Aim of the books took place. The eXper
sas.cOuntant employed was. as usual, Thcma.
s.aaafham. and of course, as usual. his re
GSsrt was entirely satisfactory. 1t seemed
therefore, as though discovery could b,
postponed little longer; when suddenly
a1sia morning, We were Informed that
s'cSaange in the system of book keeping would
,ISs;sdopted after the LIST of January. j saw a
once that all was over. The discovery o
my crime is now matter of hours. mus
,l>s out of the way before the crash comes
asr I am doomed. l can already sec thu
6eaesn's stripes upon my back; the clang o
xhs prison gates ring III my ears.
81 am too dazed to think; but feel tina
rziy only escape is in death. And yet | elm,
IS, life. know that the happy days Of TIN
seaSt are gone forever: and yet feel a SCR
az numb relief at the thought that tn
.Esrst is row certain to come, and to COM
.ahs once.
III have carefully prepared my flight, &,
ttsat L shall have plenty OF time to reacl
a place of safety. Once there, / shall b'
ax,ee from pursuit; but i shall be an exile
:Assd i shall carry with me to the grave thu
Ass1rden of my sin.
1.-The most bitter pang in my remOrse i:
caused by the thought of the great wronl
K have done you. dear wife. You will nov
I've forced to face the world not only UNI
ss1sfacted by the one whose duty and whose
eIssire it was to smooth the way for you
e1asf, what is worse, oppressed by the bur
cten of his sin.
-Nhat little money have left in the saw.
stas.s bank / have transferred to your name
Yot, may use it all with a clear conscience
Tos every dollar Of 1t was honestly mine.