The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1878-07-05
A e12,0OO CHEQUE.

paced his chamber in moody silence
| The train had come in, but his mes
senger had not returned and the mer
| chant was troubled. Troubled by
| vague sort of doubt which haunted hin
| in spite of his faith in Lake. A merry
sober old trader of long experience haC
said that Lake was too young to I'll
the important position which he held
but Mr.. Brand had never found hi:
trust i'm Tom misplaced.
Having heard rumOrs concerning 4;
house with which he had extensive
dealings, the merchant had despatch
ed Lake to London, telling him t.
make enquiries, and in any case, t.
get the partners of th4 firm in ques
ton to settle their account.
So Lake had gone from Liverpool t.
London. The time appointed for his
return passed, and still he did not
come.
A lady entered and stole to the mer.
chants side; her own sweet face vas
anxious, and there was a tremOr in the
music of her voice, as she said:
"Do you think he will be here to-
night, dear papa?"
~ hope so, Mary; but it is very
late"
as there no other train?v
''Only the night express, and that
does not stop, except at the central
statiOns?n
perhaps he will come, papa; he
would not mind coming ten miles,
even if he had to walk"
"He should not have missed the
train" said Mr.. Brand sternly; ''punct-
uality is an imperative duty with men
of business"
"But, papa, something may have
occurred to detain him."
Nothing should detain a man who
has given his word"
The fair ple;lder was silenced-her
father was angry, and knowing his
strictness of discipline of duty, she did
not venture to speak again.
The time dragged slowly on; Mr..
Brand continued his restless walk,
and Mary sat subdued and quiet,
watching him. She saw that he was
listening as the night express went
whirling by, and from the depths of
her heart there went prayer that
Lake would come safely home. The
girl loved him, would have staked her
life on his truth, and knew that he
was not beyond his time through any
weakness or wrong. Two slow, weary
hours passed. Mr.. Brand was reading
the commercial news; but for the first
time in his life it did not interest him;
he was thinking Of the young clerk,
and the heavy sum of money that
would be in his possession should the
london firm have paid him. And
Mary, reading her fathers cOunte-
nance, felt chilled and panied by the
slur cast on her lovers honesty by his
suspicious her every thought was
denial to his doubts, and as the rapid
clatter of hOrse's feet rang out she
ran to the window.
'I,ooku' she said, dashing the cum
tains aside with eager hands; look,
papa, / said he would come-l knew
he would.n
The merchants stern features re-
Iaxed, with a smile of pleasure; he
was not emotional or demOnstrative,
but his daughter's gladness pleased
him.
There were few moments OF eH-
pectancy, and then Tom Lake came
in. He went straight to Mr.. Brand
only noticing with a bow the lovely
face whose glance thrilled his soul.
'"They have paid" he said quietly,
as he placed a thick pOcket-book i'll
the merchants hand, "but we were
only just in time"
"Indeedu
"There was consultation at the
bankers before | could get cash for
the check" ~,
ADO You think they will break"'
"Hopelessly. They havegiyen mean
immense order, but 1t would not be
wise to forward the goods"
'You did not hint that we had the
slightest fear?"
4NO, but l was glad to get the
money; twelve thousand pounds
would have been heavy loss"
at would have done serious injury
Just now" ..,.
"And vet" said Tom gravely, "this
morning the odds were considerably
against its ever reaching you"
"How?n
Tom took two chairs, placed them
side bv side near the fire, led Mary to
one and seated himself in the other.
He had done his duty as the mer-
chants clerk, and now was Mr.;
Brands prospective sOn-in-laW and
partner" mr.
"I had an adventure" he saidi ~
was the hero of strange story III a
ride by express"
clasped her hand in his own. MIR.
Brand sat opposite them, interested by
the Speakers manner, as he began:
"When got the cheque / had an
idea that it might not be well, SO to
make sure presented it at the ban
ker's. There was, as / told you,
consultation before they cashed it, and
while the consultation was going on,
I noticed a stranger looking at me in
tently. ] knew the man in my
Younger and wilder days. had met
him often at the race course, IN Dill
Iiard-rooms, and in other places,
more or less respectable. Now he
was changing a cheque tor some petty
amount, and was evidently astonlsheq
by the immensity of the order ] had
pocket-book full of notes, and found
that ] had lost the train. The next
would be the night express, so stroll
ed into q billiard room. a man Is
lust as safe with O fortune in his pock-
ct as if penHiless 50 HAT hP Is wise
enough to hold his tongue. There
was some clever play going on, and L
stood watching the players till some
one challenged me to have a game. II
/ have one special vanity, it is my sci
ence with the cue; ] accepted ana as
7 did so a strange feeling which had
been growing upon me. took u sudden
turn which startled me.
NV challenger was the man whom
I had noticed at the bankers.
There was nothing strange in the
fact of his being IN the room, one OF
his faYorite resorts, but ! was pos
sessed by the vague shadow of single
idea. | had read somewhere of a man
being followed and plundered in a
train, and somehow / associated the
story with the man before me. 1T was
the first time had ever paid him any
particular attention, but ! gave him
full observation now. The more !
looked at him the less l liked him.
He was handsome, gentlemanly, with
a fair form and elegant figure, full of
s,mpleness and strength. His man
ner was singularly upassuming, his
face frank and genial, but hY looking
closely at him you could see some
thing sinister looking in the depth and
softness of his eyes.
] never liked a stranger to be affable
and pFepassessing, and he was the
very pink of atfability and grace,
Ne played for an hour with alter
mating success; he was an amusing
companion, well informed and had