Out of it all this final conclusion was formed: Ward had carried on the most extraordinary game of "bluff" that the nation had ever seen—a stupendous scheme of paying profits from a principal which was never invested or which went to pay some clamorous debtor; a "blind pool" into which he led men to their ruin and ultimately to his own ruin. He was indicted first by the United States courts at the same time that Fish was indicted. Fish was convicted and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Closely following Fish's conviction, Ward was indicted in the State court for grand larceny, convicted, and sentenced to prison for ten years. The judge in sentencing Fish made it plain that, though the sentence might be lawfully seven times seven, out of regard for his gray hairs the sentence was not made cumulative.
Out of this deplorable entanglement General Grant emerged cleared, so far as the judgment of the majority of his fellow citizens was concerned, of any knowledge of the business which Ward conducted. There were those, of course, who were ready to believe that he knew of the use of his name, and that he shared in the profits. It is probable that no one fully informed in the facts of the case holds such an opinion to-day. Grant was the victim of over-confidence in a shrewd and ingratiating adventurer.
"KING FOR A DAY."
By W. A. Fraser.
AS you walk up the many score of steps leading to the Golden Pagoda in Rangoon, and come out upon the cemented flat in front of the tapering spire itself, you will wee a Burmese temple a little to the right. Among other gods rested there once a small alabaster figure of Buddha, stained yellow, and with a hideous dragon-head; but it is not there now. And because of that alabaster god, these things happened.
Sir Lemuel Jones, C. I. E., was Chief Commissioner of Burma. Lawrence Jones, captain of the "tramp" steamer "Newcastle Maid," was his brother. More than that, they were twins, as like as two drops of water. It was kismet that Sir Lemuel should rise to be Chief Commissioner, while it was Larry's own fault that he was only captain of a freighter. But they both enjoyed themselves, each after his kind.
One morning in November the "Newcastle Maid" glided up the Irawadi and swung to moorings just off the main wharf at Rangoon. Larry had not seen his brother fro years; and, for the matter of that, did not care if many more years passed before he saw him. Their paths ran at right angles. He was there for a cargo of rice, not to renew family ties.
It was because the chief engineer of the "Newcastle Maid" was a man after his own heart that he said, before going ashore: "I don't want to get into a gale here, for I've had a letter from the owners over that last break I made in Calcutta; if I come off seas over, just lock me in the cabin, and don't let me out. No matter what I way, keep me there until I'm brace up."
Then the captain went ashore. "I want to see the Golden Pagoda," said he, as he chartered a gharry.
"Come quickly, I'm waiting," whispered the yellow image of Buddha, the alabaster god, in his hear. It was there, in the funny little temple all decked out with Chinese lanterns, and tinsel, and grotesque gods. Straight the influence led him to it—the dragon-headed god.
Stealing was not one of Larry's vices, but what matters man's ways when the gods are running his life for him? It scorched his fingers when he touched it; wand when it was in his pocket it scorched his mind. The demon of impulse took possession of the captain. "I must do something, " and he thought of the usual routine—whisky. It held out no pleasing prospect. "something else, something else; something worthy of Captain Jones," whispered the little god.
He took a drive out through the cantonments. As he bowled along in the old gharry a new experience came to him. Gentlemen lifted their hats; and ladies driving in their carriages smiled and bowed in the most gracious manner.
"I wonder if there's anything sticking to my face," thought Larry, and he passed his hand carefully over its rounded surface; it seemed all right.
But still they kept it up—everybody he
