The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1886-05-21


without taking Carters hand.
"Begone, sir !" he cried at last.
GLOW dare you come here TO insult me
with your sympathy You / fancy
you are the one who knows most about
it,"
Annie turned from one to the other
with bewildered, terrified looks. For
tunately she was the only other one of
the family in the room.
"What is it, father ?" she cried,
clasping her hands. "What is it you
say Robert knows more about than
any one else ! Oh, tell me what has
happened ?"
"Go to your room, girl" said her
father, sternly. "There is trouble
enough without your meddliug in it.
Stop" he continued, as the girl slowly
left the room. "You see that young
man. forbid you to see him, to write
to him, to receive any letters from him.
He-you will know soon enough"
"What, sir !" cried Garter, his eyes
blazing with Indignation. DO you
say that that | took the check ?
Why, it was an impossbility, even if
had wished to do such thing"
Leave my house, sir !" was the old
mans reply, as he reseated himself in
his chair. He had by this time per
suaded himself that in some unguarded
moment he had lett his key in the safe,
that Garter had taken an impression of
it and had false key made, and that
he had got some clever forger To
.mitatate the firms signature. But he
knew that no one would believe him,
that appearances were all against him.
and that it would be impossible for him
now even to earn his bread. He looked
upon Carter as the man who had ruin
ed him, and in his misery and un-
reasonableness he fancied that one OF
| the young mans objects was to throw
suspicion upon him. to reduce him to
poverty and make it impossible for
! him to refuse to accept as Annles hus-
band. But in this the old man deter
mined he would never yield
Carter protested once more against
the injustice of the cashiers suspic-
ions, and then left the room. At the
street door he met Annie, who was
waiting for him.
"Oh, Robelt.,' she exclaimed in a
low voice, "tell me what has happen,
ed"
Somebody at the Office has forged
check for three thousand pounds and
more," he replied 1T had been taken
from your fathers book, and -and-he
fancies | took it-I, who had nothing
to do with his safe whatever
"And do they imagine it was -
Robert was silent
''And you came here TO saY you
didn't believe it e! Oh, how good Of
you !'
'But he thinks l am the thief. Yot
don't, Annie p
mo, Robert / am sure of that
Only, can't see you so long as my
father
Roberts only answer to this was {
sigh, and with a hurried good.by tn,
lovers parted.
Weeks and months went by, and tn,
mystery of the forged check remained
unsolved Mr.. Livesey insisted tha
the firm should bear the loss of to,
$4,000, which Mr.. Mason thought tn,
bank ought to repay, as they wer
legally responsible for the money.
"No,' said the old gentleman, ''the,
may be legally responsible, but | don
see that they ought to suffer. Th
check itself was in our hands, and w
allowed thief to get hold of it. tn,
bank did all they could. The forge,
signature is so like yours that no on
could tell the difference and the banl
cashier tells me that the man VIII
cashed it showed him letters addresse,
to himself as Joseph Beckman' 9TH
name on the cheeky, and showed hir
his card, saying that he was a solicitor
| Of purse he wasn't. The thing ha
been most cleverly planned, and | an
quite at loss to think who put tina
poor fellow Crump up to it but
seems to me we can't let the bank SUI
fer. We could not afford to let it b
known we had done so. No othe
bank would keep our account"
OF course poor Walter Crump coul
not find another situation, though h
would have been glad to take the low
est place in an office. The wolf cam
to his door in earnest. Annie, VIII
had situation IN a boarding school VIZ
the chief support of the family an
the poor girl was pale and thin fror
long hours and scanty meals.
1t was about five months after tn
day when the cashier was dismisse
in disgrace that one day Mr. Maso
left his Office at half-past /, his usu
hour for going out to lunch. Hal
past ! was also the time when it "a
Robert Carter's turn to 90 out for ha
an hour and Mr.. Mason had hardl
had time to reach the street when II
Young man left his desk, went into Nj
Mason's room, entered a small clos
in which Il wash-hand basin was fitte
up, and proceeded to wash his hand
This was high misdemeanor, espe
tally as accommodation was provided fC
clerks in another part of the buildin
but Mr.. Robert Carter preferred NJ
Mason's closet, and always used it whe
, he had chance of doug so.
On this occasion, however, he hf
t barely begun his ablutions when
. heard the outer door of the office slar
and then he heard some one, whom
judged to be his employer, come int
, the room.
Fortunately the door of the clos,
= was nearly closed, so that the your
2 man was invisible to any one in Il
t centre of the room.
D "lle has only come back for his III
brella, said Robert to himself ''the
e is no need for my moving. If | ke
t quiet he will be gone in 4 minute. n
= Some one else has come in with hi
y What shall / do 2"
e Mr.. Mason had already closed h
:, double doors which led from his roc
n to the outer office, and Carter "
l. screwing up his courage to the poi
of coniessing his presence, when I
a first words spoken by the stranger
l L. 1 4