Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1901-02-07
WOODBURY. N. J, THURSDAY FEBRUARY q 1901

parcel, and yet l was hurryIng away
and lodging among the crowd l real
ly didn't come to myself until reaching
my chambers, and then / was in two
minds. Conscience demanded that l
return the money, and the devil whis-
pered to me to retain it. lodged be-
tween the two by promising to return
it as soon as it should be advertised. I
even promised my conscience that l
would make long journey if neces-
sary to restore the money. To show
you that was still an honest man let
me say that when a bill was presented
to me that evening for the care of my
horse found mistake of a sixpence
in favor of the stable and rectifed it..
Yes; was still honest, and meant to
restore that money, but must first be
satisfied as to the ownership.
Next day, to my great surprise and
also to my qualification, no advertise
ment appeared. 1t was my duty as an
honest man to either advertise or take
the money to the lost property Office of
the railroad line. You will agree with
me that it was, and yet brought for
ward dozen arguments to the contra
ry and didn't do either one. When a
week had gone by and no advertise
ment appeared, l began to look upon
the money as mine. In three days
more I felt sure it was mine. At the
end of the second week I was figuring
what use to make of it. 1t wasn't ex-
actly that the find had knocked out all
the principles 80 years had built up,
but that had never before been tempt
ed. Without temptation | had argued
only one side of the question. After a
week had gone by / dared not return
the package to the railroad, and after
three weeks had passed with no adyer-
tisement the money seemed to belong
to me. I said to myself that ought to
advertise it, but l also argued that if
the loser hadn't interest enough to seek
to recover such sum of money how
could l be expected to? Unless you
are strictly honest man, as 1 knew
myself to be, you have no idea of the
many arguments that can be advanced
in favor Of dishonesty.
At the end of three weeks had de-
termined to add the find to my bank
account and give it up when called up
on. Aye, would even pay interest on
the sum and any extra expense the
loser had been put to. This seemed
more than fair to me, and l figured
that my honesty had not suffered one
jot. The money would have gone to
the bank, as per programme, but my
valet stepped in. He was not an hon
est man, as am deeply grieved to say.
He could not stand temptation. Com
ing across the package by accident, he
tucked it under his arm and walked off,
and have never since set eyes on him.
could not well go to the police and
ask them to hunt for him, and so he
had clear road. After he had disap-
peared I could not advertise for the
real owner and let him take the trail,
and so the dishonest rascal was free to
head for America, where, 1 am told,
honesty is a scarce article among
men. AS a matter of fact, no owner
ever came forward or has not up to
date. That makes the money mine or
gives me the guardianship Of it, but as
it Is In the hands Of dishonest valet
and as | dare not put the nnhlce after
him am IS. .Qeoe esaat OF pocket and have
nothing to show for my sterling integ-
rity of character. Sometimes in re-
viewing this case doubt if it pays to
be honest, but again I reflect that a
clear conscience is ample reward for
withstanding temptation.