Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-02-26
CHAPTER XVIII.

office, in the hope Of finding something
there, but, as may be expected, there was
nothing of the nature he sought. He
did, however, find 5hree letters for him
self, IN the words and figures following
oPFloB oF NJ. HARRIS HART,
- MONTGOMERY STREET,
SAN FRANCISCO, September 5, 49,
Mr. C. Gouid-Sir Your note for $3.50 co. iuclud-
ing nteres, is nov que and par able at this Office
An early settlement Will obi-e. Respectfully,
II. HARRIS HARF.
That's right F." said Charlie, savagely.
Now's the time to jump on me, b" and he
crumplsd Mr.. Harris polite epistle in his
hand, and threw it from him, with an oath
The next was from his late employers
OFFICE OF sTBsMs & DARkLE
STOCK BBOKERS CALIFORNIA STREET, ?
SAN FRANCISCO, September 5, 1s7-.
Mr.. c. GOulo- Sir: 1t Appeals that the revela-
ton OF your viainous dishonesty, made this al
DOon to our Mr.. Steams, startlingly incUmp te,
as, indeed, might well be eXpec ed from the associa
lions in which you have lately been in the habit Of
1ndulgng. The intimate friend OF a notorious Com
munist and a ruined stock gambler cannot be eX-
pected to have much respect for the property OF
others. On inquiry al the bank 1t was found that
the check for $3.50, which you adm ted having EN-
beZzed, had been raised 70 3 500 and cashed by
your DbN6l, VINO mas nov since DCell uc3u
Of. The additinn OF forgery to embezzlement makes
your case very black indeed and the only hope Of
lenency that be held out viii be due 10 vourtorts
10 make good the sum you have stolen. iIy0u nave
still in your possession or procurement any portion
Of this sum, YOU had better for your own sake
hasten to rest it, and fake such further steps to
make good the whole amount may be II your
power. 1t IS but just t. you TO state that even IN
case you should be able and willing TO do So We can
not hold out the hope Of absolute sLfety, for me
hank people say they will undoubtedly prosecute
you for enlightenment, forgery and conspiracy, out
any punishment which may be meted out to you
will probably be mtigated IN its duration and
severity By your efforts to repdr your crime
Yours. etc STEAMS & DARKLE.
This was a staggering blow 1t was all
clear enough now. Dawlish had drawn
what remained of their margin. and
representing it as his wife's property,
used it as a bait to get possession of
Charlie private fund and the check, which
he had raised from $500 to 81. 800 by
forgery. He would thus have in his pos.
session upwards of $4,000, and had dis
appeared. leaving Charlie to bear the brunt
of his dishonesty. The third letter vas
from Gertie Blake, and showed the FIRST
CLEAN of light drought the blackness;
OAhLAND. september D 100
Dearest ! am very uneasy about you. | have
not seen you Tor three days. hope you are not
angry about anything, that nothing has hap
pened. Please come and see your own Gerte as
soon as you receive this shall be on the rack I'm
til see you. If the trouble is only about money
can make it right somehow between us. Mrs
Dawlish told me that she you for an instant
yesterday and that you appeared very excited She
also is very uneasy about her husband and does not
seem to know where he is II this has anything to
do with it, fear pray and tell me al about
it; won't you! Perhaps may be able TO help you.
! never did trust that man, and often wanted to
warn you about him have about $1,000 partly
savings and partly the price Of some stock lately
sold, now III the bank, and, my own love, If you
want it you can have it in mUm-nt Come soon,
dearest, to your oSn GkhIlE-
''The darling !" he thought, as he kissed
the letter. "That makes me feel man
again. OF course it is nonsense about tax
ing her poor, little savings but it makes
me feel as if matters would come right
again somehow, IT. spite OF everything"
There are possibilities of self-sacritice IN
every woman which even she herself may
not be aware of until the occasion calls
them forth and such occasions are some
times needed to develop perfect woman.
1t may be said that Gertie Blake never
loved Charlie Gould with absolute self
abandonment until she found him in
trouble, and the observation-disclosures of her
nature stood revealed at the first touch OF
adversely.
Charlie left the Potofiee feeling much
better, despite the gloomy character of his
first opened letters, and met Jack Holmes
at the entrance, who hurried up, saying:
Hullo, Charlie. I've been looking for
you everywhere. What's this l hear about
Dawlish ?"
Charlie let him know in a few words
what had happened
Il thought there was something of that
kind in the wind, said Jack.
"Why, do you know anything about
him ?"
Nothing positive but l have my sus-
picions, as you shall hear. l was down,
yesterday, on the water front collecting.
You know have subscribers in some very
queer cribs, and | can't afford to pay
collector. Whilst was getting my money
/ heard man talking in a little room par
titioned off in the corner, where they gam
BILE when they want to be private. l am
confident it was Dawlish, speaking to an
other whose voice 1 did not recognize.
Dawlish was apparently very excited, and
spoke loudly, demonstrating about some
delay. l heard him say, Well, can l
count on you tomorrow morning sure If
l can't l must take some other step. Every
moment lost is dangerous | could not
altogether catch the reply, but heard some
thing about the tug-boat coming in that
night. l did not pay much attention. at
the time, but this morning, when | heard
that Dawlish had disappeared and left you
in trouble, it flashed on me that the infor-
nation might be OF some help. l haard
you had been seen coming this way, and
followed you"
1" 1t may be important. l hope it is
Let us go there at once, said Charlie, and
he hailed a hack, telling him to drive like
lightning to the water front.
On the way Jack said Il don't expect
we can get much out of these people in the
way of information. They are a queer
lot p"
His representations were correct, The
proprietor of the saloon displayed the pro-
fessional stoldity when questioned about
the occupant of the little partitioned room,
saying that it was public room, and was
used by many of his customers. They
might go and see for themselves. OF course,
nothing was found IN the room, and Jack
said
"Come, Charlie, we are losing time.
We must get the police to help us here
As they came out of the saloon Captain
Stornowsy was seen comingFalong the side
walk. They hailed him and quickly took
him into their confidence.
"a tug boat, did you say? There was
a tug. boat started not ten minutes ago
She can hardly be out of sight yet.
1T is our only chance. We must fol.
low her at once" cried Jack "Can you
help us, Captain 90
- If we could find another tug-boat with
the steam up we might catch her before
she gets outside. The trouble is those
boats are ali so much alike in speed that
we should never catch her with the start
she has"
sis there no other way:"
Scarcely" said the Captain, doubt.
fully. "Stay l know what we'll do.
Charkup had party on board the Little