"
I got up the next morning, ate my breakfast and went to work. I still
had the check, and all I had to do was to go to the bank and get it
cashed. But I was afraid, and how I wished that the check was safe in
the old pitcher. I worried all that day, and I think if I had gotten a
chance that night after I got home, I would have put the check back. But
the old Devil was there saying, "You fool, keep it! It is not missed,
and even if it is no one will accuse you of stealing your own money." I
tell you, the Devil had me hand and foot, and there seemed to be no
getting away. Oh! if I could have had some person to tell me plainly
what to do at this time, it might have been the turning-point in my
life! Anyway, the check didn't get back to the pitcher. I had it and the
Devil had me.
Next day I disguised myself somewhat. I made my face dirty and put on a
cap. I had been wearing a hat before, so I thought the teller at the
bank would not know me. I had been there often with checks for my boss.
Well, the teller just looked at the check, gave me a glance, and passed
out the $12. It did not take me long to get out of the bank. I knew I
had done wrong, and I felt it, and would have given anything if I could
have undone it; but it was too late, and my old companion, the Devil,
said, "What a nice time you can have, and wasn't it easy!"
When I went home the first question was, "Did you see your check?" My
dear mother asked me that, never thinking that her boy had taken it.
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