The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-12-25

development. She waited till Obenreizer's eye
was off her, and then she looked at Vendale and
dimly winked. =,
The time passed; the happy evenings with
Marguerite came and went. 1t was the TENN
morning since Vendale had written to the SWISS
firm, when the answer appeared on his desK,
with the other letters of the day:
"DEAR SIRs: We beg to offer our excuses for the
little mistake which has happened. At the same
time we regret to add that the statement OF our error,
with which you have favored us, has leo toa very
unexpected discovery. The affair Is o most serious
one for you and for u.s. The particulars are as ioi'
lows:
"Having no more champagne Of the vintage last
cent TO you, we made arrangements 10 creolt your III
With the value of the six cases., as suggested oy your
self. On taking this step, certain forms observed In
our mode OF doing business necessitated q reference y
our bankers book, as we'll as to our logger. Inc result
IL q moral certainty that no such remittance as you
mention can have reached our house, snd q literal GER
talnty that no such remittance has been pad 10 QUIZ
account at the bank. A.,
h " 1t is needless, at this stage of the proceedings, 70
trouble you with details. The money has unquesuon-
ably been stolen In tho course of its transit from you
to us. Certain peCuliarities which we OBSERVE reiHuhR
to the manner In which the fraud has been perpetraeeu,
lead us t , conclude that the thief may have calculated
on being able TO pay the missing sum to our bankers
before On inevitable discovery followed the annual
striking Of our balance. This would not have nap
pened, ia tho usual course, for another three months.
During that period, but for your letter. we might have
remained perfectly unconscious OF the ROBBERY eu'
has been committed
1--WE mention this last circumstance. as 1t may help
to show you that we have to do. in this case. with no
ordinary thief. Thus far We have not even q sus,
picion Of who that thief ID. But we believe you VIII
assist US in making some advance toward dlscoVery,
by examining the receipt forged. Of course) which nus
no doubt ~purported to come to you from our house.
Be pleased to look and see whether 1t Is q receipt en-,
tirely In manuscript, or whether 1t is q numbered an1
printed form which merely requires the filling IN OF
the amount. The settlement of this apparently TRIVIAL
question is, we assure you, o matter OF vital lmpor-
lance. Anxiously awaiting your reply. we remain,
with high esteem and consideration.
Vendale laid the letter on his desk and waited
a moment to steady his mind under the shock
that had fallen OIL it. Atthe time OF all others
when 1t was most important to him to increase
the value of his business, that business was
threatened with q loss OF five hundred pounds.
He thought Of Marguerite as he took the key
from his pocket and opened hebron m IN
the wall In which the books and papers OF the
1rm were kept.
forged receipt when he was startled by voice
speaking close behind him.
"a Thousand pardons, said the voice vi am
I disturb you"
ne turned and found himself face to face with
MSrguerite's guardian.
81 have called" pursued Obenreizer, Z" to
know if 1 can be Of any ure. Business Of my
own takes me away for some days to Manehes-
ter and Liverpool. Can l combine any business
Of yours with it 1 am entirely at your disposal
in the character Of commercial traveller for the
firm of Wilding & Co." ]
Excuse mo for one moment" said Vendale ;
" will speak to you directly" He turned round
again and continued his search among the
"You come at Q time when friendly
offers are more than usually precious to me" he
resumed. have had very bad news this
from Neuchatel.n
"Bad new j. exclaimed Obenrelzer. IRON
Slo froariar ~ Gnmnanv 2n 1
"Yes. A rem lance we sent to them has
aeen stolen. am threatened with a loss OF FIVE
pounds. What's thatl"'
Turning sharply and looking into the room for
The second time. Vendale discovered his en-
yelope-case overthrow on the floor, and Oben-
Zeizer on his knees picking up the contents.
"AIl my awkU ardness !" said Obenreizer.
D This dreadful news Of yours startled me; I
Eepped back" he became too deeply inter-
ssted in collecting the scattered envelopes to
inish the sentence. $500,
"Don't trouble yourself" said Vendale. 1.-The
clerk will pick the things up"
"This dreadful newsl" repeated Obenreizer,
in collecting the envelopes. "This
news p
%T you will read the letter." said vendale,
you ' L find have exaggerated nothing. There
is, Cpen on my desk"
He resumed his search, and in a moment more
the forged receipt: 1t was on the
numbered and printed form described by the
Swiss firm. Vendale made o memorandum OF
The number and date. Having replaced the re-
celpt and locked up the iron chamber, he had
leisure to notice Obenreizer, reading the letter
in the recess Of o window at the far end Of the
"Come to the fire" said vendale. "You look
with the cold out there. I will ring for
some more GOALS"
Obenreizer rose, and cam slowly back to the
desk. Marguerite will be as sorry to hear OF
this as l am" he said, kindly. "What do you
mean to do 2"
az am in the hands Of Defresnier and Com
pauy,n answered Vendale. SIN nv total ig-
norence OF the circumstances, I can only do
they recommend. The receipt which I
have lust found turns out to be the num-
bered and printed form. They seem to at
tach some special Importance to its discovery.
You have had experience when you were in the
SWISS house Of their way of doing business. Can
you guess what object they have IN view :"
Obenreizer offered q suggestion.
sSuppose I examine the receipt" he said.
"Are you ill 2" asked Vendale, startled by the
change IN his face, which now showed itself
plainly for the first time. "Pray go to the fire.
You seem to be shivering I hope You are not
mot II" said Obenreizer. "Perhaps I have
cold. Your English climate might have
-.I-,rar ~ u0,,r Epu1ioh ;pofitnfiopo |