Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-06-11

MI. M:son had hardly had time to
ieach ts street when the young man
lett his desk, went into MIR. Mason's
room, Uttered a small closet in which a
wash-hnd basin was fitted up. and r O
ceeded Q wash his hands. This was q
h'gh nisdemeanor, especially as ac-
colpmolation was prov ded for clerks
IN anotler part OF the building, but Mr.,
Robert Carter preferred Mr.. Mason's
closet, nd always used it when he had
a chane of doing SO. On this occa-
however. he had barely begun his
aolutlo's when he heard thebuter door
OF the Mice slam, and then he heard
some Que. whom he judged to be his
employ:r, come into the room.
fortunately the door of the closet was
nearly losed, SO that the young man
was invisible to any one in the center of
the rom.
"Hehas only come back for his nm
brella, said Robert 10 himself: there
is no med for my moving. If I keen
aulet lie will be gone in a minute. No!
Some me else has come in with him.
What hall rdo?"
Mr. Mason had already closed the
touble loors which led from his room
70 the outer office, and Carter was screw
ne up bis courage to the point of con-
Nsslng his presence, when the first
words spoken by the stranger fell upon
Pls ear and made him stand as still as q
stono.
''You can take your choice, as I said
in my letter. Hand me over another
hundred, or I'll split. What's one sew
snty-two out of three thousand? I had
all the risk and you"
"silence-will you?" Kissed out Mr..
Mason, in an angry whisper. 81 can't
give you a hundred pounds, for Haven't
gotit But I 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. Any thing would
be better than living a slave to q man
like yoa."
Gland owe the fifty, them" said the
other, alter a pause; and then there was
a slight rustic of b~ank-notes.
You had better leave the country"
said Nh. Mason in a low tone. ..Ihe
bank cashif who cashed the check
might meet kou in the street"
"ul take |care of that" replied the
stranger; AID after a few more words
had passed tlc two men left the office.
All this tine Carter had been stand
ing half paialyzed, first by fear of dis
coyery andthen by establishment. But
he understood this much. that this man
was the st4lnger who had cashed the
forged chdk under the name of Beck
man; thatMr. Mason knew it, and SO
far from announcing him to the police
was giving him money to hold his
tongue. Yes; and more than this, the
stranger Fas threatening to .'split'' up
on Mr.. Mason! What it could all mean
Carter could not comprehend; but he
saw one shing plainly enough. The i'm
portant point was to find out who this
man was, and where he lived. In a
moment Carter ran out of the O
seized his hat and rushed down stairs.
He WIS just in tame. MI. Mason was
LEAKING fthe foot of the stairs, going up
the street, while q wel-dressed man,
who had evidently just parted from him,
was walking rapidly in the opposite
direction. Carter followed the stranger
to the Mansion House, and saw him
take a Bayswater omnibus. This suited
I Carter exactly. He went round to the
front of the vehicle and got up beside
the driver. Then he clambered along
the roof and seated himself above the
door.
AT the Holborn restaurant the man
whom he was following got out and
stopped to refresh himself, while Garter
waited patiently outside. At last he re-
appeared, and Carter quietly followed
him down Holborn, up Gray's Inn road
and into a dingy street in the neighbor-
hood of Kings Cross. Here the pre-
tended solicitor stopped at adoor, which
he opened with q latch-key.
'.AhH' said Carter to himself, 'sIhave
you nowl"
He waited a few moments, and then
knocked at the door.
1t was answered by a dirty, ~slip-shod
girl.
"Docs Mr.. Williamson live here?"
inquired the young nan
"No, he doesn't"
"Wasn't that Mr.. Williamson who
came in Just now-Mr. Williamson, OF
Peterborough"
'No, it wasn't. That was our first
floor, Mr.. Cromer. You've made a
mistake"
$50 l have. Beg pardon, I'm sure''
and Carter turned away.
From Kings Cross he went straight
to Scotland Yard and narrated his ex-
perlences. That night Mr.. Livesey re-
ceived a visit which caused him some
surprise-and SO did Mr.. Cromer. No
sooner was the latter gentleman in the
hands of the police than he confessed
the whole matter.
Mr. Mason had known Cromer, who
was a scoundrel with % respectable ap-
pearance and a 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 when the check was missed;
he had come back to the Office after the
clerks we're gone, and had then opened
| Crump's safe with his own key and alb
stracted the bank check. This check
he had himself filled up and signed
with the firms signature in the usual
way, so there was little wonder that the
cashier at the bank paid it without any
suspicion. He had, no doubt, calcu-
lated that the bank would have to bear
the loss; but, as it was. he had cheated
nv J;roeou ont nj two Thousand