Cañon City record., 1902-08-21
A CASE OF
CONSCIENCE
IoriEinaLI

tUe fODt q u lFt e DOs. De. Wet n tle
box and tAe curb. partly hidden by
tuft OF grass. lie saw a package. Stoop
ing. he picked il To. ttre on a corner of
the WRAPPER and uncovered something
greep aLu crisp. Looking about. lie
saw that no one observed him and. put
ting the package in his pocket. made
straight Tor home. There he discov-
cred that he had come into possession
Of 5000 in bills. He reroll.d tie
package tied IL up and locked II in his
bureau drawer
There is trait in humanity that
ir:,lS people WHO have made a step
upward TO desire TO take another. Cort-
RI; it had no thought Of investing the
mo ey aud eu Toying the interest He
was seized with the idea OF using 1t TO
make fortune THIS was before the
gr' at boom IN TIE stock market which
logan after the second election Of
President Mckinley. tortrigbt made
up his miGd TO take be longest chances
with view 20 reupiug the largest
profits. lie selected hve railroads
whose securities were selling at the
lowest figure and invested 5000 in
each Of them. buying on 3 per cent
margin. which enabled hIm TO hold
twenty times the market value OF the
securities In the spring OF 1901 he
sold out and after getting In his checks
from his brokers found that :Ie s25.
600 had become SSDo.6pn Investing
the amount In bonds. he received an
annual interest OF per cent. or $40
GOO.
No sooner did Peter Cortricht settle
down TO the enjoyment of this abun'
dnnt income than he began TO feel that
he nt least had no right TO the $1,000
TINT he hsd fctrpd n seemed n pity
that hIs comfort and his pleasure
should be Int.rf.r.d with by what nov
seemed 80 small an amount He de
t~rmiDed to advertise for the oEner
Of the original bills and. n successful
in nnding him. rrfurn x25.Oco with Il
n personal that would be Understood
by the owner should meet his eve
and awaited . reply.
II was sueh an advertisement - the
owner Of the bills had t,~~n looking for
fer yrsrs it bad es<u ipsrrfsd only
t~lce wb~p .Ais~ nsthrr- Ps,kssa, =
girl Of twenty. called u.,os toririIht
and Informed h,c, f,.st on . t<.tsin'
day two y~ars before she had be~n'
paidz LEGACY of e., 800 Going bone
With the money. abe was followed by
q man who. she feared. had seen her
draw the money from the hank. She
thr~~ the package into the grss- AT
the eoiiorn Of trc~ boz and I,ssssd
h.. IN H.x tisf N ~
as to the mans Intentions n nd RETURNED
for her fortune. to mud II gone. tort.
right confirmed her story and rE,- her
q cheek for S2Sn1. with which she
was 30 much pleased and ror which
she was so grateful that she Informed
Mr. Cortrlcht that IA" had 10 business
on earth aud should he numbered
among the angels,
Had II not been for this rytraylGaui
laudatiou and tho Intensity Of graft
tude aud admiration expressed In the
girls eyes Cor, right might have en-
joyed the thrre-pUartrrs OF a million
left To him to hIs hearts cuutcUt, hut
the Gisacrccahlc thonght kept intrud
ing upon him TINT Eu had teen acting
only us ihr girls u-cIt. she having
supplied the capital uUd ;aE'u Tie risk
winch had produced t!r. wlol- ,rUa;
To be- called uB aultl Tor keeping iGisc
profits 10 himself was more tllsn Cort
right could UCar. lie tried to tuiu.
out plau Tor division. but division
meant explanation. Besides, he knew
perfectly well THAI the girl WAS ra-
titlvi TO the vs. rp,r HIDUuuI p-~s any
commission size might SCI. iii to allow
him that is u she rrIraluCJ from
prosecuting uEa Tor retaining FUNDS
that did uut ,UlunE TO him lie
bruu,rd over the matter, lying awake
al usEIt aud growing thin and AaE
ard The fact that weighed bca Nirst
upon his m'gd WAS that he had been
called AN angel for dishonest act.
One morning when Miss Packard r,s
ccivcd her mail she opened Il very
small envelope that contained very
large checb IL was FOR more than
SS25.OOO and was every cent that Cort-
right possessed. Accompanying il was
a note stating that it was the profit OF
an investment Of her money
Miss Packard was dumfounded, be
wildored. She hnu considered MIR. Cort
right an angel She now considered
him an archangeL Not having any
knowledge Of business and being too
emotional TO see the dishonesty OF
Cortright's course In keeping and risk
Ing her fortune. she felt that II she
kept the money she would be robbinr
the most conscientious OF men She
proved her own honesty, II not her
ability to judge of true morality. by
sending the check right back TO Cort
right With 1t she wrote note that
she could not think OF accepting for
tune that he had made by his own
brain power, especially AS he had
shown himself the noblest OF natures
nohlcmcn.