The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1884-11-05
CHASING A FORTUNE.

Both at school and at college, Bel
nard Hooker had been one of tn
widest youths imaginable. He ha
been the terror of meek companions
the aversion of order-loving domin
les, the triumphant outwitter, Oh
more than one occasion, of even tina
great man, the proctor.
But these halcyon days were past
Any particular exuberance of spir
its, in Bernard's present position
would have been as phenomena
and incongruous with his surround
ings as the presence of Englisl
hedge-blossoms in Eastern deserts
He was chained to the oar of dali,
toll as tightly and as hopelessly a
any galley-slave. The sturdy sym
metry of his figure, the humorous
cast of bis frank, open countenance
the twinkle OF his light-blue eyes
were all that outwardly remained o
the idiosyncrasies that had made
him the idol of his comrades il
class and on college walk. Th,
pressure of adverse circumstance;
had put an iron curb upon his vi
vacity, lift had not altogether crush
ed 1T.
He had looked forward to reading
for the bar, with the prospect, if he
displayed ability, of a capital star
in his chosen profession by reason
of his fathers position and inhu
ence. Instead of this, Bernard Hook
er found himself at the age of two.
and-twenty, merely an insignificant
unit in the already overcrowded
ranks of professional quill
drivers.
His father had become the dupe
OF an unprincipled business partner
and had lost everything. Even Ed.
win Hooker's hitherto fair fame had
suffered aspersion. for it had been
hard to persuade the great, careless
world that the villainy, which had
made the trading firm of Hooker &
Glenning a by.word in the city, was
the work of Archer Glenning alone.
Yet it was so, and the criminal trial
which followed the crash told tale
of forged signatures and stolen Sc
curities which set the elder and vic
timized partner free, and would GER
tainly have relegated the junior to
the keeping of prison wardens for a
loug term of years, had he remained
to face the storm. He had fed, and
carried with him Edwin Hooker's
fortune.
Thus it came about that the son
was earning his daily bread in the
Fembury branch bank of Kenworth
e. Co. That he was located in the
country, with open skies above him
and pleasant fields around him. was
the one mitigating circumstance OF
his hard and dreary lot. In other
respects even the average London
bank-clerk was better off. Mr.. Hol-
lis, Messrs. Kenworth's Fembury
manager, was an irascible little
man, who believed as firmly as an
Egyptian task-master, in getting the
very utmost in the way of effort out
of his subordinstes. The bank
hours might nominally be from 8 to
5, but he had trick of piling on
extras, which materially heightened
them.
1t would be, These letters cannot
be left, Mr.. Styles" or "This ledger
requires attention, Mr.. Hooker" To
have refused, or even expostulated,
was to court instant dismissal, for
Mr.. Hollis was as passionate as he
was naughty, and knew himself to
be invested with pienary power
within the bank precincts. There
was no resource but to obey.
1t was a bright May morning,
fragrant in the Fembury lanes with
the. scent of early wild flowers, and
vocal with the melody of birds. 1t
was market day in the little country
town, and the clink OF gold in con-
sequence frequently resounded on
the bank counter. AS rule Ber-
nard Hooker paid little or no atten-
ton to the fitful procession of clients
that passed the door on the right.
He was not cashier, and the burden
of his own duties was sufficient for
his oftentimes weary shoulders. But
as the surly office clock announced
the quarter before the luncheon in
terval, the sound of a voice he sure
ly knew mingled with its dnll bass.
An instructive tremor ran through
every fibre of the young man g
body. He looked sharply up.
What he saw for the moment puz-
zled him, and seemed to refute the
evidence of his ears.
The voice was emphatically that
of Archer Glenning; the outward
presentment of the speaker was that
of an absolute stranger. But closer
scrutiny and a recollection of the
fact that the accomplished sw;ndler
was of necessity a fugitive, explain
ed the phenomenon. Edwin Hook
er's absconding partner was of a
truth there in the flesh before Ber-
nard's eyes, but so cunningly dis
guised that the cleyerest Scotland
Yard detective might have been par
doned for blunder. The shapely
mustache and heavy beard had both
vanished; the light auburn locks of
the Hue and Cry" description
were now raven black; the very eye
brows had discarded nature and
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