The Press., 1884-08-28
THE MISSING DEED.

''Any news from the case this morning, MT. Hutchinson ?" ..-..
 This question was asked by MT. John Holbrook, senior member of the firm of Holbrook & Hutchinson, one certain morning in the latter part of September, as he entered the office.
 His partner, Tom Hutchinson, without looking up from the papers he was read ing, answered in the negative. u "Well," continued the senior member of the firm, I've must exhaust every eff fort to find the missing deed. There is a letter in the mornings mail from MT. Ar mold, authorizing us to increase the reward to five thousand dollars" .-..
 "That ought to fetch it if it is in exist ence, said Tom Hutchinson.
 And he threw down his papers, and he whirled hls office chair to face MT. Charles Wilson, aged twenty-two, with legal as. pirations, who was reading" in the office of this celebrated firm.
 "Wilson, y he said, "write out another advertisement, in the Arnold case, and take it around to The Ledger"
 "Yes, sir" answered the young man. And he took sheet of paper and began to write. . After while he read the following, and the firm agreed that it was the proper thing s..5.-. APPROPRIATION WANTED. - Information is wanted of certain parchment deed, given by Andrew Sharp to Archibald Arnold, convey ing to the said Arnold certain parcel of land, containing about one hundred and thirty-five thousand acres, more or less, situated in the state of Iowa, said deed having been given at Burlington, Iowa, in the year 1845. This deed was lost or stolen some fifteen years ago, and any one furnishing information which | will lead to it's recovery, will receive reward of five thousand dollars by applying to HoL- BROOK & HUTCHINSON, Attorneys at Law, Phil adelphia, Pa."
 "You'd betterstake it around at once" said the head of the firm.
 And the young man left the office to perform the errand. ..... Messrs. Holbrook & Hutchinson's stu dent was poor young man-very poor but he had 8 stout heart and great ambi- tion, and although he found it serious matter to make ends meet, he was study ing very hard to perfect himself for the bar, after which suspicious event, he felt that all would be plain sailing. .
 He had rosy day dreams, sometimes, of future, after fame and wealth should have fallen to his share, and the central figure of those dreams was pretty Madge Bevan, who was nearly as poor as himself, and whom he had loved ever since he was Ia boy at school
 eff could find the missing deed,'' he thought, as he hurried to the newspaper of flee, "all would be we'll. Five thousand dol lars would give me 8 good start in life, and I could make dear Madge happy and lift the burden of the support of her mother from her frail shoulders. I shall be admitted to the bar next term, and it will be pretty uphill work at first, unless I have re- serve capital. By-the-way," he muttered, 'I promised Madge to take tea with them this evening"
 Charlie Wilson had expended a great deal of thought on the most important factor in the great land case of Arnold vs. Sharp, the missing deed to the immense tract of western land, and for the past month he had spent. his idle moments vis- ltlng junk-stores, in the hope of somewhere running across the parchment.
 In the course of his search he had over hauled tons of old paper, but so far he could discover not the slightest trace of the missing document, and hundreds of others who had been tempted by the large reward offered for its discovery were equally unsuccessful.
 | 4O-O0J AO GuOuSub uOI0 dUOuU GQ0 OCSu than he did of Coke and Blackstone, and was so restless and pre-occupied that when the clock struck three he laid aside his books and left the office.
 | Mrs. Bevan and her pretty daughter lived in an old farm house in the suburbs
 Madge was employed as copyist in a big Market street publishing house, and she usually finished her days work at 4 o'clock.
 Until that hour, Charlie paced slowly up and down the sidewalk in front of the | tall building where she worked. They walked home together, and Charlie, of course, spoke of the missing deed. They amused themselves with discussing what they would do with the reward sup posing that they should find the important document, and were talking in this ridicu- lous strain when they reached Madge's home. s.~. F& as= e. sTea is ready, said Mrs, Bevan, greet ing Charlie kindly, 'fand I've opened a jar of my home made strawberry jelly, just for your benefit"
 While Mrs. Bevan poured out the tea, Suddenly he turned pale, his lower jaw dropped, and he sat gazing fxedly at the jelly jar like some one spell bound.
 "Are you ill, Charlie ?" cried Madge, springing to her feet.
 ''You haven't come upon one of those nasty black beetles ?' ejaculated Mrs. Bevan, suspending the tea pot in id-air
 ''No, nor' gasped Charlie, after time ''Its nothing. shall be all right directly -its-the five thousand dollars P
 He seized the part of parchment that had covered the jelly-jar, and bending over it, began to decipher the written characters upon it.
 ''Witness this, my hand-Andrew Sharp witness p he muttered and then raised his head and turned to Madge, who was bending over his chair, with Q glad light in his blue eyes. "I've found it, dear !" he cried.
 "What?"
 "A part of the missing deed; and now if we can trace the rest, he cried, excited ly, ssour fortune is made"
 sMercy on us !" cried Madge, begin ming to cry, m her bewilderment.
 "Did you ever r calculated Mrs. Bevan, and in her excitement she dropped the teapot to the floor, smashing it into bits. "Madge," she finally managed to say, "the rest of the jars are in the cellar, on the