Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-08-03

than any of them. He picked 1t
up, glanced it over, and was about
to Law it down again when his at
tention was arrested by this head
line:
0ABANK IN A HOLE"
DRoyERS' DEFRAUDED BY AN OLD
EMPLOYEE.
What was that The Drovers'
Bank defrauded9 Why, he used
to be cashier at the Drovers' Bank.
What a long time it seemed since
he had stood at the cashiers desk,
and vet it was only yesterday. lie
would read the article anyway. He
didn't care now about Mr.. Knlck-
/ er's note. Beth's message had In
fllcted so much deeper a sting that
he had almost forgotten the note,
but he would read the article, and
he thought he should feel pleased
to leaan that Knicker had been
cheated.
"This morning when P. V. Knick-
er. the President of the Drovers'
Bank, reached the office, he found
note telling him that bis cashier,
John Jones, was i'll, and would be
unable to be at his desk to-day
Mr.. Knlcker is a very careful man
in business matters, and he de-
cided to take the duties of cashier
upon himself until Mr.. Jones was
in a condition to relieve him. He,
accordingly, unlocked the vaults
and prepared for work. Soon
Adam, Mealie & johnson present
ed a check for large amount, and
upon referring to the record of yes
terday's business, Mr.. Knlck
found that a package of ten 81 900
bills had been deposited. lie i'm
mediately decided to use one of
those bills in cashing the check,
and, going to the vault, removed
the package supposed to contain
them. In counting the money, he
found nine $1,000 bills and q 800
bill. On investigation 1t trans
pired that the last person who had
handled the bills was John Jones,
the cashier. Before passing into
the hands of the cashier, the bills
had. however, been handled by
four subordinates, who reported
that there we're ten of the 81 900
notes in the packet when they saw
it. It then went to Mr.. Jones, and
one of the clerks happened to 0e
standing by when Jones took it.
The clerk noticed particularly that
Mr.. Jones seemed to find it all
right, but that instead of plnning
! the little slip of paper with the
amount marked on it which 1t is
customary to place around pack
ages of money, he withdrew one of
the bills and laid the others on the
desk. The clerk was then called
to some other part of the room and
can give no further informatlon.-
Other evidence cOnclusively shows
that Notwithstanding MIR. Jones'
previous integrity, he has yielded
to temptation aud gone the way of
many others. 1t is mentioned in
cidentaIly that that very morning
Mr.. Jones SAID he was in great
need of 5000 the exact amount ex-
tracted from the package. Mr..
Knlcker, in consideration OF Jones
former uprightness and strict dis
charge of duty will not prosecute"
Jones read this once, twice, three
times. He only uttered two words;
"My God"
Falling back in his chair with
wide.open eyes he sat staring at
the wall. The clock licked away
On the mantle shelf, the fire grew
lower and almost died, the lamp
sputtered and smoked, but still
John Jones sat back in his chair,
staring, staring at the wall. Final
ly it gradually became light and
the noise of traffic began in the
street. John moved uneasily, look
ed around the room and got up
His head, he thought, was aching
somewhat harder than on the night
before, and he bathed it. There
was a spot on his cuff and he put
on a clean pair. Yes, he was sure
his head was aching harder. What
was that noisei Why, of course,
some one was knocking at his door.
He would open it and see who it
was-a messenger boy. He took
the message, opened it, and forgot
| to read it. lie was standing still
and wondering il 1t was fOggy out
side or if his. eyes were dim.
"The lady said to wait for an an.
swer," said the boy.
Oh, yes. There was that note.
He would read it.
DEAR J0HN-Come and SEQ me to-day.
can not believe il. BETH.
Who was Beth 7 Oh he remem-
bered now; she was the girl who
had promised to marry him, the
thief. The word, he thought,
sounded well, so he said it oyer
again. Thief Theft Thief The
boy asked for the answer.
swell" he laughed wildly, "tell
her I will be there"
John sat down again, aud again
began glaring at the wall. 1t was
nearing 10 o'clock now, and John
got up and put on his overcoat and
hat, scrupulously brushed them
and went. He again took a cab and
went to Beth's house. This time
he paid the cabman, and as he
went in was about to speak to the
servant when he saw it was Beth
herself who had opened the door.
, He. howeYer. was not at all sur.