All this had been written to
Mr. Castleford by his partner, and he was told that it was out of
deference to himself that his protege was not in custody, nor had
received notice of dismissal; but, no doubt, he would give his
sanction to immediate measures, and communicate with the family.
The effect had been to make the good man hurry at once from the
Giant's Causeway to Bristol, where he had arrived on Sunday, to
investigate the books and examine the underlings. In the midst
Tooke attempted to abscond, but he was brought back as he was
embarking in an American vessel; and he then confessed the whole,--
how speculation had led to dishonesty, and following evil customs
not uncommon in other firms. Then, when the fugitive found that
young Winslow was too acute to be blinded, and that it had been a
still greater mistake to try to overcome his integrity, self-defence
required his ruin, or at any rate his expulsion, before he could
gain Mr. Castleford's ear.
Tooke really believed that the discreditable bills were the young
man's own, and proofs of concealed habits of dissipation; but this
excellent man had gone into the matter, repaired to the tradesfolk,
learnt the date, and whose the accounts really were, and had even
hunted up the barmaid, who was not married after all, and had no
hesitation in avowing that her beau had been the handsome young
Yeomanry lieutenant.
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