Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-10-09
AN OHIO ROMANCE.
lCineinnati Enquirer.1

Not long ago there resided Tn Frank | lin county a wealthy old maid, Miss Sa- bina Smith. By inheritance she was the was the pOssessOr of an Old-fashiOned, though comfortable, dwelling-house. She was reputed to have good, square bank account"
 How old is she2"
 Well, on the shady side of seventy, but had a weakness, like all old maids, not for kittens, poOdles or canaries, but ! for children. She had raised several or plan girls who are now well settled in | life. In 1865 she adopted a six-year old black-eyed girl, bright as a button, by the name of MOllie McCann, whose ia ther had fallen Tn battle fighting for his l flag and country, while her mother, crazed with grief, pined and faded away. Mollie soon learned tO love her new mother, and from a prattling maid Tn short clothes and pinafOres, she soon blOOmed forth into a gushing school girl, and at eighteen was the belle of every gathering-the pretty Miss Molle McCann, over whom the boys raved and the girls envied. To all her admirers she turned deaf ear, and with pretty toss of the head and merry twinkle of her roguish eye, bade them be off and not bother her.
 Miss Smith was sensible; knew that Mollie would probably marry and have home of her own some day, so she neither discouraged her fondness for sO- ciety nor harped upon the miseries of welded life in the maiden's ear, but when'she came back from the State Fair at Columbus, in 1874, and told her adopt | ed mother about the young gentleman | that she had met, his attentions and | good qualities, Miss Smith was not | pleased, nor did she hesitate to frOwn | her displeasure and advise her ward to ! turn willing ear to many suitOrs of the | neighbOrhOOd, Instead of seeking Tn far off fields that which was nearer home. But MOllie was like many another, struck on travelling man, and she car ! ried on a secret correspondence with | him through a lady friend for long | time, until at last they were engaged Miss Smith and Mollie were the sole occupants of the house. The bedrooms were four Tn number, two of which were used as spare rooms, one occupied by | Miss Smith and containing two beds, | Mollie occupying one and Miss Smith the other. The fourth bedroom was | called NOllie's, but 1t was only used by | her when lady friend was visiting her. In one of these spare bedrooms was an | Old-fashiOned bureau and bookcase combined, the top drawer of which could | be converted into desk. The back part of this drawer was fitted up with small | drawers. One of these small drawers | had from time immemOrial been used as a money drawer. In the summer of | 1879 the sum of S355 was missed from | the drawer, and in the summer of 1870 S29O mysteriously disappeared, together with quantity of gold coins which had | been in the family for over century. ! On the 29th day of last May Miss Smith | loaned a neighbOr $500, giving him her | check and he signing note in her favor. ! Sickness prevented his presenting the | check at the bank at Columbus, and, | learning that Miss Smith was going to that city on the 30th, he requested her to | get 1t cashed. She did sO, and returned with Mollie about dark on that day, | having the money all in one hundred | dollar bills.
 | "The house was all securely locked | down stairs, and Miss Smith deposited | the $500 in the secretary drawer, closed the drawer. locking it and placing the key in the bureau drawer beneath. She [ reau and placed the key under some | quilt that lay in wardrobe in her bod | room. Before retiring she locEsd her ! bedroom door, and she and MSine retired | for the night in sePaidte beds ln the same room. The next morning, Apnl | lst. the ueighbOr who had borrowed the money, having q long journey to per | form, during which he expected to make payment on some land purchased, | called as early as five o'clock, before | Miss Smith and MOllie had arisen. Awakening Miss Smith, she took her | key from the wardrobe, unlocked the ! bedroom, then taking the bureau drawer | key from the under drawer of the secre- ! tarv, oponSd tllis Co find tlse aasaas. -OAao. | She went down stairs: everything was | locked and bOlted as she had left 1t the night before. .,
 "Thatwas the question that confronted | me. There were no signs of burglary; no lock forced, windows and doors all l right. No one else in tue house but | Miss Smith and MOllie. Of course, at once examined the girl. She talked freely. said she always had a present. ment that the money would be stolen in fact, had a presentiment that night, but feared to tell the old lady for fear of alarming her. I soon learned that Mol ! lie had a key which fitted the bedroom containing the bureau, hence my suspl- cions were strengthened that MOlhe had arisen in the night, either unlocked the | door with her own key, or taken the one in the wardrobe, and, securing the money, hid 1t either in or out of the house without awakening the old lady I finally told Mollie that l should have to search her, and make thorough e1-
 animation of the house.
 "'Well,' she naively remarked, 'f you
 do find any money about the house Il
 won't prove that stole 1t, will It?
 "'It will be prima facIe evidence, said.
 sI locked her mp in her bedroom anC
 began a thorough search; bandboxe'
 pried into, bureau drawers pulled out
 cupboards ransacked, and finally wen
 through her own room. Under the car
 net. upder her bed, found, in a cOmpac
 wad, twelve one hundred dollar bllls
 Now. the total amount known to b'
 missing was only Sl045 Where had tn
 sI55 come from? Where had the gol'
 coins gone to? Was the bureau drawe
 paving interest on its deposit?
 "sNow I've got you Mollie,' as ] con
 fronted her.
 J "Mollie tainted.
 A bottle of camphor and little col l water brought her speedily to, yet sh
 ,turdilv proclaimed her innocence
 "I iid not take Miss Smiths money
 mn I did not she cOnvulsively exclalme
 between her sobs.
 "NIiss Smith would not allow me
 take her to jail, where I reasoned coI
 finement would soon compell her to COT
 "Nv work. however, was but partiall
 done, for the gold coins had not turne
 up.
 .I determined that those coins mu
 ba in the house and resolved upon
 thorough search from cellar to garre
 The cellar disclosed nothing, and at la
 I stumbled upon a small stairway lea
 ing to the garret, the door, secure r. fastened by a paddock, to which was a
 tached three links of cham
 asGive me the key said to Mi r Smith, 'tO that trsp-door up m
 attic
 at "sOh. no use Of looking there, the Ike 'e- have been lost for over five years, al
 mo one has ever been there since. The
 was cobwebs on tine door, but l nOtlc
 that over the crack of the door they a . peared to have been broken aw; - caused by the door having been recent . onened. With an axe I speedily got | of door open and saw large footprints,
 tbe dust. By the aid of lamp l I A. lowed the course of the tracks over |
 bosrds which lay across the shak the rsfters to the furthest part of the garr
 where. over an old crOss-beam, hung nair of old fashioned saddle bags. l s, dust on the bags had been recently q i turbed. In one of the pockets l fou of fine five one hundred dollar bills wh
 disappeared on the night of the, 5Jth