The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1869-12-24

pounded the door; the bolts clickc,
back into their places; the doc
vas swung cautiously open, ant
through cloud Of strangling dust
espied the janitor:
Your work is late tonight, MUIR
tagh.' [ said, gasping.
"Ycs, sir. I was down with Fl,
ver'all day, and couldn't finish up Il,
usual. Better 60 into the back room
sir. l am through there
"No! it doesn't matter. I saw tho
light. and only came up to Zee what
was going on" 1 replied, cropping
through the dust toward the safe.
:Yes, sir Am sorry l was late
about the Office"
90 never mind ! It's all right. "
But the words were hardly off my lips
when saw that the safe doors were
not tightly closed. Ny heart gave
one wild jump OF fright. He must
have been wa atching me closely, for on
the instant he stepped forward"
beg pardon sir. I found these
keys on the floor by your desk lit
tie while ago, and was afrai9 they
werc important.
He never looked into my face as he
held out the keys, among which I
saw those Of the safe, and his hand
shook violently ns ! took them from
him. He turned away, and continued d
his work without another word.
| 1t seemed to me then. and does
now, as recall the place and cir
cum stances, that l was never before
SO utterly surprised by any happen.
ing as this one would have taken
my oath, strong as it could be word
ed, that I had carefully locked the
safe that night, as was my habit, just
before leaving the office. What then?
That l had sat down in the huge arm
chair and read the evening paper fer
few minutes. And after that l
had dozed seven minutes by the clock,
then got up, once more tried the. safe,
knew it was locked, and went out of
the Office and locked it. Now the
safe was open. swung back its
doors. Everything seemed secure,
untouched. The inner compartment,
where the legacy and other valuabl
were kept, was closed and its con-
tents safe. l was perplcxed beyond
expression. How did Murtagh OBJ
tain the keys? At first I could only
answer the question by supposing
they had dropped from my pocket up
on the floor while l was mapping. -
But that did not explain why the safe
door was open, when I knew l had
locked it. In my mind 1 then deeid-
ed the matter. While I was medit-
ating, the janitor, watching me close
ly and furtively all the time. labored
wildly, welding his broom dercely,
making a great deal of noise and u
little whirlwind of dust. This man
nor of labor was unnatural to him.
Suddenly, ready to depart, he had
his hand upon the knob. Every mo-
ton now seemed to indicate his anx-
icty to get away from me. stepped
between him and the door, and push
ed him away.
"What does this mean?'' he de.
mandel, with an oath, his whole body
trembling with fury.
"Ycu opened the safe,'' I said very
quietly bnt dctermincdly.
"You lie, then'' he shouted dane.
ing about in his anger.
When the little viper said that l
took hold Of and shook him-shook
him hard so that he winked his eyes
quickly and opened and shut his
mouth like fish out Of water, l think
it rather surprised him to find how
light and small he was
You opened that safe!" I repeat
ed, "and you picked my pocket Of the
keys" | charged him with this be-
cause the keys being in my trowsers
pocket could not drop out unless l
was held up by the heels, aud also
because the inner safe key--thc one
belonging to the string box--was tn
ken from the ring where it was always
carried and used when in the lock ]
was too careful. too precise in my
vigilance over such important mat
ters as this Of the jewclry, to leave
my keys anywhere but in my pocket.
appearances are against me damn
'em." CALCULATED Murtash, after my
second accusation.
.'They are indeed" I coincided
"Don't let them ride you to the
Penitentiary.
For a minute he regarded me with
. most yillainous look in his eyes.
"Ah! if my wife were only here :!
She is about your size, and could
shake you into rags in jiffy. Then
I would lau.h. Now, | am only
strong enough to be the worst enemy
you haye--mind that" With one
mighty sweep Of his broom he then
sent me sprawling upon the Aoor and
darted out Into the dusky labyrintas
of the great buildings.
The next day we had new janitor.
The firm was also in trouble. In Or
der to ascertain the whereabout of
Miss Hattie Starks, many letters and
advertisements had vainly summoned
to our presence. At last, when our
stock Of patience and hope was al-
most exhausted, . letter from her had
rea ched us; in fact it had come two
days before my interview with little
Murtagh. It said. in substance, that
she lived in Midiletown, Iowa. sixty
| NJ ilns From, any railroad and with ON.