Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1905-02-01
RESTORED
tOriginal.1

1Or obtaining money 1fauuulently. he
was an elderly man, through whose
shabby clothes one might see evil
dences of responsibility.
Il have not, your honor"
The judge turned to young lawyer
present, one who had recently been
admitted to practice, and said:
You may take this case"
The prisoner and his counsel with
drew, and when they were alone tho
latter asked his client for Informal
ton.
'The trouble started twenty years
ago." said the accused man. my wife
was greatly troubled that we had no
child and constantly longed for one,
though it seemed to me that my in
come was too small for two, to say
nothing Of three. However, circum-
stances brought us a boy, two years
old and pretty as picture, who had
been born of other parents. His ia
Their and mother, acquaintance Of
ours, died within few days Of each
other Of pneumonia and left him alb
sOlutely uncared for We took him to
our home and gave him all the atten-
him up as our adopted son. He was Il
bright little fellow and very affection
ate. OF course at that age he soon
forgot his father and mother, and
since we took their places he supposed
he was our own child. l was very
fond of him, and my wife, who idol
lied him, spent great deal of money
dressing him and buying pretty things
for him. He was taken sick with
scarlet fever, and we watched over
him night and day till he recovered.
This, of course, meant large doctors
bill, which neither l nor my wife
would have objected to had we the
means to meet it, and even as it was
we were rejoiced because our pet
suffered nothing in consequence of an
ailment which leaves so many chill
dren blighted.
zone day when the child was four
years old he disappeared. Some chill
dren with whom he was playing at
the time on the sidewalk said that a
man came along who took him by the
hand and led him away, promising
him that he would buy him some can
dy. We believed that he had been
kidnapped for ransom, but as no ran
som was ever demanded we were puz-
Zled. My wife was frantic about her
loss, and 1 confess was stunned. We
hired private detectives to trace him,
but they failed to find him.
~After giving up hope, counted up
my Indebtedness, all Of which had
been incurred for our dear boy, and
found 1t more than $1,000. I wished
to conceal the matter from my wife.
whose love for the child and her ex-
travagance on his account had partial
ly caused it. carried the load secret
ly for years, robbing Peter to pay
Paul, hoping that my affairs would
take favorable turn and might pay
It off. But as grew older my services
became less valuable, and the debt be-
came greater on account Of the exorbi-
tant rate Of interest l was forced to
pay. 1t occurred to me that If 1 could
get 1t into the hands Of one man /
could handle it more easily. So per-
suaded man to buy up the claims.
But / found myself only In worse
condition than before. The fellow in
duced me to sign paper, the contents
Of which l did not read carefully. 1t
contained misrepresentation. Think
ing he could bleed me through rela-
tives (who would not turn a hand to
save mel, he made a criminal charge"
The young lawyer listened to this
recital attentively and, when it W"
finished, without asking for any fur
ther details, returned to the court
room and asked for q continuance Of
the case till subsequent date. This
was granted. the prisoner was re-
manded and the attorney went away.
The next day the lawyer drove up In
a carriage to the prison and presented
a paper directing the discharge Of his
client. The old man, wondering, step
ped out In the light of day, and his
counsel babe him enter the carriage,
saying that he would drive him home
The newly discharged prisoner obeyed,
momentarily expecting an explanation.
None came. Then they drove up to a
shabby cottage and were met by an
old lady who, when the discharged
man muttered the word "free," fell
into his arms and wept. Then when
they were in the house the lawyer
took the hand Of each In his and said:
II am the boy you lost eighteen years
ago. Yesterday after hearing your
story / went home, examined some
papers that have long been in my pos
session and found, as suspected, that
you were my foster parents. I was
stolen away by relative who had
learned that had fallen heir through
an aunt to fortune. His purpose was
through me to get possession Of my
legacy. He traced me after my par
ents' death to you, but as he feared
you would not give me up he conclud-
ed to entice me away. He failed to
secure my fortune, but that story l
can tell you another time. Here Is a
receipt for your indebtedness-my in
debtedness rather-which have paid.
For the rest of your lives I shall en-