Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1882-02-15

or tie, as it is now called-an odd glove
and handkerchief Not an article Of
woman's apparel was in it. There was
no name or initial on anything, with
the exception of the handkerchief, on
which were the letters F. H., worked
in red silk. On shaking the satchel, to
make sure there was nothing more, a
wad of crumpled paper dropped out.
Enrolling it l smoothed it out upon
my knee. 1t proved to be a letter,
that part on which the address was
written in the days before envelopes
we're invented. The lower, right-hand
corner was torn on, leaving the super
scription to read thus:
FRED'K HAIR
Stock
"The last four letters formed the first
syllable of Stockport, the town where
[ resided. On turning the paper
found some penciled memoranda which
ran thus: Bonnet, veil, cloak, scarf,
gloves.
CAS- | recalled the face beneath that
veil-the short, wavy hair, parted in
the middle of the forehead, the arched
eye brows, the intense blackness of the
eyes, which never once directly met my
own, there flashed upon me the secret
of the indefnable resemblance to some
one had seen, which made no particu
lar impression on my mind at the time.
1t was just as clear to me now as twelve
hours later, had been robbed, not by
woman but by man, and that man
Fred Harding He was in the habit
of often lounging in and out of the
store, reading the papers and exchang-
ing the news, and l had distinct re-
membrance Of his sitting by the stove,
within hearing distance when Mr.. Croft
ton first mentioned the matter to me.
"In less than ten minutes was on
my way back to Stockport. What my
thoughts and feelings were during the
Journey would be difficult to describe, so
conflicting were their nature. At one
time I was strong in the belief that |
should be able to circumvent the villain
who had robbed me Of more than life,
and then my hopes went down to zero.
l knew that Harding's eagerness to
win sweet Lucy Crofton made him
jealous of the regard with which Lucy
Crohon's father regarded me, and was
convinced that his object was not simply
money, but to ruin me in my employers
estimation. The result would be the
same, at all events. Unless I could
get back the package, farewell to.all
my bright prospects, and the sweetest
maiden in all the world to me.
at was dusk when l reached Stock
port, for which I was not sorry. I
went directly to the hotel where l
knew Harding boarded. He had been
out of town for the last two days so
the porter told me, but had just got
back Ascertaining the number I
proceeded to his room, and, the door
being ajar, went in. Harding was
not there, but the bright light and
cheerful fire indicated that he was not
far off, and / sat down and waited
II looked scrutinizingly around. On
the chair near me lay an old glove, the
mate to the one in the satchel, as I
found by comparing them. Another
link in the chain Of evidence.
/ had scarcely time to secure this
and decide upon my course of action
when Harding entered. have not
power to describe his astonished and
dismayed look as he saw me. Quickly
recovering himself he advanced eager
ly toward me.
Ignoring the outstretched hand, l
said sternly:
"'Mr. Harding, here is little satchel
you left behind you in the little mas
querade you played last night. You
acted your part well, but it is time to
put off the mask now. In this satchel is
an odd glove, the mate of which l
found upon the chair yonder, and
which may be Of value to you. You
can have it in exchange for the pack
age you took from me-
Taken entirely by surprise, and a
coward at heart, the villain turned
deadly pale.
"Will you give me twenty-four
hours to leave town in?
Taking revolver from my pocket
advanced one step nearer.
"Give me that package and you
can have forty-eight hours; refuse and
, you have not five minutes to live
f at was about his person as l sur
missed, and without another word he
gave it to me.
"Only waiting to make sure that 1t
was the same, and had not been tam
pered with, l sprang down the stairs,
two steps at a time, in my haste to
catch the train that knew would soon
be due. Twenty minutes later | was
on my journey again feeling like sud-
denly freed bird as sped along.