Year: 1871

| were passing tnrougn my hihd, l.
heard voices i'm the bed room, and
quietly opened my door which my
host had closed behind him. Stand
ing out i'm the passage i could distin~
guish a man and woman's voice.
At first their language was unintel-
ligible, but gradually my ear became
accustomed to the duty endeavored
to put IL to, and I could distinguish
that the burden of their talk was
their domestic expenses, and the
general current of their thoughts
was the difficulty of getting through
with certain undertakings they had
In contemplation or had commenced.
1t was evident that the man was
more hopeful than the woman. My
excited imagination at once framed
the theory that the treasure in my
possession was designed by them 10
solve this difficulty, and that the re-
llctant man was being urged on by
the more unscrupslous or Drawer wo-
man.


A sudden movement of one of
them toward the door caused me TO
retreat into my room. l heard the
bolt of their door moved, and sup
posing il was to unfasten il hurried
back into my own apartment and
caught at the envelope, intending to
hasten it out Of sight. In my eager~
ness to grasp il, il fell off the tum-
bier with the wafered side upper
most and opened. The waters had
been 30 far dissolved by the heat
aud moisture as to split in two, leav.
ing one half Of each, there were
three, on the flap, and the other half
OF each on the body Of the envelope.
Meanwhile, there was no sign or
sound OF on inroad into my room of
which l had seen it was impossible
to fasten the door, save by moving
some of the furniture against it, /
became convinced that as yet every
thing was safe, and yielding to feel
ing of curiosity, / drew the money
from the Enclosure and counted IL
over. There were ten one thousand
dollar bills. / was astounded, and
and for the time forgot the fear that
80 recently harrassed me. looked
at the memorandum on the back of
the envelope. 1t was "S5000." The
letter was open before me. | read ID
over. 1t named five thousand as
the sum incloscd. There was evil
! IDENTIFY all error. counted 1t over
again. Ten thousand dollars was the
sum before me. / had been used to
counting large sums, and counting
large sums Of money daily, but | ac-
tually found more difficulty in arriv-
! ing ut the actual count of the ten
bank bills before me, than ever he
fore or since encountered in count
ing any sum however large, or how
ever numerous the notes. Finally,
putting chair against the door, !
spread the notes out siDgly on the
little table in "A row, and again count
Ell them-thcn five rows of two each
and counted them. finally though
slowly. became satisfied that / had
in my possession double the amount
of money that | was expected to de-
liver TO my employers agent
Temptation entered my soul. Five
thousand dollars would relisve of ell
my debts. Here it was within my
grasp. l had but to seal up the en-
velope by wettiug the waters, in>
closing but half the money, and de.
liver il scaled to the agent, and my
trust would be, to all appearance
faithfully discharged. Once the
thought occurred that possibly it
was trap get for me 10y my employ
ers. But their confidence In me was
unbounded, and the suspicion was
formed only to be dismissed. / do
not attempt to glaze over the dishon-
esty of what contemplated.


But | had been 80 increasingly wor.
ried and annoyed by domestic troub-
les arising from limited resources,
aud so prosecuted by creditors, that
l almost argued myself into the coz.
viction that appropriating the money
was simply authorised seIf-defense.-
l would pay all my debts, get clear
with the world once more, insistupon
my wife's adopting nay views of liv.
ing money-getting into busi-
ness for myself-and finally pay back
the sum.


/ concluded to leave the envelope
unfastened until the morning so rs TO
give myself that much more time
before finally deciding upon an act
which all my arguments with my.
self had not made entirely reconcila-
Bile. Arrived at this conclusion. my
attention again turned to my host
and his wife. could hear his voice
alone now. II had been sounding
alone in q somewhat elevated tone
for some moments. crept quietly
to the partition dividing their apart
ment from the passage. The bright
Autumn moon, which was on their
side of the house, shown through
their window, and through the par
tition. and out into the passage, and
upon its floor In brilliant bars OF
light. 1t was easy for me to see what
was passing within the room. Man
and wife were kneeling at their bed
side IN prayer. The man with up.
lifted head and closed eyes, uttering
an earnest supplication, his wife be-
side him, and one arm passed affec.
tionately through one of his, and


her head resting against his breast
, They were kneeling at the side OF
their bed opposite to me. and his face
was plainly visible. Its calm and


pious expression at the moment was
a sufficient rebuke to my unjust sus-
picions. began to listen in time to


hear him say: Pardon, o merciful
Father, not only the sins OF Thy
humble servant and his household,
but turn the hearts Of those who


have done evil unto him. who have


wished bim, injury, aud who have
harbored unjust suspicious of him.


Bless such, o Lord, and preserve
, them in order that they may turn
from their ways and GEEK the path OF