The Red Cloud chief., 1900-02-23
ny LroNARp ouTRAM

BUl lne Olu man knew HlreduY. ney
read ii In his face as he confronted
them. closing the door. Whatever
hope he had cherished on his home
ward way that he might find Bertha
unconscious Of the storm that threat
cncd was dashed to the ground the
moment he perceived her and her hus-
bands agitation. The memory Of that
evening on the yeranda burned in his
mind. and I'm n fury Of rage he de-
handed, fercely:
Daughter, what Internal thing IL
this you've been doing? Are YOU mad?
Have you turned thief? Is Edmond in
Il? Or has Wilton-No, no, For Gods
sake don't tell me II is my SON.
Then Bertha. to her husbands
amazement and dismay, fell down az
her fathers feet and confessed thae
she. she had yielded to temptation and
stolen the missing bill. She hurriedly
stated the miraculous chance that had
put Edmond in n position to save her,
and inferring from her fathers knowl-
edge of the affair, that the man VINO
had detected the shortage had confded
to him his daughters responsibility
with n view of screening her, besought
him to accept the friendly overture.
II would permit no mans dishonor
for the sake Of me or mine" he declar-
ed. For what YOU have done, YOU
must pay the penalty. Your impossible
combination has actually come to pass.
AS the Countcr-check came to your
husband in his department, so II has
come to me In the Registers. II was
| myself who caught the short packet
which you had signed for.
Bertha clasped her hands in thanks
giving.
Then, father. you alone know
land other"
One other?" repeated Bertha.
aghast. who in your department
should know besides YOURSELF"
MY chief" replied the old man, with
a face Of adamant.
You have reported it, knowing hat
your own child"
Certainly. Fraud or oversight;
yours or your brothers.; 1t was not for
me To consider. | am. first Of all, Il
servant Of the State"
They went back to the Treasury,
where Edmond at once delivered his
report.
Bertha found Mrs. Lawson impa-
tiently awaiting her. The Treasurer
had sent for the Head OF the Redemp-
tion Division to investigate an error In
one OF the packets which Bertha had
made up. Mrs. Lawson was highly in
dignant.
II counted the Ranchers' packet my
self said she. II am positive there
were exactly a hundred bills"
III one Is missing began Bertha,
but the senior lady interrupted her.
Missing? No, nothing is missing
at all. There is said to have been
one too many" ,
\ So many miracles had happened that
! day that poor Bertha could only cape
I at her in establishment. II was an
anomaly in arithmetic that one taken
I from IL hundred should leave one
hundred and one. There came anoth-
err summons to the Treasurer. Another
p report had come in OF an error from
r Mrs. Lawson's desk. The old lady was
almost In tears but she carried II of
! with n show of jocosity.
y Either there must be some con-
) science money knocking about, or Mrs.
Bertha Hackett brings a mascot to tho
treasury" said she. rs this another
surplus thousand-dollar bill, sir?"
But his was the shortage which Ed
mond and Mr.. Loring had reported.
and 1t was happily met by the excess
in the other packet. So, beyond an
5 admonition tempered in mercy for the
y manifest distress OF the girl, Bertha
got into no trouble. She held stoutly
to a theory Of the Intervention Of
providence when discussing the matter
at home, and her husband swept the
; piOus fancy away.
IL reckon Providence don't supply
cheating clerks with thousand-d dollar
bills" said he. you divided the pack
ct of 100 in two Of 80. as you thought.
But you counted the first backward.
from 100 to so inclusive, and that left
! But why didn't you tell Mrs. Lawson
I you made one short?"
Fact Ia, Edmond, that combination
chatter of ours had got into my brain.
| thought Wilton had pinched a bill.
and ! reckoned to 10 more for my
brother than Daddy would do for his
little girl"
S "Ha!" observed old Caleb. filling his
pipe. Duty first, family afterwards,
: and roguery never at any time, under
any circumstances"