The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-09-12
CHASING A FORTUNE.

had been the terror ofmeek companions
the aversion of order-loving dominies
the triumphant outwitter, on more thar
n occasion, of even that great man the
proctor.
But these halcyon days were past,
ANY particular exuberance of spirits IN
Bernard's present position would have
been as phenomenal and incongruouS
with his surroundings as the presence OF
English hedge blossoms in an East
ern desert. He was chained to the oar
of daily toll a tightly and as kopelessly
as any galley'slave. The sturdy sym,
metry of his figure, the humorous cast
Of his frank and open ~countenance, the
twinkle Of his hght-blus eyes, e all
that outwar3ly remained Of the idiosyn-
GRASSES that had made him the idol Of
his comrades IN class and on college
walk. The pressure Of adverse circum-
stances had pat an iron curb upon his
vivaau, mitha3 not altogether crushed
H.
BE lccked forward to reading for the
bar with the prospect, if he displayed
sbili., a a capital start in his chosen
profession by reason Of his fathers po-
sition sid influence. Instead Of this,
Bernard Booker found himself, at the
age Of two-4ad-twenty. merely an insig-
niiesnt Unit N the already o~ver-crowded
ranks Of professional quill-drivers.
His father had become the dupe Of an
unprincipled business partner. and had
lost everything. Even Edwin Rockers
hitherto fair fame had suffered asper-
sion, for it had beer hard to persuade
the great careless world that the vii
lainy, which hadmade the trading name
of Hooker and Cleaning a by-word in
the city, was the work of Archer Glen
ming alone. Yet it was so, and the trial
which followed the crash told q tale of
forged signatures and stolen securities
which set the elder and victimiEed part
ner free, and would have certainly rele-
gated the junior TO the keeping dprison-
wardens for a long term of years, had
he remained to face the storm. He had
fed and carried with him Edwin Hook
er's fortune,
Thus it came about that the son vas
earning his daily bread in the Fembury
branch bank Of Kenworsh & Co. That
he was located IN the country, with
open skies above him and pleasant
fields around, was the one mitigating
circumstance Of his hard ana dreary
lot In other respects even the aver
age London bank clerk was better of.
Mr. Hollis, Messrs. Kenworth's Fem
bury manager, was an irasclble little
man, who believed, as firmly as an
t~ask-master, IN getting the
very utmost IN the way of effort out of
hrs surbordinates. The bank hours
nominally be from 9 to s. but he
had a trick of piling on extras. which
materially heightened them.
1t would be, These letters cannot he
left, Mr., Styles" or "This ledger re-
attention, Mr.. Hooker To
have refused OF ever expostulated, was
to court instant dismissal, for Mr.. Hol-
las was IS passionate as he was naughty.
and knew himself to be invested with
plenary power within the bank precincts.
There was no but to obey.
II was . bright May morning, frag-
rant IA the Fembury lanes with the
scent of early wild flowers and vocal
with melody Of birds. 1t was market
day IN the Little country town, and the
chnk Of gold in consequence frequently
resounded on the bank counter. AS q
Bernard Hooker paid little or no
attention to the ftful professions of
clients shatpassed the door on the right.
De was not cashier, and the burden of
e"1 duties was sufficient for his
weary shoulders. But as
y Ac surely 0ulcS-c1OCR announced
before the luncheon inter-
val the sound OF q voice he surely knew
mingled with It's dull bass. Aninstinct-
We tremor ran through every fibre Of
young mans body. He looked
up. What he saw for the mo-
ment puzzled him and seemed to refute
The evidence of his ears.
The voice was emphatica1ly that IT
Archer Cleaning; the outward present.
ment Of the speaker was that of an alb
stranger. But a closer scrutiny
and the recollection Of the fact that the
accomplished swindler was Of necessity
= fugntiye, explained the phenomen.
Edwin Hooker's Ascending partner was
81 truth there In flesh before Bernards
eyes, pat 20 cunningly disguised that
p e1eyerest Scotland Yard detective
might have been pardoned for 4 blund-
tr. The shapely mustache and heavy
beard had both vanished; the light
Auburn locks Of the Hue ana Cryr des-
eruption vere now raven-black the very
eyebrows had discarded nature and A.
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