American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-11-08

the man who had robbed us, would make
the matter only the worse. Clearly, at the
same time that told the circumstances to
| the directors, / should be bound to place
my resignation in their hands, to be pu
into force if they thought fit. And there
would be little doubt but that they would
accept it. How damaging, too, the story
would be to me, when | tried to obtain
another appointment.
l had promised to take my wife and
| children for an excursion down the river
| as soon as the bank closed, and the youn e
| sterS eagerly reminded me of my promise.
| replied so savagely and sternly, that the
children made off in tears; my wife, com
ing to see what was the matter Jared little
better. l must have had a sunstroke OF
something, she told me, and brosght ban.
dages and eau de Cologne. l flung away
in rage, and went out of the house.
must be doing something, l felt, and
hailed a cab and drove to Thrapstow's
| lodgings.
Mr.. Thrapstow wasn't coming home
| that night, his landlady told me; she
| thought he was away for a little jaunt;
but she didn't know He occupied the
| grounG-foor of small house in Ec-
clesford street, Pimlico-two rooms,
| opening into each other. l told the
woman that l would sit down and write
l
had frequently visited Thrapstow, and
she left me to myself Then | began to
| overhaul everything, to try to find out
some clue to his whereabouts. A few let
tiers were on the chimney-piece; they
were only circulars from tradesmen. In
the fireplace was considerable quantity
of charred finder. He had evidently
been burning papers recently, and "A
quantity of them. | turned the finder
carefully over, spreading it out upon
newspaper found nothing legible ex-
cept one little scrap of paper, which the
fire had not altogether reduced to powder,
on which ! saw the name Isabel shining
with metallic luster Then went to the
bedroom, and searched that. Here, too,
were evident coats and other garments
thrown hastily into cupboards, boxes
turned out, an odd glove or two lying
upon the dressing-table. 1 carefully
searched all the pockets for letters or
other documents but / found nothing.
The keys were left in all the receptacles;
an instance of Charities thoughtfulness
for others in the midst of his rascality.
Lying upon the wash-stand was a card,
which was blank upon one side, but on
the other had the name of a photographer
printed upon it. The card was wet, as if
it had been soaked in water; and near
the upper end of it was a round irregular
card. 1t had evidently once had photo
graph fastened on it; accordingly, the card
had been wetted to facilitate the removal
of the photograph, whilst the face of the
portrait had evidently been cut, in order
to place it in IA locket or something
similar
1t struck me at once that the photo
graph about which a man on the eve of
flight would take so much trouble, must
ha Of tn
him; probably his sweetheart. AL
though l had been intimate with Thrap-
stow, he had always been very reserved as
to his own friends and associates, and l
had no clue to guide me to any of them,
except the photographers card.
Re-entering my cab, l drove off to the
photographers. There was no number or
distinguishing mark upon the card, and
the chances seemed faint that he would be
able to tell me anything about it. Indeed,
at first, when the man found that l wasn't
"A customer, he seemed little inclined to
trouble himself about the matter. The
promise of fee, however, made him
more reasonable, and he offered to let me
see his books, that might search for the
name wanted to find. But then didn't
know the name l wanted to find. 1t was
unlikely that the photograph had been
done for Thrapstow; if it had, there would
useless record of his address, already
known to me. Then the man shook his
head. If didn't know the name, it was
no use looking; the card was nothing, he
said; he sent hundreds out every month
What information could he possibly give
me? Then l tried to describe the person
al appearance of Thrapstow. But again
he shook ais head. If he hadn't taken
his likeness, he wouldn't be likely to re-
h, I, lI,,, no,
people passed through his hands.
All this time he had been carelessly
holding the card in his fingers, CHANGING
at it now and then, and suddenly an idea
seemed to strike him. "Stop Bit" he
said, and went into his dark chamber, and
presently emerged, smelling strongly of
chemicals. Look here" he said, trium-
phantly. / looked, and saw very faint,
ghostly impression of photograph. Its
printed itself through" said the man
'they will sometimes-and I've brought
it to light. Yes, L know the original of
that" Again he dived into a closet, and
brought out negative with number
and label to it. Then he turned to his
book, and wrote down an address for me
Mrs. Maidmont, Larkspur Road, Not
ting Hill.
Away / went TO Larkspur Road. Mrs.
Madmont's house was IL small, comforta-
bic residence, with bright windows, veran-
dahs, gorgeous window boxes, and striped
sunblinds. Mrs. Maidmont was at home,
said very neat, pretty-looking maid;
and | sent in my card, with
IL message "On most i'm
portant business" The maid came
back to say that her mistress did not re-
cogniZe the name, but would | walk in?
L was shown into pretty drawing-room
on the first floor. An elderly lady rose
to greet me with old fashioned courtesy
at the same time with II good deal of I'M
easy curiosity visible in her face. This
was not the original of the photograph,
who was "a young and charming girl.
Madame" | said rapidly, g believe
that my friend, Charles Thrapstow, is
well known to you; now, it is of the ut
most importance that l should ascertain
where he is at this moment"
STAY" said the old lady. g You are
laboring under a complete mistake; | |
know nothing whatever of the gentleman
whose name you mention; a name never |
heard before"
Was she decciving me? l did not think
SO.
"Perhaps Miss Maidmont may know"
said eagerly.
Miss Maidmont is not likely to have |
formed any acquaintance without her
mothers knowledge" said Mrs. Maid |
mont with dignity. There seemed to be |
no alternative but for me to retreat with
apologies.
- | am very busy Won see " went on |