"It may be the way in business"--he thought to himself--"but it doesn"t look honest. I wouldn"t have believed it of him."
Mr. Carman had a way with him that won the boy"s heart, and naturally tended to make him judge of whatever he might do in a most favorable manner.
"I wish he had corrected that error," he said to himself a great many times when congratulating himself upon his own good fortune in having been received into Mr. Carman"s employment. "It doesn"t look right, but it _may_ be in the way of business."
One day he went to the bank and drew the money for a check. In counting it over, he found that the teller had paid him fifty dollars too much.
So he went back to the counter and told him of his mistake. The teller thanked him, and he returned to the store with the consciousness in his mind of having done right.
"The teller overpaid me fifty dollars," he said to Mr. Carman, as he handed him the money.
"Indeed," replied the latter, a light breaking over his countenance; and he hastily counted the bank bills.
The light faded as the last bill left his fingers. "There"s no mistake, James." A tone of disappointment was in his voice.
"Oh, I gave them back the fifty dollars. Wasn"t that right?"
"You simpleton!" exclaimed Mr. Carman.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "_The teller over-paid me fifty dollars_."]
"Don"t you know that bank mistakes are never corrected? If the teller had paid you fifty dollars short he would not have made it right."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "_You simpleton_."]
The warm blood mantled the cheek of James under this reproof. It is often the case that more shame is felt for a blunder than for a crime.
In this instance the lad felt a sort of mortification at having done what Mr. Carman was pleased to call a silly thing, and he made up his mind that if they should ever over-pay him a thousand dollars at the bank, he should bring the amount to his employer, and let him do as he pleased with the money.
"Let people look out for their own mistakes," said Mr. Carman.
James Lewis pondered these things in his heart. The impression they made was too strong ever to be forgotten. "It may be right," he said, but he did not feel altogether satisfied.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "_He had been paid a half dollar too much_."]
A month or two after this last occurrence, as James counted over his weekly wages, just received from Mr. Carman, he saw that he had been paid a half dollar too much.
His first impulse was to return the half dollar to his employer, and it was on his lips to say, "You have given me a half dollar too much, sir,"
when the unforgotten words, "Let people look after their own mistakes,"
flashing into his mind, made him hesitate. To parley with evil is to be overcome.
"I must think about this," said James, as he put the money into his pocket. "If it is right in one case, it is right in another. Mr. Carman doesn"t correct mistakes that people make in his favor, and he can"t complain when the rule works against himself."
But the boy was very far from being comfortable. He felt that to keep a half dollar would be a dishonest act. Still he could not make up his mind to return it, at least not then.
James did not return the half-dollar, but spent it for his gratification. After he had done this, it came suddenly into his head that Mr. Carman had only been trying him, and he was filled with anxiety and alarm.
Not long after this Mr. Carman repeated the same mistake. Again James kept the half-dollar, and with less hesitation.
"Let him correct his own mistakes," said he resolutely; "that"s the doctrine he acts upon with other people, and he can"t complain if he gets paid in the same coin he puts in circulation. I just wanted a half dollar."
From this time, the fine moral sense of James Lewis was blunted and his conscience troubled him but little. He began to cherish a spirit of covetousness, which is in the heart of all, until subdued by the grace of Christ. He soon began to desire the possession of things for which he was not able to pay.
James had good business qualifications. This pleased Mr. Carman. He saw that the young man was intelligent, industrious, and tactful with customers. For this reason, he advanced him rapidly, and, before he was eighteen years of age, he held the most responsible position in the store.
But James had learned something more from his employer than the secret of doing business well. He had learned to be dishonest. He had never forgotten the first lesson he had received in the downward course. And this wicked instruction he had acted upon, not only in two instances, but in a hundred, and almost always to the injury of Mr. Carman.
The young man had long since given up waiting for mistakes to be made in his favor. He originated them in the varied and complicated transactions of a large business in which he was trusted implicity.
Of course, he grew to be sharp and cunning; always on the alert; always bright, and ready skillfully to meet any approaches towards a discovery of his wrong-doing by his employer, who held him in high regard.
In this way it went on until James Lewis was in his twentieth year. Then the merchant received a letter which aroused his suspicions. This letter spoke of the young man as not keeping the most respectable company, and as spending money too freely for a clerk on a moderate salary.
Before this time James and his mother had removed into a pleasant house, for which he paid a rent of four hundred dollars yearly. His salary was only eight hundred dollars, but he deceived his mother by telling her that it was fifteen hundred. Every comfort that she needed was fully supplied, and she was beginning to feel that, after a long struggle with the world, her happier days had come.
James was at his desk when the letter was received by Mr. Carman. He looked at his employer, and saw him change countenance suddenly. The letter was read twice, and James saw that the contents appeared to disturb his employer. Mr. Carman glanced toward the desk and their eyes met. It was only for a moment, but the look that James received made his heart stop beating.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "_The look that James received made his heart stop beating_."]
There was something about the movements of the merchant for the rest of the day that troubled the young man. It was plain to him that suspicion had been aroused by that letter. Oh, how bitterly now did he repent! How he dreaded discovery and punishment! Exposure would disgrace and ruin him, and bow the head of his widowed mother even to the grave.
That evening at supper, Mrs. Lewis noticed that her son did not eat; and that his face was troubled.
"You are not well," she said "perhaps a rest will make you feel better."
"It"s nothing but a headache; I"ll lie down on the sofa in the parlor a little while."
Mrs. Lewis followed him into the parlor shortly, and sitting down on the sofa on which he was lying, placed her hand upon his head. Ah, it would take more than the loving pressure of a mother"s hand to ease the pain which he was suffering. The touch of that pure hand increased the pain to agony.
"Do you feel better?" asked Mrs. Lewis. She had remained some time with her hand on his forehead.
"Not much," he replied; "I think a walk in the open air will do me good," he added, rising.
"Don"t go out, James," said Mrs. Lewis, a troubled feeling coming into her heart.
"I"ll only walk a few squares," he replied, as he hurried down the street.
"There is something more than headache the matter with him," thought Mrs. Lewis.
For half an hour James walked without any purpose in his mind beyond the escape from the presence of his mother. At last his walk brought him near Mr. Carman"s store, and in pa.s.sing, he was surprised at seeing a light within.
"What can this mean?" he asked himself, a new fear creeping into his trembling heart.
He listened by the door and windows, but he could hear no sound within.
"There"s something wrong," he said; "what can it be? If this is discovered what will be the end of it? Ruin! ruin! O my poor mother!"
The wretched young man hastened on, walking the streets for two hours, when he returned home. His mother met him when he entered, and with unconcealed anxiety, asked him if he were better. He said "yes," but in a manner that only increased the trouble she felt. He then pa.s.sed hastily to his own room.
In the morning the strangely altered face of her son as he met his mother at the breakfast table, struck alarm to her heart. He was silent, and evaded all her questions. While they still sat at the table, the door bell rang loudly. The sound startled James, and he turned his head nervously to listen.