His daughter, Mattie, had already disclosed to him the fact that she had
overheard the conversation between him and Topman, relative to the
manner of entrapping Hanz, and knew the secret of their plot. And she
had appealed to him to save her the pain of bearing testimony that would
conflict with his, to save an honest old man from poverty. The man of
great progressive ideas now found it necessary to invent some way of
escaping from what he saw would be worse than ruin and disgrace--a
criminal's doom. His name had not appeared in the suit Topman & Gusher
brought against Hanz Toodleburg. Oh, no. Chapman was needed as a witness
to prove the signing of the papers, and all the circumstances relating
to the sale of the secret of Kidd's treasure. Poverty and misfortune had
now stepped in to purify and direct a smitten conscience.
He could not see his daughter further disgraced. Nor could he meet her
in a court, giving testimony in conflict with his, and exposing his
crime. He could only escape by coming out boldly, and doing justice to
the old man he had tried so hard to wrong.
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