The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1877-01-18

ioiu, anu iusisleu upon cdrrylug IL u
the entrance of the station, for, strang'
Q as it may appear, there were no cab
: in attendance that morning. As w
: emerged into the street a Hanson drew
y up close to the departure entrance, and
:, the guard hailing Jehu, we waited unit
Q the fare had alighted. What was my
8 astonishment to find that the gentleman
who was about to take his departure
: thus early from London was no Other
T than my fathers confidential clerk, re-
I specting whom my father had already
communicated his suspicious in the letter
. l had received the morning before.
started involuntarily at the sudden ap.
pearance of the very person whose
, affairs ! had come to London to investi
gate, and followed his retreatipg figure
, with so earnest gaze that the guard
who had been observing me closely,
, said
} "Beg pardon, sir; do you know that
gentlemanW
"Certainly I do," I replied; "Pve
come up on his account; Mr.. Barton il
my fathers confidential clerk; but Pm
afraid all is not quite right" I added,
thOughtfully, and in an undertone.
81 suspect there's little game" said
the guard "the man as is gone in there
was called Byles three year ago."
l was struck with astonishment at
this remark, and asked my companion
if he were certain that the so;-disant
Barton was in reality Byles, alias
Chatham.
GAS certain as I stand here" replied
the guard, "and take my word for it,
sir, he's after no good. II you don't
think me presumin', should like to
hear what's up"
"Well," said /, "the matter is con
fidential one; but may tell you that
we have reason to suspect that Mr.. Byles'
accounts are in a most unsati sfoctorv
state. Can we not intercept hi - fo,
think he intends to bolt 2" r.,I;od ~;
"We shall soon see that, SIR iePiieu
the guard, his detective nature snowihs
for moment; che will be easily caught'
l reckon;" and as he spoke the ex-police-
man led the way to the departure plat
form.
Here, amid the crowd of people who
had taken their tickets and were strug-
Cling to enter the different carriages, it
was no easy matter to recognize Mr. Bar
ton, who had, doubtless, his own reasons
for eluding observation; and it was not
until five minutes prior to the departure
of the train that / observed him en-
sconced in a corner of third-class car.
riage.
"Good morning, Mr.. Barton" said;
"you are off early to-day"
The person addressed changed color az
he recognized me; but Immediately re-
covering his selfpossession, replied:
eyes, sir. Mr.. Somerville wished me
to see @. & Co. respecting those bills we
hold, as soon as possible, and l am on
my way down."
"But they are all right" I said, "for
my father told me so last week."
"Yes sir" said the clerk; "but my
mother is very ill-dying, ! fear, and as
Mr.. Somerville kindly told me to 90
down to F., l said I'd do the bills
too" And having given vent to this
contradictory speech, the clerk blew his
nose violently.
The cool way in which this was said,
and the curious looks of the other occu-
pants of the compartment at any other
time would have quieted my suspicious;
but gentle touch on the arm reminded
me of the presence of the guard, and /
therefore said, loudly, "Oh, you are
going to F."
AS l spoke, the guard said suddenly,
and touching his cap respectfully, "Beg
your pardon, sir; did you say you was
going to F--T
"No," l replied; "but this gentleman
u.s." Indicating Mr.. Barton as l spoke.
'"Very sorry" continued the guard,
"but he can't 60 by this train he must
wait for the Parliamentary at 500.
Tickets, please" he added, suddenly
opening the door. All the tickets, with
the exception of the clerks, were i'm.
mediately produced. "Now, sir, your
ticket, please" said the guard. Thus
brought to bay, Byles alias Barton, had
no alternative; 80 he handed the guard
his ticket, and suddenly rising attempted
to leave the carriage, but the detective
was too quick for him. Before the
clerks foot had touched the platform, a
grasp was laid upon his collar and the
carriage door closed. ~ thought as
much" said the guard, as he looked at
the ticket, holding unhappy Barton the
while; "I thought so. Going abroad
was you, sir; but l want you for a mo-
ment."
He then, asking me to open the door,
again descended from the carriage, fore
ing Barton to follow him when, having
gained the platform, he whispered few
words in his ear. The man grew as pale
as death, exclaiming, 81 never did! l
swear never didp
At that moment the whistle sounded,
and with hiss and scream the train
moved away. Life, liberty, hope-all
seemed to fade from the unhappy wretch
as the carriages passed him, and with an
almost superhuman effort he wrenched
himself from the guards grasp and at
tempted to open one of the doors of the
departing train. Cries of "Stop him %
were raised by the spectators, while the
guard hurried in pursuit, but his efforts
were of no avail.
Before any one could seize the fugitive
his foot had slipped, and still clinging
few yards and then dashed between
the platform and the now rapidly NOV
ing train. A despairing cry and deep
groan were heard even above the rattle
Of the wheels, and the train passed on
leaving the mangled yet still breathing
form of the unfortunate clerk stretched
across the rails.
Assistance was Immediately procured
!, But it was of no use; death soon put an
end to his sufferings; but before he died
the unhappy man confessed his guilt Il
!. me and asked my pardon. 1t appeared
!. he had been induced to embezzle sums
u of money to repay losses at play with
his old associates, and he had thus beer
7 led to return to path of life which hi
had intended to have quilted forever
I when he entered my fathers business
He had contrived to possess himself In
Q all of about thirty thousand dollars in
1 bills and notes; some Of which, to the
a value of ten thousand dollars, were fount
upon him. The remainder had beer
0 made away with and was never re
!, covered.
i Having made such arrangements a
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