The Mineral argus., 1884-09-18


It awakened bitter "reminiscences with
the enunciation Of every syllable.
"WilI yon be good enough TO cash
this check, please?'
The check was shoveled o1t on the
cleaning mahogany, and an instant
/ later had found a 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 fursive, shifty
eyes, and every vestIge Of color fOrsOOk
the sallow cheeks. Bernard Hooker
was recognized In his turn.
With the sharp click of the closing
door, Bernard's sense returned to him.
Here. when least expected, was the op-
portunity 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 COM
PEELED to disgorge and surrender, or at
least such portion of it as was vet un-
squandered. He must be followed,
tracked, and that Instantly The fatal
ity that had brought him on some cas-
ual errand to Fembury and to Messrs.
Kenworth's bank must be translated,
by immediate enterprise into a mani
festation of that Nemesis which, by the
logic of 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 NUT
tered incoherent apology, pushed his
way past his scandelized superior, and
litrally ran down the stone steps into
the street.
What is the meaning? Is the
fellow mad?" gasped Mr.. Hollis, a
portentous frown gathering upon his
brow. 1t was certainly mysterious be-
havior, and the fellow clerk to whom
this query was presumably addressed
was taken nearly as much aback as his
chief. He had no explanation to offer.
Careless of the CONSERVATION which
his abrupt proceeding had occasioned,
Bernard's steps we're toward the railway
station. This was clearly the aim of the
pursued.
To be thirty seconds too late is, under
all circumstances, abundantly annoying
This was Bernard Hooker's lot on the
present occasion. He reached the plat
form 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 COM
partments sat, in regained security, his
fathers foe and his own. There was
nothing to do but to confess failure,
and return, after dining, to the druid
gerry of the bank desk. He did not
even know the alias of the rogue, and
after all, his evidence of identity, if
sufficient for himself, might fail to con-
vince another. 1t would be useless to
appeal to the local police force, for these
reasons.
"An impudent and a madcap freak,
Mr.. Hooker, what may be your excuse,
growIed Mr.. Hollis. "If you want to
leave the Office In hurry again to over
take anybody-anybody, sir !-be good
en- ough to ask leave"
Bernard was compelled to promise
that he would. For the rest of the after
noon he went on his way with the tedious
columns of figures In a state Of mental
agitation and chagrin unparalleled since
the days on which he had first learned
that his parents bankruptcy was un-
avoidable.
"Those scraps of paper, Mr.. Styles,
had better ornament the waste. basket
than the floor"
The hangers accents were harsh and
querulous; his temper seemed to have
been soured for the day by Bernard
Hooker's escapade.
IL have dropped them, sir" replied
the inculpated junior, resentipg as
much as he dared the implied charges
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
if the aforementioned fragment should
bear upon its surface some clew to the
villains assumed name or whereabouts.
by easy stategy 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. This might or might nor
! lead to a discovery.
In the solitude of his own apartments
that evening Bernard Hooker searched
out the name of Ickford on a Brad
shaw's map. He found it to be that of a
small town in the north of England.
Whatever the consequence, I'll run
down there and make inquiries. If I
win, the game will be worth the can
dle," 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 second clerks abb