Cecelia Cortwright was a student in the high school of a suburban town.
She was not known as a popular girl, but was liked by all who knew her.
One morning Mr. Williams, the principal of the school, made the
following announcement:
[Sidenote: Check]
“A very grave thing has happened this morning. A check has been taken
from the pocket of a coat which hangs in the east dressing-room.
Fortunately, it was not endorsed. The affair will be brought to a speedy
close if the person who took this check will report in my office before
the close of the session today; otherwise a thorough investigation will
have to be made.”
School closed that day without any clue to the culprit. Several days
passed. In the meantime, the check had been illegally endorsed and
cashed at a local grocer’s. When turning in the check to be cashed at
the bank, he was informed that the check had been forged, as the legal
endorsee had stopped payment on the note.
The grocer immediately identified the girl as Cecelia Cortwright and
public exposure at school soon followed.
Although Miss Cortwright was not suspended from school, she suffered the
same injurious consequences which such a disgrace can bring. Shunned by
her friends, looked upon with question by her teachers, she was in every
sense of the word an outcast. When she could stand it no longer, she
left school to clerk in a store in the city.