, 1888-09-19

the most likely person to be axle 10 give
you information about it woull be Mr..
Carter, Mr.. Winters manager"
Where does he liver" l asked
81 am sorry to say / do not know" an
swered Rogers. HE left here when Mr..
Winter died and went to London"
"Weu," said to Mr.. jackson, as we
were leaving, I'VE must use our utmost
e~ndeavors to get hold of Mr.. Carter; but
it would be as well to set to work quietly,
so as not to alarm the other side. Think
the best way will be to advertise in a few
of the London papers first, and if that
fails we can employ a detective"
1t was accordingly arranged that /
should do this. l knew a young solicitor
who was in practice in London, and after
some consideration 1 concocted the follow
ing advertisement:
Will Mr.. Carter, who formerly resided
at Barton, kindly communicate with Mr..
Edward White, solicitor, Bell Yard, Doc
tors Commons. By doing so he will
greatly oblige."
l inserted this advertisement in two
or three of the London papers, and a few
days afterward received q letter from Mr..
White stating that Mr.. Carter had called
on him with reference to the advertise
ment; that he was with a firm of solic-
itors in the city and would be happy to
see me and give me any information in
his power.
AS may be conjectured, 1 lost no time
in running up to town and calling on Mr..
Carter. I found him to be a frank, gem
tlemanly man, of prepossessing appear
ance, who willingly told me what he
knew of the matter.
Yes" said he, Il remember that bond
very well; in fact it was l who drew it.
Mr.. William jackson intended borrowing
s1,OOO from Mr.. Sharper Flint, and gave
US instructions to prepare the bond. He
called in aud executed the document, but
told us not to part with it until we heard
from him again, as he had not quite made
up his mind as to whether he would Dor
row the money. Mr.. Winter accordingly
placed the bond in his drawer. A few
days afterward we received a letter from
Mr.. jackson saying that he had deter
mined not to borrow the money, and ask
ing us to destroy the deed. Mr.. Winter
searched through the drawer for the bond,
but, to his surprise, it was nowhere to be
found. We searched through the office
high and low, but could find no trace of
1T, and, SO far as l know, it was never
discovered"
THANK you very much" 1 said. THAT
explains the whole matter; and if we may
rely upon your assistance at the trial, l
think we h have no difficulty in sub
stantiating our Defense"
ooh, certainly, 1 shall be happy to rem
der you any assistance in my power" said
Mr.. Carter; and having thanked him for
his information, / took my departure.
III.
The trial was fixed to take place at the
next assizes in the neighboring town of
Leighton; and you may be sure that l
and MIR. Jackson and our witnesses were
there in good time, After some other
cases in the list had been disposed of the
case of Flint VS.. jackson was called on.
MIR. Elsdon, Q. c., and Mr.. Seton ap-
peared for the plaintiff, and Mr.. Herbert,
q. O., and Mr.. Lumley for the defendant.
Mr.. Elsdon opened the case on behalf of
the plaintiff.
Mr.. Herbert, addressing the court on
behalf of the defendant, submitted that
the evidence which he had adduced proved
That the money had never been advanced,
and that the bond had never been given
to Mr.. Flint. Mr.. Elsdon replied on be-
half of the plaintiff, and e~ndeavored to
make light of the evidence which had
been given.
The learned judge shortly summed up
the case, and the Jury then retired to con-
slider their verdict.
L had been SO interested in watching
the case that l had noticed nothing else,
but | now looked toward the place where
Mr.. Sharper Flint had been sitting, and
found that he had disappeared. In a few
minutes the jury returned to the court,
and amid a profound silence the clerk of
the court asked them the usual question:
"Gentlemen of the jury, are you agreed
upon your verdict?"
1--WE are" answered the foreman.
do you find for the plaintiff or the de-
fendant?"
For the defendant" | heaved a sigh
of relief, and, happening to look behind
me, saw Farmer Jackson, the anxious ex-
preston which he had worn lately grad
ually giving way to his old look of good
natured contentment.
Tn judge having ordered the verdict to
be entered for the defendant, expressed
an opinion that Mr.. Flint ought to be pros
ecuted for fraud. Accordingly, as soon
as left the court l obtained a warrant
for his apprehension; but we were too
late, for we found that he had absconded,
taking with him all the money and port,
able securities he could lay his hands on.
We traced him as far as Mudford, a juno
ton about thirty miles from Barton; but
there we lost all trace of him. However,
he lett ample property to satisfy all his
creditors, so nobody was a loser by his
flight.
Since that time l nave had no reason to
complain for want of practice, as the. case
brought my name prominently before the
notice of the public, who were pleased to
give me more credit than l deserved.
They were confirmed in this opinion by
my friend, Mr.. jackson, who lauded the
way in which l had conducted the case,
and attributed no small part of his success
to my efforts. He and l continue excel
lent friends to this day. He generally
contrives to run VI a moderately long bill
every year, and a few days after l send it
in, he calls OIL me with a check for the
amount, and we have a chat over old
times.-Chambers' Journal.
a CommOp Tbrnat n{soo.o