The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1900-11-13

at table not far from me. l could
have sworn that he didn't see me at
all, and 1 didn't think anything of
the matter. | went on eating and
reading paper as l ate, and when
got through l strolled out. 1 de-
cided that as long as l was employed,
ford to blow in IS cents on some kind
OF show or other, and so l went to
one of the Broadway Ineaters, in
vested in a siX-bit seat in the bal
cony and enjoyed the play.
LAS l had an aisle seat | was out
after the first act to refresh my legs
and have smoke. Standing idly be-
fore one of the glass frames of the
lobby entrance to the theatre, looking
out on the street, was the man I'd
noticed across the street from my
lodging house and at the restaurant
where l had my dinner thought
it bit odd that we should come to-
gether in that way so often, but it new
er struck me that there was any
| thing doing in which framed up as
one of the figures.
when the show was over | walk
ed over toward my lodging house,
stopping at a drug store on the way
to get some hot chocolate. When
l came out of the drug store Icould
have sworn that I saw the chap I'd
| last seen at the theater leaning
against an electric light pole on the
| other side of the street.
Funny that chap and | have had
the same route so often today l
| remarked, as l strolled along to my
| room, where l turned III.
We'll, after l had my breakfast on
| the following morning l walked TO
| the AstOr Library. There were some
| shorthand books there that l could
| not afford to buy, and I was digging
up on word signs. | got the book
| wanted and sat down at a table with
pad and pencil to do a little practis-
ing on the word-sign characters. When
| | looked up from my work 10 minutes
| later the first man my eyes fell upon
| was the chap I'd seen SO often on the
| day before. He was APPARENTLY bur.
| led in a big book that rested on his
| knee and oblivious of everything.
Right then-and | guess you're
saying to yourself that it was about
time-the idea flashed over me that
| was under surveillance and that the
bank that had employed me was be.
hind it. l didn't feel dead sure, of
course, but felt pretty sure, and de-
termined to test the thing. l went
ON with my work for half an hour or
more, and then | returned my book
| and went out. 1t was then getting on
toward noon, and l walked over to a
Broadway lunch house and ate. My
man whom I'd left buried in his book
at the library was there, too, few
mil NJ, nffnJ, I'd 1Ourv, Thnn
| knew that the bank was sort o. get
| ting little preliminary line on me,
| and l understood why l hadn't been
put to work Immediately by the cash
Ter.
1T was surely queer sensation.
| that thing of being logged. 1t made
me very nervous. | was constantly
tempted to twist my heaa around on
the street. | knew that man was not
far behind me. and l knew, or felt,
that he didn't know that l knew it.
Therefore | wouldn't yield to the al
most irresistible temptation to look
over my shoulder, but it certainly
was hard job not to look around.
81 saw him everywhere | went that
| day, up to the hour that l opened
| the front door of my lodging house
to turn into bed. and by the time felt
genuinely hangdog. | felt like man
playing part. didn't get much
slep that night, thinking about the
matter. concluded right then and
there that | wouldn't be fugitive
from justice for all the wealth of In
dia. knew that never could stand
a game like that
MY man was right in my neigh
borhoOd from the time l left my lOdg.
ing house the next morning until about
| noon. On the whole l think he did
his work somewhat clumsily. He
ought to have known that this perpet-
| ual nearby presence would be apt 10
start me thinking.
"He disappeared from off my beat
| about noon, as | said, and my relief
was intense. | didn't know whether
I'd passed the ordeal or not, but
| concluded that I'd soon know. l was
| right When l got back to my r,u,,
| that afternoon found note from the
| cashier that had been left by a mos.
senger, telling me to report for duty
on the following morning at 8 o'clock.
So had passed all right.
Il thought as l started for work the
| next morning that this detective bus
| mess was awhole lot of foolishness, es-
peeially as applied to humble short
handwriter, employed only temporar-
| lily at that, who'd never have chance
10 handle any of the banks funds.
But l found out on that very first day
that it wasn't foolishness at ALL Tell
you why A couple of hours after
I'd been taking the cashiers dictation
he dictated to me a telegram that
| read like this:
tt National Bank, Chicago
Pay to John J. Blank, without
identification, 100000
DO you catch the nub of that?
ran the telegram off on the typewrit-
er and handed it over to the cashier,
| who sent a messenger to the tele-
graph Office with it, You see, John
j. Blank-just to use that name-,was
( one of the banks depositOrs and he
happened to find himself in Chicago
in need of 81 600 So no wired his