The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1884-11-05
artist in both flesh and hair

tihtthS.
| In carriage and in attire the revo
luton was equally striking anc
equally complete. The stately, up
right gait of the Lombard street mer
chant was exchanged for a STOPPING
shamble that had never been motto.
ed in the gait Of the other. This
might or might not lead to a dis.
covery.
In the solitude Of his own apart
ments that evening Bernard Hooker
searched out the name of Ickford on
Bradshaw's map. He found it to
be that of small town in the north
of England.
Whatever the consequence, I'll
run down there and make inquiries
If / win, the game will be worth the
CANDLE" he soliloquized.
And the next day note in the
bank letter box accounted though
hardly satisfactorily to the critical
Judgment of Mr.. Hollis-for the Sec
ond clerks absence.
VIII you be good enough to
cash this check, please ?"
The cash was shoveled out on the
cleaning mahogany, and an instant
later had found new resting place
in the strangers purse He turned,
and for a second caught the half
stupefied glance of the young clerk.
The effect was magical scared,
terror-stricken expression leaped
into the furtive, shifty eyes, and
every vestige of color forsook the
sallow cheeks. Bernard Hooker was
recognized in his turn.
With the sharp click of the clos
ing door, Bernard's sense returned
to him. Here, when least expected,
was the opportunity of recovering
lost hopes. The rumor that the
scoundrel had sailed for South
America was plainly false. He was
still within reach of British Justice
and, if captured, might be compell-
ed to disgorge his plunder, or at least
such portion of it as was vet un-
squandered. He must be followed,
tracked, and that instantly The
faulty that had brought him on
some casual errand to Fembury and
to Messrs. Kensworth's bank must
be translated, by immediate enter
prise, into a manifestation of that
Nemesis which, by the logic of the
story-books, treads inevitably on the
heels of wrong.
A decision was reached in far less
time than it takes to recount the
fact. Bernard seized his hat, and
with a muttered incoherent apology
pushed his way past his scandalized
superior, and literally ran down the
stone steps into the street.
What is the meaning? Is the
fellow mad ?' gasped Mr.. Hollis, a
portentious frown gathering upon
his brow. 1t was certainly mysteri-
Gus behavior, and the fellow clerk
to whom this query was presumably
addressed, was taken nearly as much
aback as his chief. He had no ex-
planation to offer.
Careless of the CONSERVATION
which his abrupt proceedings had
occasioned, Bernard's steps were to-
ward the station. This was clearly
the aim of the pursued.
To be thirty seconds too late is,
under all circumstances, abundantly
annoying. This was Bernard Hook
er's lot OF the present occasion. He
reached the platform of the Fembury
station just In time to see the up
train steam into the yawning gulf
of the north tunnel, and to know
that in one of that trains compart-
ments sat, in regained security, his
fathers foe, and his own. There
was nothing to do but to confess
failure, and to return, after dining,
to the drudgery of the bank desk.
He did not even know the aliases of
the rogue, and, after all his evidence
of identity, might fail to convince
another. 1t would be useless to ap-
peal to the local police force for
these reasons.
IAN impudent and madcap freak,
Mr.. Hooker, whatever NAV be your
excuse" growled Mr.. Hollis. "If
you want to leave the office in
hurry again to overtake anybody
anybody, sir j be good enough to
ask leave"
Bernard was compelled topromise
that he would. For the rest of the
afternoon he went on his way with
the tedious columns of figures in
state of mental agitation and chag-
rim unparalleled since the days on
which he had learned that his par
ent's bankruptcy was unavoida-
bic.
:" Those scraps of paper, Mr..
Styles, had better ornament the
waste-basket than the floor"
The managers accents were harsh
and querulous his temper seemed
to have been soured for the day, by
Bernard Hooker's escapade.
Il have not dropped them, sir,
replied the incuipable junior, resent
ing as much as he dared the implied
charge of untidiness. '.One fell
from your own desk, and the other
was left behind by the gentleman
whom Mr.. Hooker tried to catch
Bernard's ears tingled anew
What ii the last mentioned frag-
ment should bear upon its surface
some clew TO the villains assumed
name or Whereabouts By easy STRAIT
egy he gained possession of the slip,
and found it to be half an envelope,
with the letters "Joyn-" on one
side, and the postmark "Ickford "
on the other.
At Ickford the trail was unmis-
takably struck. Skillful investiga-
ton showed that Mr.. Joynson-
whose outward man appeared to tai
ly precisely with Bernard's sketch
description-had been staying at
the chief hotel for several weeks,
and had posed as an individual of
position and wealth. Alas it show
ed also that he had decamped with
both bag and baggage few hours
before Bernard's arrival.
Foiled second time !" moaned
that young man, in bitterness of