“I then did something which was not right, but which I thought must succeed, and everything would be all right again. I felt that I was entirely to blame for the loss of my ward’s property, and that I was in duty bound to replace it. I had no ready funds of my own, but I knew that your aunt, with her vast wealth, would not miss fifty thousand dollars for a little while, and I resolved to use it—speculate in what promised to be a very successful operation, hoping thus to win back a portion at least of what I had lost for my ward. I staked it and lost!”
“Ah!” ejaculated the clergyman, with a sorrowful shake of the head.
“Whew!” whistled the doctor.
“Horrid man!” breathed Miss Huntington, under her breath.
But Brownie only nestled a step nearer the poor man’s side.
“Driven desperate by this unfortunate circumstance,” he went on, with a deep sigh, “I grew reckless, and invested a hundred thousand more of Miss Douglas’ money, but again I lost. Then a bank where I had deposited a very large amount of her funds suddenly suspended payment; but hoping that all would come out right by and by, I kept all knowledge of the difficulty from her. You know that the old lady loved the good things of this life, and was not at all careful of the dollars; and she need not have been, had I been faithful. But I continued to speculate with what ready money I could get hold of, and, with her annual expenditure, her thousands have melted into hundreds; and to-day, when she thought you would inherit at least a million, I have to tell you, that if I pay the debts and the legacies to the servants, there will not remain sufficient to feed you for a year. I, who always prided myself upon my integrity and my incorruptibility, have forfeited my character for probity and honesty, and stand here before you a criminal worthy to suffer the extent of the law.”
He paused for a moment, but as no one spoke, he continued:
“This is my confession; and now I surrender myself into your hands, to do with me as you will. I had no right whatever to touch a penny of your aunt’s money. I was deeply distressed at the loss of my ward’s property, but I ought to have stopped there. However, having once failed of success in using Miss Douglas’ money, I kept on, hoping, in my desperation, that some favorable turn in fortune’s wheel would enable me to replace everything.”
There was an awkward silence when the old man concluded.
Dr. Sargeant and Mr. Ashley were horror-struck at the revelation.