The loss of his situation was occasioned by his abstraction of some securities, part of which he had disposed of before he was detected.

He was, in consequence, tried and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.

At the end of this period he was released, with no further taste for an honest life, and had since allied himself to the class who thrive by preying upon the community.
This was the man whom Colonel Preston proposed to take as his companion on his otherwise lonely ride home..