Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1903-06-04
A DECoY
tOriginal.l

positions in the post office. Clarence
was twenty eight and was twenty.
Was it the rich tones Of his voice, his
handsome eyes, a peculiarly winning
smile that attracted me, or was it none
or all of these? l don't know, but from
our first meeting loved him, and some
thing told me that lie was to have an
important influence on my life.
Then came reports Of money being
taken from letters passing through our
post office. The excitement died out,
and it was admitted that there might
have been some mistake. Meanwhile
Clarence Trevor was advanced and oc-
cupied a private Office. One day I
went to this Office to ask question
concerning my department. There was
no one in the room. On the table lay
q letter and its envelope. The latter
had been torn open, and the former had
been taken out. On the desk also was
a twenty dollar bill. The envelope was
not addressed to Trevor, nor did the
letter pertain to him in any way.
l trembled. Clarence Trevor, the
man 1 secretly worshiped, was thief.
But what could have induced him to
leave the evidence of his guilt in this
exposed position? heard step in the
corridor. In an instant had clutched
the letter, the envelope and the bill and
thrust them in my pocket. The person
in the hall entered an adjoining office,
then another, then came into Trevor's.
He was a man had never seen.
"Come with me-" he said.
"What for"
81 came to arrest every one In these
Offices. You are the only one l can
find. All the rest are out. Where Is
| Trevor"
81 don't know"
He took me down to the postmaster's
Office, where I was searched and de-
coy letter with the bill 1t contained
found in my pocket.
Then came q mental struggle. Should
| I accuse the man in whose room had
found the decoy? Would be able to
screen myself by doing so? With the
faith Of woman who loves believed
| that there must be extenuating circum-
stances. l would not accuse him.
My people were broken hearted over
my disgrace. thought it singular that
| they should not haTHSeen from my de-
meanor that I was bearing anothers
load. If I had been guilty l could
never have borne myself so serenely.
1.-THE girl seems to have no sense Of
good and evil or shame" said the news
papers.
Clarence Trevor attended the trial. l
watched him closely. Under o calm
exterior could see signs Of great men
tai anxiety. When l was asked to
plead said, Guilty" and looked at
Trevor. He turned away, with shud-
der, and left the court room.
The day before was to have been
taken to the state prison Trevor came
to see me. His agony was terrible, but
he concealed it from all but me.
"You have wrecked my life," he said.
81 can understand your feelings.
You think you suffer more than if |
had acted differently"
slow could you, whom marked for
a true woman, be a.
"Thief? Don't spare the word. l
am content to bear it."
"Half a day later and there might
have been even more between us-if
that could be. 1t was my intention on
the evening Of your arrest to have ask
ed you to be my wife,"
"What? With the sin on your shout
dersD'
"What SIM"
"The sin for which I suffer"
He looked at me with blank stare.
"What does this mean" he asked.
In twinkling I understood what he
could not understand. He was not
guilty. He did not know that l was
sacrificing myself for him. l sank
down on a prison stool and, leaning my
head against the wall, gasped:
THANK God"
"This is maddening. For heavens
sake, explain"
"On the day Of my arrest I went to
your office. You were not there. l
found the decoy on the desk. Some
one was coming. 1 seized it and put
1t In my pocket"
My head swan and for moment
I lost sight Of everything. Then he
was kneeling at my feet, looking up
at me with an expression shall not
attempt to describe.
received his avowal Of love. his
prayers that l would be his wife in a
| cell.
How he darted away to the lawyers;
how there was a "stay," followed by
an order for a new trial, and l was
taken out on bail, are matters which
seemed to me to follow one another
rapidly, but were slow enough for
| Clarence. The reason for all this was
kept q secret, though it was stated
that new evidence would be brought
out at the next trial. AS soon as was
liberated the matter was suffered to
4 L Il 80.