The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-02-03
..Ysu haven't lost 1t, I

elama&;on. ..Ysu haven't lost It,
hope"
20 no, dear me, no! Not 20 bad a
that, but I've lost the key to my valise.
Very provokingr'
TRY one of mine"
at would be of no use. It's patent
lock, you see. Luckily, have dupli-
cate key at home. Sorry I can't show
you the box; but never mind, it will keep,
and you'll have an opportunity to see it,
I hope"
Tom was annoyed by the unfortunate
loss of the valise-key, but he forgot his
disappointment in listening to a recital
of most extraordinary adventure Of
Mr.. Jones' in South Africa, which was
scarcely finished when the train arrived
at Dash.
"Well, good-by, my boy. May the
day of our next meeting be not far
away" These were Mr.. Jones' parting
words
As Tom left the car he glanced at the
man in the pepper-and-salt suit, but he
was asleep, or pretended to be.
If he really was after the money,
he's had his trouble for nothing, !"
thought Tom.
Ten minutes later he entered the Office
where mis- father, Dick Fanshaw, the
foreman, and myself were seated.
'Well, father" he said, with . COM
placent smile, ''here 1 am again"
1.-The moneys it all rightp''
"Here it is, sir.''
''You had no trouble, ehp''
''Of course not"
"rm very glad of it," said Mr.. Slo-
man, as he opened it. ''But what's
this?''
1.-The moneys all right, hope, sir. :"
money! There's no money here?''
mo money therer' cried Tom and
Dick Fanshaw, while 1 dropped my pen,
aghast.
Nothing but a lot of slips of old
paper" said Mr. Sloman,
Tom dropped into chair, pale as q
ghost. Dick uttered a low, prolonged
whistle, and continued to stare, bereft
of speech.
"What does this mean?'' asked Mr..
Sloman, fixing his eyes sternly upon his
sons face.
Tom sprang to his feet, and his face
lighted up.
.In fix itr' he cried. .Leave it to
me-" and rushed from the Office.
His father called him back, but Tom
did not hear him.
Dick stepped to the door and looked
down the street.
''He's running toward the railroad de-
pot" he said. "P'r'aps the bundle got
changed somewhere down there. Maybe
he'll bring the money back with him all
right"
In fifteen or twenty minutes Tom re-
turned and sank into a chair, gasping
for breath.
"Well, asked his father, 'swhat have
you done? Where is the money!
ION board-the train," he gasped.
'But rve-telegraphed his description
to c., and when the train gets
there-they'n arrest him.
"Whom? Whose description?' de-
manded Mr.. Sloman.
Then Tom told us all about the man
in the pepper-and-salt suit who had fol-
lowed him from New York. When he
had finished his story his father said not
word, but began pacing the floor with
bowed head and contracted brows. Dick
Fanshaw returned to his work, and
picked up my pen.
II telegraphed to the conductor" said
Tom, after an oppressive silence of five
minutes duration. 'sThe train must
have arrived at c. before this, and
III probably get an answer in few min
utes."
Ten minutes later Tom received an
answer that the man he caused to be ar
rested was a well-known judge, and not
the culprit at all.
Tom, overcame with shame and morti-
fication, told his father the whole story
of his trip, and Mr.. Sloman at once felt
convinced that Jones was the guilty
party.
''Impossibler'
1--WE shall see," and Mr.. Sloman
seized his hat and left the Office.
During his fathers absence, Tom sat
and gazed out of the window with most
doleful expression of countenance. and
without uttering word.
Nearly an hour passed before Mr.. Slo-
mans return. AS he entered the Office
at last, both Tom and I looked eagerly
into his face.
mo news?'' asked Tom.
s'None but what I received from the
conductor of the westward-bound train
which arrived at the station while I was
there. He said that your friend, the con-
ductor of the train on which you came
from New York, was very much embar-
raised by the mistake you made in tele-
graphing him that the old gentleman
whom you described had taken your
package of money. He was very angry
when he was told of your suspicious, and
soon everybody in the car knew all about
it. The passengers, of course took his
part, as he was known by some Of them,
and the conductor was abused right and
left. The conductor, however, feels al
most certain that the man who sat with |
you, and who seemed so friendly, had
had something to do with the disappear
ance of the money. He got out at M