The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1886-09-01
SOMERSET, PA, SEPTEMBER 1, 1886.

. risk, and you
silence-wil you?" Missed out Mr..
Mason in an angry whisper 9 can't
give you hundred pounds, for ! have
not got it, But | will give you fifty now
and fifty next month. After that you
can split if you like, for you shall get no
more out of me. Anything would be
better than living as slave to a mar like
YOU
Hand over the fifty, then" replied
the other after pause and then there
was slight rustic of bank notes.
= You had better leave the country
said MIR. Mason in a low tone. The
bank cashier who cashed the check
might meet you in the street.
I'm take care of that" replied the
stranger, and after few more words had
passed the two men left the office.
All this time Carter had been standing
half paralyzed, first, by fear of discovery,
and then by astonishment But he un-
derstood this much, that this stranger
was the man who had cashed the forged
check, under the name of Beckman that
MIR. Mason knew it, and so lar from de-
nouncing him to the police, was giving
him money to hold his tongue. yes and
| more than this, the stranger was threat
ening TO split upon Mr. Mason.
What it could all mean Carter could
not comprehend but he saw one thing
plainly enough. The important point
was to find out who this man was and
| where he lived. In moment Carter ran
out of the room, seized his nat and rush
/ ed down stairs
He was just in time. Mr.. Mason was
leaving the foot Of the stairs going up
/ the street, while ii well-dressed man, who
had evidently just parted from him, was
walking in the opposite direction. Car
ter followed the stranger to the Mansion
House, and saw him take Bayswater
omnibus. This suited Carter exactly. He
went around 20 the front of the vehicle
and got up beside the driver. Then he
clambered along the roof and seated him
self above the door.
At the Holborn restaurant the man
whom he was following got out and stop
ped to refresh himself. while Carer
waited patiently outside. At last he re-
appeared and Carter quietly followed
him down Holborn, up Gray's Inn road
into dingy street in the neighborhood
of Kings Cross. Here the pretended
solicitor stopped at door, which he
open with a latch key
"Ah !" said Carter to himself q / have
you know"
He waited few moments and then
knocked at the door.
1t was answered by a dirty, slip-shod
girl
Does Mr.. Williamson live here?n in
quired the young man.
9 No, he doesn't
Wasn't that Mr. Williamson who |
came in just now--Mr Williamson of |
Petersbcrough ?7
" No. it wasn't That was our first
floor, Mr. Cromer. You have made
mistake"
30 have. Beg your pardon, I'm
sure" and Carter turned away
From Kings Cross he went straight TO
Scotland Yard and narrated his exper-
ience That night Mr.. Livesey received
a visit which caused him some surprise
and 80 did Mr.. Cromey. No sooner was
the latter gentleman in the hands Of the
police than he confessed the whole mat
ter
Mr.. Mason had known Cromer, who
was a scoundrel with respectable ap-
pearanee and la plausible manner. for some
time, and had selected him to be his tool.
He had sent poor Crump to the docks ON
the afternoon before the morning on
which the check was missed he had
come back 10 the office after the clerks
were gone, and then opened Crump's safe
with his own key and distracted the
blank check This he had himself filed
up and signed with the firms signature
in the usual way, so there was little Won
der that the cashier at the bank paid it
without any suspicion. He had, no
doubt calculated that the bank would
have TO bear the loss, but as it was he
had cheated Mr. Liyesey out of two
thousand pounds, for, as he himself had
but third share in the business, only
one thousand out of the three had come
out of his own pocket.
Mr.. Mason saved his partner the
trouble of trying whether he could make
him criminally responsible for what he
had done for when the police went To
look for him he had disappeared Prob
ably he had seen Robert Carter following
his accomplice, and, scenting danger,
had saved himself while there was time
1t turned out afterwards that he had been
Specializing largely on the stock exchange
his losses. II was some consolation to
Mr.. Livesey to think that his dishonest
partner had not profited much by his
theft
As for Walter Crump, he was offered
his old place with an apology and u
handsome present 10 boot; and he still
keeps the books which he has had so
long under his care He has not quite
overcome his prejudice against Robert
Carter, and he always regarded it as a
hard thing that he should have to owe
his reputation and his deliyerance from
poverty To that particular young gentle
man However, as things were he could
do no less than to inform Carter that he
had done him an injustice, and that he
would be happy to see him in the even
ing whenever it suited him TO call. Color
came back 10 Annie's cheeks and light to
her eyes when she heard the good news
and If was not many weeks before she
became the promised wife of the young
man who discovered the secret of the
mysterious forgery Whitehall Rsrie,r-
A ar0a Sum Needed