The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-07-09
cannot understand it Listen - And
he read aloud the note from his uncle:

lieve, without lsnosf- nlideniabae, positive
doil.sls, takef., as yon know. from my private
desk IN W.sasse rs1s fast Won are my sisferss
YOU, ,as You @ no ioi ] nepbe%
/ of mine. Willingly, viii never hook in yssfF
face agssiTs. Roaar ili-goftsn gains fnseF ri,
/ you &, start III some business; trusting that
you will endeavor toIiye honestly IN the El-
lure. DO neftry to.see me; viii not listen
1 TO any plantations knew to be false. dc
not write. for | viii not open your letters.
rufus MAlGKHAM."
Maud Clarkson grew white Ms death
as she heard the stern edict
80, Fred,n she cried, s.what can you
dop''
| .'starve, l suppose" was the bitter
answer. as do not happen to possess
the ill-gotten gains he 50 generously pre-
SCENTS me. . But will not ask you to
starve with me-. Maud. = You. were boz
| trothed to the millionaire s nephew and
heir; the disinherited beggar frees. you
from your promise
FIRED, - she cried. bursting into, tears.
s.how can you be so cruelP. Then, uri-
needing the clerk, who was discreetly
looking from the window, she came
close to Fred's side ii stDarling,'' she
said. fixing her large black eyes upon
his face, If alluthe world believes you.
guilty, I do not. If all the world casts
you off, will keep my promise. = ats
The Young lover had been bewildered,
| indignant, desperate, but he folded the
| gentle comfoFterfast in his arms, and
| great tears fell on her uptnrned face. Z
oE.God bless you, Maudr' hescriedsssI
can defy the world. if you are tEne to
me. .Now, Potter, sit down and tell
me what YOU know of this wretched bust
ness
s.Well, Mr.. Fred, 1 never heard of the
robbery myself until this morning, when
Vogdes, the detective your uncle en-
ployed to work it up, came to make his
report. They did not notice me at first.
and when your uncle membered i was
in the room, I had heard about all
Vogdes knew. You remember there
dayT' 'ass''H ST. "a 81 a.
ITO JohnsonP'' "a
Eyes; well, thought at the time it
was curious that your uncle gave him a.
check, when i knew the money was
drawn out of the bank the, day before
to meet that very note. But never
knew till this morning that the money
was stolen from Mr. Markham's private
desk by means OF false keys. Mr. Fred, ,"
said the old man. earnestly, st was all
in NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. notes, and your
uncle had the numbers ~ s8*d f7F5 ss
ssWeHPas aasfe aiTf sl534o. Esr'f =
'sTlais morning Vegdes brought back
one of the notes which you gave to t.,
yesterday, in payment for q pearl
locket. ~ -. s-5sF tli ~ mss >
seStopi Potter, let me think. Where
did i get that neteP 4 have it. Arnold
gave it to me to take out a hundred dol
lars lent him some time ago. And
Arhold-Po tter-Arnold borrowed my
keys, last Wednesday night, to open his
trunk. Potter, huzzai we" know the
thief @fsa gg esstss gsi
mot so fast, Mr. Fred; not so fast.
1t will not be an easy matter to prove
this. Were there any witnesses present
when Arnold borrowed the keys?a
No; Twas alone in my room, half
undressed, when he knocked at my door
and said he had lost the key of his
trunk. lent him my bunch of keys,
which he returned before i was out of
bed the next day.. - ~
= And you were also alone when he
paid you the money! se.ii
Eyes; Thought he was very flush, for
you know sas well as i do, Potter, that a
note for five hundred dollars is not
daily visitor in Arneld's pocket 88
s'He is a cunning scoundrel He
wants to ascertain if the notes can be
identified before he tries to get rid of
them himself. Mr.. Fred, will you leave
it to me few days-only few days
and, if do not catch the thief, you may
try" z5,s fs.s. .tE. taaxz
but my uncle?n as
SWAT till you can prove, your. inno-
cence before you see him. l. Only week
give me only q week to watch Arnold.
And, by-the-Way, you will, give me an
additional chance II you viii leave the
city. Throw hinfsof his guard by Lett
ting him suppose You are banished for
his crinlen s5't =
Run away like . cowardi'' flashed
Fred. ni7e te3
"Only for week You see, the prob
ability is that Arnold has the money in
his possession yet. He win visit to see
the fate of what he has given you before
putting any more into CALCULATIONS; but
he has probably hidden it very securely.
He will watch, but if you are willing
viii take your room while you are gone,
and do little detective business on my
part" -
It was not easyto persuade Fred to
consent to- Petter's plan. but Maud's
persuasions being added to the old
mans, he finally to leave the
city for week and return in that time
to vindicate his own innocence. In case
of Potter's failure H
Before night Fred was on his way to
visit another city. and his landfady had
agreed TO allow Mr.. Potter to occupy his
place during his absence
Fred had been srone two DAYS when
the old clerk called upon Miss Olarkson
to report progress. 4aa
81 am completely bailied, he said in
answer to her inquiries. E.'You see, Ar
mold knows me: and evidently suspects
me. He is so affectionately DESTROYS OF
keeping me insight that l. cannot get
peep into his room; and whenever he is
out, he locks the door and gives the key
to the landlady. l cannot force the. door
yet, and BY the time Fred returns / am
afraid the money win be +, smuggled
away. / am sure the money is in his
possession now, he is so careful about
his room, Nobody gets in there. but the
landlady. did think of bribing the
chambermaid to let me in when she was
at work. there, but unfortunately she left
to-day"
A flash of light seemed to pass across
Maud's face, but she only said, .demure-
~:
Your Iandlady is German. is she
notP''
Yes, her English is very imperfect
Have you ever seen her?''
No; have heard Fred speak of her
My mother, you know. was German
''But what has that to do with Fred's
casePaa HING 80 90 zW
Il will tell you. Vogdes has tried to
foI fl,o4 ,s,F e. Iax