Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-07-06

own vo1ce. was shocked at tho change
In hcrS
Twont waste any more Of your timc,'
she said. II have done what came TO
do, and I'll so. One thing first, though
should like you to know that II any
thing In this world could have increased
my pain and humiliation in this matter
Il would have been the sight Of your
suffering under the discovery Of my In
fanny. Good-byr
She was moving towards the door, and
Twas rising with the intention Of stop
ping her, when we were both checked
BY knock at the room door and the en-
trance Of the clerk again, this time with
o card.
recognized the name at oncc--it was
the detective from the bankl Az all costs
he must not SEQ Cynthiai Twas unncrved
and almost incapable Of clear argument,
but saw that much.
''In ten minutes" said to the clerk,
with q glance at tho timepicce.
The moment the door was closed again
turned to Cynthia.
"You must not stop to ask questions
nor mako objections" said, "but do M
I tell yous There is no way out Of this
room except through tho outer Office,
where this person is waiting, and don't
wish him to SEQ you--never mind why.
You must 60 into this large cupboard,
which Mrs. Richards has had fixed up
rs wardrobe for me, and remain there
quietly until my interview with this man
Is over. See-Tll move tho coats, and
then there will be room for chair. Do
| you think you can keep quiets"
She nodded In acquiescence. saw q
new fear in her face, and fancied she
had guessed who my visitor was. With
out another word mixed half tumbler
cf strong brandy and water, and told
her authoritatively to drink 1t up; then
kissed her forehead and closed the door
without latching it.
tried hard to recover something of
my every day manner before tho detec-
tive came in, but failed utterly. The
moment Mr.. Bcnson's keen glance fell
upon me, knew he saw the traces Of
my recent disturbance, so ! made vir-
tue Of necessity ut once.
GOOD morning." I said "Sorry to
have kept you waiting; gentlemen Of
your calling are always busy, know.
The fact is, have received some news
this morning which has upset me thor
oughly, and I've been trying to pull my
self together bit before seeing you. but
I'm afraid I have failed. I'm not in q
fit state to discuss this business"
II shan't trouble you much, Mr.. GUM
ton" he answered quietly; II only want
few scraps of information which you
can give me. To begin witty
'Sit down." said, "and help your
self to tho brandy"
He thanked me and took the proffered
chair, but he refused tho drink.
81 want to keep my head cool, you
see, and pick up this trail while it Is still
fresh. To begin with, when did you first
discover that this cheque, No. 0,03l, was
missing?"
He took tho cheque from his pocket
book and smoothed it out on the table as
he spoke.
looked at II eagerly, and saw that Il
was drawn In favor Of Mr.. Pettie-Jones
for forty pounds. Forty poundsl Tho cx-
act sum, neither more nor less, Of Hor-
aces present debtsl Poor Cynthiai
81 found II was missing last right"
"And have you any impression Of your
own as to when 1t was abstractedy
Twas just going to prevaricate, when
] suddenly remembered that Levens
knew Horace had had the chcque book
In his possession tho whole Of the night
before last. II Benson did not get the
Information he wanted from me, his first
proceeding would be to pump" and
"ferret" cautiously among tho clerks,
and Lovens would be only too glad to tell
him all he knew. As q natural result,
Benson would wonder why had kept
this very suspicious detail back; 30 I
broke right away from the beaten track,
and opened out q new road on my own
account.
look here, Mr.. Benson" said, very
quietly, getting closer to him, and hop
ing with all my heart that Cynthia
would not hear what said "would you
mind telling me what you are likely to
get for job Of this kind from the bank
people?"
Mr.. Benson half closed ono eye and
turned the other upon me with swift
| glance Of preternatural acutcncss.
"That would depend greatly on tho
amount Of work, the timo II took up,
and so on" he observed, slowly.
"Well, now, suppose you found out
| this person, what sum would you take
to bring the news to me before you took
II to any one else1"
He looked at me again, this time moro
siyly.
II don't see that there could DO any
harm in that" ho said, In tone that
was impressively cautious.
"Harm! / should think notl How
could there be any harm in your letting
me know before any ono else9 Would
you take fifty pounds, and oblige mei'
Benson looked at mo for few mo-
ments as though no would read my very
| soul, and met his glance unflinchingly.
II believe you mean square," he said,
at tho end of his scrutiny; "and, IL you'll
pass mo your word as a gentleman that
this is no trick to catch mo tripping,
why, I'll oblige you"
held out my hand to him.
| II give you my word that this is O
purely personal matter, only interesting
to myself" said, with quiet emphasis;
and saw he believed me.
After had given him a few facts in
connection with the matter in hand
carefully Withholding all those likely to
be of any value in the event of his refus-
ing tho offer l was going to make pres
ently-I brought the conversation back
again to what was really my main pur-
pose, by asking what was the biggest
price he had ever received for carrying q
job Of this kind through to a successful
finish.
"This class Of job doesn't pay so well