But let me tell
you all. I must. Then perhaps you will understand how I was tempted.
For years I have been ground in poverty. My mother and my sister, even
my brother have all looked to me. My brother should have supported
them, but all his money went on the race course, gambling. When I heard
Alan Porter tell Mortimer that your horse was sure to win, for the first
time in my life I felt a desire to get money that way. But I had no
money to bet. That day as I went into the vault I saw under a lower
shelf--the Devil drew my eyes that way--a bank note. I hardly knew it
was a bank note, for I saw but a piece of paper indistinctly in the dim
light. I picked it up. Oh, God! if I hadn't touched it! I looked at
it. My heart jumped in my throat and choked me; my head swam. In my
ears were strange voices, saying: 'Take it! Put it in your pocket!'
Perhaps it was because it was so large--a thousand dollars--perhaps it
was because it seemed lost, out of place, I don't know. I had handled
thousands and thousands before, and never felt that way.
"The devil voices that were in my ears said: 'This is your chance. Take
it, borrow it, no one will know. Bet it on the horse that will surely
win, and you will get many thousands; then you can replace it, and for
once in your life you will know what it is to have something of your
own'
"I tried to put it back.
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