Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-05-21

issAAsS0 ssOOuV5 1klAs5s8s 4NOE0 OIE us OS41eV(
you had anything TO do with Il. 5
course. e will sall come out, likely, Il
q day or two. 8 3.
rs The old man stared at him for !
minute or two without speakinr anG
without taking Carter's hand.
BECOME, Sir! 7 he cried at last. How
Idare you come here to insult me viii
your sympathy You'll q / fancy 70,
are the one who knows most about it. !
Annie turned from one to the othe,
with bewild ered, terrified looks. For
I5tunateiy she vas the only other on.
lof the family il the room. 50.
What isit, father she cried, clasp
ing her hands. s What Is It you ga,
Robert knows more shout than any
one else! Oh, tell mo what has hap
pened ~ s,
Go to your room, giirl, said hel
father, sternly. There is troubl,
enough without your med lina in it
Stop, he continued, as. eRirl slo,wl,
lett the room. 81 GU see that youna
man. / forbid. you to see him, to WRITE
to him, to receive any letters from
him. He-you will know SO onenough. :
What, sir!" cried Carter, his ewes
blazing with Indignation. Do you say
that THAT ! took the check? Why
1t was an impo possibility, even if I had
wished to do such q thing. = ... -,.5 +
Leave y.house, sir!'' was the old
man reply, as he reseated himself in
his chair. He had by this time per.
sl1aded himself that in some unguard.
ed moment he had left his key in the
safe, that Carter had taken an impress.
sion oft and had false key made;
and that he had got some clever for
ger to initiate the firms signature.
But he knew that no one would believe
him, that appearances were all against
hmm, and that it would be impossible
TOR him now even to earn his bread.
He looked upon Carter as the man
who had ruined him, and in his misery
and unreasonableness he.fancied that
one OF the young mans objects was to
throw suspicion upon him, to reduce
him topoverty and make it impossible
Tor him to refuse to accept him as
Annie's husband. But in this the old
man determined he would never Weld.
Carter protested once more against
the injustice of the cashier suspicious,
and then left tine room. At the street
door he met Annie, who was waiting
for him.
"Oh, Robert" she exclaimed in a
low voice, "tell ME what mas happen
ed"
Somebody at the Office has forged
a check for three thousand pounds and
more" he replied. 1T had been tax.
en- from your fathers book, and-and
he fancies Itook it, who had moth
ing to do with the safe whatsoever"
.'And do they imagine it was"
Robert was silent.
"And you came here to say you did
not believe it? Oh, how good OF you"
"But he thinks l am the thief. You
don't, Annie?"
No, Robert; am very sure of that.
Only, l can't see you so long as my
father-'
Roberts only answer to this was a
sigh, and with hurried good-by the
lovers parted.
Weeks and months went by, and the
mystery of the forged check remained
unsolved. Mr.. Livesey insisted that
the firm should bear the loss of the e.
900, which Mr.. Mason thought the
bank ought to repay, as they were le-
gally responsible for the money.
mo" said the old gen leman, "they
may be legally responsible, but I
don't see that they ought to suf
fer. The check itself was in our
hands, and we allowed g. thief to get
hold of it The bank did all thew
could. The forged signature is so
like yours that no one could tell the
difference; and the bank cashier tells
me that the man who cashed it show
ed him letters addressed to himself as
Joseph Beckman' 1.-THE name on the
cheeky, and showed him his card, saw
ing that he was solicitor. Of
course he wasn't The thing has
been most cleverly planned, and I
amequite at loss to think who put
that poor fellow Crump up to it; but
it seems to me we can't let the bank
suffer. We could not afford to let it
be known we had done so. No other
bank would keep our account"
Of course poor Walter Crump could
not find another situation, though he
would have been glad to take the
lowest place in an office. The wolf
came to his door in earnest. Annie,
who had situation in Board
School, was the chief support of the
family; and the poor girl was pale
and thin from long hours and scanty
meals.
1t was about five months after the
day when the cashier was dismissed
in disgrace that one day Mr.. Mason
left his office at half-past l, his usual
hour for going out to lunch. Half
past was also the time when it was
Robert Carriers turn to go out for
half an hour; and Mr.. Mason had
hardly had time to reach the street.
when the young man left his desk,
went into Mr.. Mason's room, entered
9 small closet lin which a wash-hand
basin was fitted up, and proceeded to
wash his hands. This was a high mis-
demeanor, especially as accommoda-
ton WIS provided for clerks in an
other part of the building, but Mr..
Robert Carter preferred Mr.. Mason's
closet, and always used it when he had
q chance Of doing SO. . = ~. Il
On this occasion, however, he had
barely begun his additions when he y
heard the outer door ofthe office slam,
and then he heard some one, whom he
Judged to be his employer; come into
the room. t sSs5:,. SO. i & ss|s.. &.
Heshas only come back for his UNI
brella, said Robert to himself; "there
is no need for my moving. If I keep
quiet he will be gone in q minute. No!
Some one else has come in with him.
What shall I do? n. II
Mr.. Mason had already closed the
double doors which lad from his room
g the outer Office, and Carter was
sctewing up his courage to the point