Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-11-08
the desk again. The bank note had
disappeared.
CHAPTER V.
THE Loss.

and Frances Chambers sat BY in con
slernation.
cit is marvelously strange, uncle,
she replied. 81 could have passe,
my word that the bank note wa
there
"What has become of it," reiter
ated Mr.. West. "Who had tn,
keys"
"No one has had the keys but Ma
ria," interposed Mrs. West. "They
were taken from underneath Hester,
pillow, directly after her death, and
given TO her. Maria, You must have
left them about. Can we have q
thief in the house,"
II assure you, Aunt West, the
KEYS have not been ont of my pos.
session." replied Maria. mo one
could have touched them, and no
one has"
"1hen, where's the hundred pound
note?" she returned.
A very natural sequence to the as
sertion. Maria could not answer.
She began to feel uncomfortable,
aud Frances Chambers was gazing
at her with look of naughty in
quiry,
"The note was safe in the pocket.
book few days before my aunt
died." she said "She wanted some
thing out of it, and took the pocket
book to her, and saw the note
"NNhen was that? Do you re
member the day." inquired Mr.
West.
eyes, uncle. II was this day
week. The evening before Mrs.
Darlington left"
Now it happened that Mr.. West
had also reason to believe the note
was then safe-or. at any rate, that
his sister Hester believed it to be
On that day, Monday, he was in her
room, and, curious to say, she spoke
Of the nete TO him. She was in low
spirits, probably at parting with
Mrs. Darlington. "Ah," she ex-
claimed to her brother, 81 shall be
the one TO 90 next-not to another
part of this globe, though, bat into
its sod"--little thinking how very
near she was to it. "There's hun
dred pound note in my desk, in there,
Joseph" she confined, pointing to
the bureau. "There'll be expenses
wherever | 90, and"
"You are not going yet" inter
rupted Mr.. West, in his hearty way.
You have got fit of the dumps"
81 don't say | am" she returned.
The money will keep; but there's no
harm in saying what's to be done
with it. When expenses that con-
Germ me shall have been paid you'll
give the rest over to Oswald's two
boys, Joseph, if you find they have
been steady; but inquire into that
first. | think they want it worse
than any other part of the family"
Maria's cheeks were in a glow,
and her eyes moist; for Mr.. West
was relating this to them.
GLOW kind, how kind, how very
kind of Aunt Hester to remember
my brothers" she uttered.
YES" said Mr.. West; "but where
is the money gone? was going to
say those words of your aunt's were
a pretty good proof the note was
safe then; and you say it was, also,
Maria; SO where has it been spirited |
a way to-"
"And the keys safe under Testers
pillow, or in Maria's pocket ever
SINCE" put in Mrs. West. Chester
could not have touched it,"
Better search the bureau" cried
the farmer.
at is quite sure not to be there,
uncle" observed Maria. "Nothing
whatever is in the bureau but the
Bible on which the desk stood; and
the note could not have come out of
a pocket book and locked desk of
its own accord"
Nevertheless, they proceeded to
the bedroom and took out the clasp
ed Bible, which left, as Maria had
said, the place empty. 1t was read
lily seen that no note was there.
The drawers underneath were search
ed, in spite of the improbability of
It's getting into them. All was vain,
and everybody felt uncomfortable
and strange-Maria especially, for
she had been left in charge.
Mr.. West turned the matter over
in his mind. That the money had
been distracted he entertained no
doubt, though by whom he could
not conjecture; for he believed the
to be honest. He deemed
It likely that whoever took the note
mad converted it into gold; and if so,
hat had probably been done at
Wyndham; so he determined to
make inquiries. He went over there
On the following morning, and came
back looking go STRANGE that Mrs