Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-07-24

can get r1d OF II.
sAnd so free your mind from all re-
spOnsibility," added my wife, With asmila.
She knows that one of my chief weak
nesses is dread of responsibility.
.As far as possible" replied.
We Immediately went into consulta-
tiOn as to where the money should he
put. l suggested the meat-safe, as place
to which thieves should never dream of
going for money, but my wife pooh-pooh-
ed the idea, as well as several other
suggestions of mine, which thought
were not so bad.
At last an idea struck her in the shape
of the wine-drawer of the cupboard of
the sideboard. BY this means the money
would be d0ubly safe, she argued, for
the drawer might first be locked, in ad-
ditions to locking the door. 1 looked
rather cOntemptueusly on the plan, for,
if the truth be told, felt it was only
due to myself to do so, since my wife
treated every suggestion of mine in a
similar manner.
Both of us failing to hit upon any
thing better, the wine-bin was agreed
upon; and, as looked over my evening
paper. Iwatched her place the black
iapanned box in the drawer, lock it, lock
the sideboard, and place the key in her
own purse. sfss t8 tfl
sTherep she exclaimed, triumphantly,
Il shouldn't think any one would get at
that before tomorrow morning, for this
purse goes into the well of my dressing
case tonight, and that will be locked
and the keys put away in my dressing
table drawer, so we are doubly and treb-
ly secure"
In spite of these precautions there was
a load on my mind that felt would only
the bank. / envied my wife her happy
iusensibility, for in less than half an
hour she was quietly sleeping, while
tossed restlessly to and fro, thinking
about the money and wondering wheth-
er any one could possibly get at it.
AT last a grand idea struck me, which
was to put it inside the piano. Who
would dream of searching for treasure
in such a place? whereas, what robber
coming into house would not go to a
sideboard? and the very fact of finding
it dOubly locked would make him sus-
pect that something was hidden there
Plainly enough, Mistress Marian, with
all her clevernesS, had chosen the very
worst place possible. Should l go down
and remove it? l knew where the keys
were to be found. had half mind to
do so, if only for the sake ofquieting my
mind and gettinga little sleep. No doubt
I should have done so, had not circum-
stance intervened-I fell asleep,
1t seemed scarcely an hour afterward
that oxuafra or,d hoord oo,t,,do of life in
the street below Well, so far all was
safe enough; no robbers had molested
us, and felt so comfortable and easy
now that all danger was over, that 1 be-
gan to laugh at my nervous fear. How
stupid it would have been to have gone
down stairs in the middle of such Bit
ter night! Thank goodness, had been
too strong-minded for that.
l fell off into another doze, and, as a
natural consequence, was hurried one,
and when it was over and / had my hat
and coat on ready to start off on an i'm
portant case, reminded Marian of the
money, and begged her to get it out
quickly.
Il had quite forgotten it." she exclaim-
ed, Here, Martha, run upstairs and
fetch my purse out Of my dressing-table
drawer
Martha flew upstairs to do her mistress
bidding, while stood and chafed in the
hall and submitted to having my coat
brushed In moment she returned,
bringing the purse, and Marian ran into
the dining room. Two or three minutes
passed, and Marian was still fumbling
about at the sideboard. l entered the
room impatiently, Marian looked at
me Grossly. k
"Fhis is quite too bad, Harold. What
have you done with the box ?"
"Done with the boxl" l exclaimed /;
"what do you mean, Marian 2"
Il won't stand this trifiing any long
er, !" replied my wife. ats shame to
give me the responsibility Of that money
and then tease me like this"
-"What on earth is the woman talking
about?" cried, bewiilered, ''Say what
you mean in plain words, 1 beg"
'sThe moneys not here. It's gone, box
and all" Marian raplied. with a white
face. slasa ss-l, M
"Gone!" cried, "Gonel Where's it
gone, how's It gone, or who has taken it.
l should like to knowP You must be
raving. Let me come and look
Marian moved aside and knelt down
to the drawer. No sign of box was
there. As my wife Lad said, the money
was gone. ks
But how, when, or where? The draw
Ell was locked, the cupboard was locked,
the dressing-case was locked, the purse
was inside it, the keys in the dressing
table drawer. These things my wife
and Martha were sure of. A man plac-
ed in such position is bound to have an
idea on the subject and to assert it, so
suggested that Martha must be the
culprit.
NO, no, don't says that, vcried my wife,
excitedly. I'D as soon believe that /
was the thief as she. I've known her all
my life. No, no, it isn't Martha.
"You talk like child" l replied, with
an air of superiority, for really women
have no reasoning powers whatever
not even the best of them. "Can you
suggest any one else who by any possi-
bility could have taken the money!"
Indeed can not" Marian replied.
at could not be house-breaker, for the
locks were just as l left them; nothing
had been touched apparently"
You admit that it could not be any
one outside the house, so it must be
Martha, that is plain logic" 1 said, with
as. much eyenness of temper as could
command at the moment. t-atE E
1T isn't Martha" replied my wife,
stubbornly; .Pll never believe it." e
For my part, L felt sure that it was
Martha. And as it was quite impossible
that she could have got rid of it yet, l
hoped should easily discover it. ir
But she denied the charge so emphati-
cally that it was with very anxious
heart betook myself to the bedside of
my patient. The case was a complicat-
ed and peculiar one, and my mind soon
became so interested in the progress of
the various symptoms that my own
cares became as things of nought. After
paying one or two minor visits return
ed home. Martha opened the door, and
Immediately retired into the kitchen
without word. Marian was nowhere
to be found. L went upstairs in search