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Page 71
Like the gamester who loses, he only played deeper, in the hope of
recovering his losses; and as it often happens with the gamester, in
similar circumstances, the deeper he played, the more he lost.
And so it went on. Sometimes the young man had a turn of good fortune,
and sometimes all the chances went against him. But he was too far
committed to recede without a discovery. There was no standing still;
and so newer and bolder operations were tried, involving larger and
larger sums of money, until the responsibilities of the firm, added
to the large cash drafts made without the cognizance of Jasper, were
enormous.
To all such mad schemes the end must come; and the end came in this
instance. Failing to procure, by outside operations, sufficient money
to meet several large notes, he was forced to divulge a part of his
iniquity to Jasper, in order to save the credit of the firm. Suspicion
of a deeper fraud being thereby aroused in the mind of his partner,
time, and a sifting investigation of the affairs of the house,
revealed the astounding fact that Parker had abstracted in money, and
given the notes of the firm for his own use, to the enormous amount of
fifty thousand dollars.
A dissolution of co-partnership took place in consequence. Parker,
blasted in reputation, was dragged before a court of justice, in order
to make him disgorge property alleged to be in his possession. But
nothing could be found; and he was finally discharged from custody.
The whole loss fell upon Jasper. He had nursed a serpent in his bosom,
warming it with the warmth of his own life; and the serpent had stung
him. Is it any wonder?
This circumstance, the discovery of Parker's fraudulent doings, took
place about two years prior to the time when Fanny Elder attained her
legal age.
The first thought of Jasper, after his separation from Parker, which
took place immediately on discovering that he had used the credit of
the firm improperly, was to send for Claire, and offer him a salary
of a thousand dollars a year, to come in and fill the responsible
position as clerk, from which Parker had just been ejected as partner.
"I can trust him fully," said Jasper to himself; "and I don't know
anybody else that I can trust. He is honest; I will give him credit
for that; too honest, it may be, for his own good. But, I don't know.
Who would not rather be in his shoes than in Parker's?"
For some time Jasper's mind was favourable to making Claire the offer
proposed, and he was about writing him a note, when a new view of the
case struck him, dependent on the young man's relation to his ward,
Fanny Elder.
"Oh no, no, no!" said he emphatically, speaking to himself--"that,
I fear me, will not do. It would give him too open an access to
my books, papers, and private accounts, in which are entries and
memoranda that it might be dangerous for him to see."
Jasper sighed deeply as he finished this sentence, and then fell into
a musing state. His thoughts, while this lasted, were not of the most
self-satisfying character. Some serious doubts as to his having, in
the main, pursued the wisest course in life, were injected into his
mind; and, remarkable as it may seem for one so absorbed in the love
of gain, there were moments when he almost envied the poor, but honest
clerk, who had an approving conscience, and feared no man's scrutiny.
It was with no slight reluctance that he finally came to the
conclusion that it would be altogether unsafe to take Claire into his
employment. And so he cast about for some one to supply the place
left vacant by Parker's withdrawal from the business. In his final
selection he was not over-fortunate, as the result proved. The new
clerk was shrewd, and capable enough, and apparently as much devoted
to his employer's interests as Jasper could wish. Had not his own
interests been regarded as paramount to those of the merchant, Jasper
would have possessed in him a valuable assistant. But the clerk
did not rise superior to temptations which came in his way.
Jasper continued to trade on the close-cutting, overreaching, and
unscrupulous system; and under such a teacher his clerk proved an apt
learner.
"He cuts right and left," said he to himself, "and why may not I cut
left and right when a good opportunity offers?"
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