Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1892-11-11

pun Giciu III uly pCckeuDCOk sDeSlCe Cne
| number OF the notes. There seemed to be
| nothing else which would throw any light
on the affair in either my fathers room or
| that of the two chief clerks, SO turned out
| the lights and went home.
The next day Hall was brought up be-
fore the magistrates, and the evidence of
! the detective having been given, he was
committed for trial to the assizes, bail be-
ing refused. He reserved his defence and
was removed to Jail asked for and OBJ
tanned permission to see him He seemed
very much cast down and troubled by the
thought of the pain his arrest must have
caused to his mother and sweetheart
"But, Mr.. Meredith" he said to me, 81
am utterly innocent of the theft. I hope
you, at any rate, will believe me- The
matter of the money standing to my credit
in the bank can be easily explained, though
l felt that | could not urge it in my de-
fence today. In fact my solicitor advised
me not to bring it forward, as at present
there is only my own unsupported evidence
for it. The assizes come on in week, and
by then hope further confederation will
be available
Il received certain information about
fortnight ago that Nightshade, rank out
slder, as he was considered, stood good
chance for the st. Leger. know that
was foolish for betting on the race, but
events proved that was rightly informed.
1t was my first bet, and shall be my last.
Everett, the great betting man in one of
the local clubs, offered to lay 20 to /
against Nightshaoe, and backed the horse
for twenty pounds. On Thursday last he
paid me 44o0, the greater part of which
banked on the next day."
Immediately called to mind the slips of
paper in my pocket, on one of which was
'Nightshade 20 to l. Everett" 1t seemed
clear to me that Hall was speaking the
truth, and / promised to do all could to
obtain the evidence of Everett on the
point, and to supply him with a good
counsel at the trial
The next day | was called away to Leeds
on business of importance connected with
the firm, and on returning in the evening
found myself i'll company with Mr.. Nelson,
a Manchester merchant, well known to
me. We were alone in the compartmenJ
and could converse freely. He had seen
the report of the robbery in the papers.
and opened conversation on the subject.
l spoke freely to him and told him the
main facts of the case. When had fin
ished he said, SIS this Richardson's name
Henry" 1T is" replied.
SIS he a native of Bury, in Lancashire?"
81 believe SO, as he has property there"
"What firm did he come to you from"
was his next question.
When gave him the name of the firm
he sat in silence for second or two and
then began: 'Well, it is rather serious
thing to say, but Richardson must be the
same man who as a boy was dismissed
by my father for dishonesty He had
posted numerous business letters and kept
the money he received for stamps At last
complaints reached us Of letters arriving
without stamps and the culprit confessed.
This was not the only case of his dishon-
esty, and he was summarily discharged"
Our conversation then branched off to
other topics, but from Manchester to Liver
pool I had much food for thought. The
fact that Richardson was standing nearest
my father when he locked the safe might
be merely blind intended to throw sus-
picion on Hall. He would have sufficient
time to change the papers and go to my
fathers side before the safe was locked.
1t evidently needed investigation
On the following morning made my
way to Bingley's private office, and asked
to see the man who had watched Richard
son.
'Why, what do you want with him?"
said Bingley. "Doyou suppose that it was
put up job between Hall and him?''
81 do not" replied. But am rather
inclined to think that Hall may be en-
tirely innocent and Richardson the sole
culprit." And then l told him what had
come to my knowledge, both with regard
to Halls betting and Richardson's shady
past.
He merely raised his eyebrows, and then
after bordering over the matter for few
seconds said "Well, you may be right,
and | will do what I can to find out the
truth"
By this time Rawlins, Bingley's assist
ant in the business, had put in his appear
ance The only fact of Importance we
CLEANED from him was that Richardson
had been to Bury On the Saturday. Dis
covering that the latter had property in
the town he had attached little Importance
to the visit, especially as both he and Bing-
ley had all along regarded Hall as the
probable culprit. / fancied could detect
7 a shade of annoyance on Bingleys face,
perhaps caused by the fact that he had
possibly arrested the wrong man, and per-
haps a little piqued that he had to thank
me for the information, though / had
gained most of it accidentally.
Two or or three days passed, when one
evening as sat with my father in the din
ing room Bingley was ushered in. He
had prosecuted his inquiries about Rich
ardson to some purpose. It seems that he
had visited Bury to pay off a mortgage on
his property which had become pressing,
and the mortgage had retained the num-
bers Of the notes he had received. These
exactly correspondent with what l had
discovered from my fathers pocketbook
and clearly indicated the real thief.
Tom Hall was discharged from custody
soon after, but l believe he kept the
promise he made me about betting, and is
still in my fathers Office in his old post
He was married soon after his release, and
has one of the prettiest and happiest
homes in Liverpool. Richardson was con-
victed on Overwhelming evidence, and is
now being provided for out Of the imperial
taxation.
The money was recovered, but my
fathers forgiving nature would not allow
him to see the family Of even dishonest
servant in want, and he assisted the Rich
ardsons largely as long SO they needed it,
Max Meredith in Pittsburg Dispatch