But here was a complication. The nephew must be saved if possible, and Mr. Perkins could not bear the exposure which would involve his niece in disgrace, and we were nonplussed what to do.
We arranged, finally, that since the inmates of the house did not know for certainty that this teacher was the villain, that we would let it go abroad that we had all been out, together with the teacher, watching the villains; that the teacher had suffered a severe fall when getting over a high fence, and that we had come home with him—all this upon the condition that the avails of all his robberies should be restored to the rightful parties, and that he should allow Mr. Perkins to go and draw, on his order, all his money in a certain bank in Cincinnati, where he said he had at the time twenty-eight hundred dollars, which we found to be true; and that he should in the end accompany me to Pittsburg, Pa., which he declared to be the theatre of his first essays in crime, and where he said he was willing to deliver himself up to the authorities for old offences; for he was as penitent a man, in appearance, as I ever saw, and said he would rather go to State's Prison for life, than be longer pursued by terrible temptations to crime.
One of our party was left with him that night, armed, and bidden to shoot him if he attempted to escape; and the rest went forth. We found the place of deposit under the barn, removed everything therefrom to a safe place, and next morning Mr. Perkins called on the young farmer, took him out to the barn, and showed him my bull's-eye watch.
"Did you ever see that, sir."
"No," said the young man.
"No lies sir," said Mr. P——; "we are going to do you no harm. The villain" (the music teacher) "has told us all about it. We have removed the things from down there" (pointing to the place of deposit), "and you are caught, beyond hope of escape."
The young man turned pale, fell over upon Mr. Perkins's breast, and groaned out, "O God, that villain, as you call him, has ruined me! I could not resist him; he dragged me along against my will. I have suffered tortures of conscience. I cannot resist him! O, spare me!"
"Yes, yes," said P——, affected to tears by the young man's sufferings, "I believe you. You have been under a spell. We will see what can be done for you. As for myself, I forgive you."
That day there was a private conference of the discovering parties at Mr. Perkins's house. The whole matter was discussed, and it was concluded that the villain should suffer his just punishment in Pennsylvania rather than in Ohio; that he should leave with "Dr. Hudson," and be no more heard of there; that the young farmer should be allowed to repent; and that so many of his relations, the committee-man with the rest, should not be put to the disgrace of his public punishment. He was sent for, and came; and a more harrowing case of an accusing conscience than was his, imagination, in its wildest flights, could hardly depict. I felt for him to the bottom of my soul. The teacher, who was so watched that he could by no means escape, was sent for too, and when he came, the poor young farmer looked at him with bewildering horror. The whole matter was discussed before him, his order duly made on the bank, and Mr. Perkins departed next day to draw the money. Meanwhile it was arranged that the other property should all be brought and deposited in Mr. Perkins's barn at night, with a note accompanying it, that the robbers, having no use for it, wished it distributed to those to whom it belonged; which, becoming known to the villagers, there was a throng for hours at the barn next day, —one recognizing and claiming this silver spoon,—some old watch—this watch chain—that silver snuff-box (with the snuff and the veritable "bean" in it), as the owner said, and so on and so on, together with a few valuable books, all small articles, and many of them ladies' ornaments. How they came to the barn, is, I suppose, a mystery still to the villagers.
Mr. Perkins returned with the money, was paid back all that had been robbed from him, and the teacher insisted that he should take a hundred dollars more. The teacher paid his bills in town, being all the time closely watched by some two of us, and the residue of the money was put into my hands. A strict oath of eternal secrecy was taken by Perkins and the other four gentlemen, on account of the penitent young farmer. (I wish I dare to tell what has become of him, but it might lead to his identification. Suffice it that he was, when I last heard about him, only a year and a half ago, regarded as the finest and best young man anywhere to be found. He had married a niece of Mr. Perkins, by the way. And here, perhaps, I ought to say that "Perkins" is not the proper name of my friend, but one I have used for convenience; for it would be a wretched thing to do to give any clew to the young farmer's identification.)