The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-09-24
WHO TOOK 1T.

q oeu my VIE IN amaZement. - What d
e you mean p
2 L settle myselfdown to an explanation
t Explamtionsare things hate, neverthe
I; less they are necessary sometimes On
: was due on this occasion.
. 1ou know, my dear Marian ?" | be
! gan, with business-ike air, : that tn,
/ failure of Hardinge Brothers threw
; scores OF men, women and children il
this neighbOrhood out of work, in tn,
very hardest part of very bad year
This evening meeting was held with {
view TO enIstmg the sympathy of the
public. \ subscription list was got up
and collection was made then and there
to the tune of 600 As nothing else
could be done with the money tonight,
| was, as treasurer, obliged to bring il
home and very nervous | felt, can
assure you, at coming along these lonely
roads with such a sum. However, |
reached home safely in spite of my fears,
and now will deliver it over TO you I'M
til | can get rid Of it,
And so free your mind from all res
possibility" added my wife with a smile
She knows that one of my chief weak
nesses is dread Of responsibility.
. As far as possible" | replied.
We went Immediately into a consul
tation as to where the money should be
put. Suggested the meat-safe as a place
to which thieves would never dream of
going for money, but my wife pooh
poohed the idea, as well as several other
suggestions of mine, which ! thought
were not SO bad AT last anidea struck
her ii the shape Of the ,wine-drawer in
| the cupboard. BY this means the money
coulo be doubly safe, she argued, for the
drawer might first be locked, in addition
to locking the door [ looked rather
contemptuously on the plan, for, if the
trutf be told, felt it was only due to
mysdf to do SO, since my wife treated
every suggestion of mine in a similar
manner.
Both of us failing TO hit upon anything
better, the wine-bin was agreed upon
and, as | looked over my evening paper,
l watched her place the black japanned
box IN the drawer, lock it, lock the side
board and place the key in her own
purse.
There" she exclaimed, triumphant
ly, " 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 drawer, so we are dOubly
AMI trebly secure
In spite of these precautions there was
a load on my mind, that | felt would
only be removed when the money was
safe in the bank. l envied my wife her
Ioo e. IL LII
an hour she was quietly sleeping, while
l tossed restlessly to and fro, thinking
abDut the money, and wondering wheth- |
erany one could get at it. At last
grind idea struck me, which was to put |
It inside the piano. Who would dream |
Of searching for treasure in such place |
whereas, what robber coming into house |
would not 90 to a sideboard and the
very fact of finding it doubly locked
would make him suspect something was
hidden there. Plainly enough Mistress
Marian, with all her cleverness, had
chosen the very worst place possible.
Should [ 90 down and remove it? | knew
whee the keys were to be found. Ihad
half mind to do so, if only for the sake
of quoting my fears and getting little
sleep No doubt | should have done so,
had 1f6Jea circumstance intervened-I
fell ASLEEP.
1t seemed scarcely an hour afterwards
that | awtke and heard sounds of life in
the streetbelow Well, so far all was
safe enough; no robbers had molested
us, and | cit so comfortable and easy
now that il danger was over that | be-
gan to laugh at my nervous fears. How
stupid it would have been to have gone
down stats in the middle of such bit
ter night Thank goodness [ had been
too strongminded for that. | fell off
into another doze and as a natural con-
sequence vas late for breakfast. That
meal waS hurried one, and whenit was
over and had my coat and hat on,
ready tostart off to an important case, L
reminded Marian of the money, and
begged Ter to get it out quickly.
Il had quite forgotten it" she eX-
claimed. Here Martha, run upstairs
and fetchme my purse out of the dress
case; the keys are in my dressing table
drawer"
Martin few upstairs to do her mis-
tress' bidding, while | stood and chafed |
in the hill, and submitted to have my
coat brushed. In a moment she re
turned, bringing the purse, and Marian
ran into the dining-room. Two or three
minutes passed, and Marian was still |
fumbli1g at the side-bord. [ entered
the room impatiently. Marian looked
at me cosely.
This is quite too bad, Harold.
What lave you done with the box ?"
''Dme with the box!" l exclaimed
''whatdo do you mean, Marian ?"
II won't stand this trifing any lon
ger, replied my wife. ''It's a shame |
to give me the responsibility of that
money and then tease me like this.
"What on earth is the woman talking
about" l cried, bewildered. Say |
what you mean in plain words, [ beg"
''1he moneys not here! It's gone,
box and all, Marian replied, with a
While face.
Gone" cried, ''gone Where's it |
gon, how's it gone, or who has taken
it Ishould like to know? You must be |
raung. Let me come and look"
Marian moved aside and knelt down
to the drawer No sign of box was
there. As my wife had said, the money
was gone.
But how, when or where? The
drawer was looked the cupboard was
ocked, the dressing-case was locked,
he purse was inside it, the keys in the
tressing-table drawer. These things
ny wife and Martha were sure of A
man in such position is bound to have
IN idea on the subject, and to assert it,
20 | suggested that Martha must be the
|culprit.
''No, no !; don't say that" cried my
wife, excitedly. ''Pd as soon believe
hat I was the thief as she. I've
known her all my life. No, no it isn't
Martha
"You talk like a child" l replied
with an air of superiority, for really wo-
men have no reasoning powers whatever