Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-21

49, "A~ wa ~ nm tiot thC
habits of his son were of the best, of
which he was gratifed to learn; and the
arrest of the sneak thief had turned at
tention in that direction. 1t was getting
to be an accepted fact that it was the
proper solution of the robbery. 1t my
last interview with Mr.. Downing he re-
marked that the matter was in my hands
and that l could continue until l was sat
listed in my own mind that no results
were to be obtained. informed him that
l was not discouraged and hoped to have
some to impart shortly. 1
had been in town nearly a month and my
acquaintance with the telegraph operator
was progressing nicely; I found that
there were four day operators in the
office, but they all knew of what was
passing through it. Briefly stating the
substance of our conversations, and the
that l acquired from him, I
learned that for the year previous up and
until about two months before the rob-
berry Fielding had been sending and re-
celVlng CIPHER messages from a firm in
New York, which / recognized as a
prominent brokerage house there: that
the operator was familiar with some of
the cipher words used, pertaining to
various stocks. The operator had no
suspicion that these cipher messages
might have had some connection with
the robbery, and l do not suppose ever
gave it a thought, perhaps for the reason
liitl NliC IltSSdStS were DISCONTINUED TWO
months previous to the robbery.
Not knowing the result of these trans
actions, whether gains or losses. l was
not altogether sure that they had any
connection with the robbery. 1t was evil
dent that Downing knew nothing of
them; in my interview with him that
evening | learned from him that Fielding
received and opened all the mail; that he
sometimes personally made some of the
dollectlonS for outside correspondents.
l was satisfied in my own mind that the
account with their New York cores
pendent would show the result of the
stock transactions and perhaps
clear up the mystery of the robbery.
| therefore requested that he allow me to
wire their New York correspondent in his
name, for a detailed statement of the ac-
count for the preceding six months, and
have it sent to his private address. I also
suggested that he call for the general
ledger, and in the privacy of his office
personally make a transcript Of that ac-
count for a like period. Immediately he
said, why, you have no reason to sus-
pect Harry, have you?" l then stated the
circumstances as l had learned them. He
was shocked. Still he tried to make him.
self and me believe that those circum-
stances had no connection with the rob-
berry. / did not contradict him, but re-
marked, Il trust that you are right" He
said that Harry was in the house and
desired to call him in the room, but l pre-
vailed upon him not to do so. 1t per-
haps would have been just as we'll for he
undoubtedly would have admitted every
thing, not doing so, however, prepared
the banker for the worst. For it was a
sad blow to the old man in the end. His
idol was shattered.
l felt that my work was nearly COM
! pleted, | had nothing particularly to do,
but to await the statement. In the inter-
val l saw the banker and he said that in
the privacy of his office he had been
looking over some of the books, but found
everything apparently straight; however,
he did not find any of the monthly state
ments from the New York correspondent
on file, and did not ask for them. The
old gentleman was indeed very much
worried, and was gradually losing faith
IN his cashier. In due time the looked for
statement arrived, which was a bulky
one, as the bank sold quite a number of
drafts on their New York correspondent.
I was advised upon it's receipt, and that
evening saw Mr.. Downing in the library.
An examination of the statement dis
closed the following facts: Two months
previous to the robbery there was a diff
ference of SIG, 900 between the two state
ments; that is the account of the bank
appeared to be that much greater than
the account of the correspondent, also
that Fielding had been drawing upon
this account to meet losses on the stock
transactions; the abstract of the account
from the bank ledger showed that be-
tween the time of the alleged robbery and
two months previous, the correspondent
at different times had been redited with
various collections, more han had been
received by the bank, aggregating the
amount alleged to have been, stolen,
which equalized the two accounts. And
as a matter of fact the cash in the vault
was short just that much, and the rob-
: hECV on that IaN W. tnnL n1onn Ein1I-
ing who happened to be in the house was
requested to come to the library, his at
tention was called to the and
he broke down at once. The daughter,
who seemed to have an inkling that
something was wrong, soon came in the
room. 1t is not my purpose to describe
the scene which followed. 1t is sufficient
to say that it was an affecting one: the
old gentleman who had reposed so much
confidence in the young man uttered not
an unkind word.
1t is inconceivable how a man could so
far forget himself, and tritle with his flu
ture prospects. That wealth and afflu-
ence was his by patient waiting was an
assured fact. In addition he was the for
tunate poSsessor of a loving and confid-
ing girl in the person of the accomplished
daughter. In view of all the facts, was
not the old gentleman justified in think
ing that his confidence was we'll placed?
All! But he bargained not in the frailty
of human nature, and the insane notions
and desires that pervade the human
mind. In surveying the scene before me
the above thoughts rapidly passed
through my mind. / have little more to
tell. 1t was decided by the old gentle
man after reiterated promises on the part
of Fielding that nothing would ever
tempt him again, that there should be no
publicity whatever, and that Harry
should, if he desired. retain his position
/ in tho hnnE T aftnruy ay1S 1,p1nrctna1