The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1900-03-02

read 1t 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
ened was dashed to the ground the
moment he perceived her and her hus-
bands agitation. The memory of hat
evening on the veranda burned In his
mind, and in a fury of rage he de-
manded, fiercely:
Daughter, what Internal thing Is
this you've been doing? Are you mad
Have you turned thief? Is Edmond in
it? Or has Wilton-No, no. For Gods
sake don't tell me it is my son.
Then Bertha, to her husbands
amazement and dismay, fell down at
her fathers feet and confessed that
she, she had yielded to temptation and
tolen the missing bill. She hurriedly
stated the miraculous chance that had
put Edmond in a position to save her,
and inferring from her fathers knOwl-
edge of the affair, that the man who
had detected the shortage had confded
to him his daughters responsibility
with a view of screening her, besought
him to accept the friendly overture.
Il would permit no mans dishonor
for the sake of me or NINE" he declar-
ed. For what you have done, you
must pay the penalty. Your impossible
combination has actually come to pass.
AS the counter-check came to your
husband in his department, so it has
come to me in the Registers. 1t was
I myself who caught the short packet
which you had signed for.
Bertha clasped her hands in thanks
giving.
Then. father. you alone know
"I-and one other"
One other?" repeated Bertha,
aghast. who in our department
should know besides YOURSELF"
MY chief" replied the old man, with
a face of adamant.
You have reported it, knowing that
your own child"
Certainly. Fraud or oversight;
yours or your brothers,; it was not for
me to consider. | am, first of all, a
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-
ton Division to investigate an error in
one of the packets which Bertha had
made up. Mrs. Lawson was highly in
%dignant.
Il counted the Ranchers' packet my
SELF said she. Il am positive there
were exactly a hundred bills"
eff 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 gape
at her in establishment. 1t was an
anomaly in arithmetic that n taken
from one hundred should leave one
hundred and. one. There came anoth-
err to the Treasurer. Another
report had come in of an error from
Mrs. Lawson's desk. The old lady was
almost in tears but she carried it Off
with a show of jocosity.
Either there must be some con-
science money knocking about, or Mrs.
Bertha Hackett brings a mascot to the
treasury" said she. rs this another
surplus thousand-dollar bill, sir?"
But this was the shortage which Ed
mond and Mr.. Loring had reported,
and it was happily met by the excess
in the other packet. So, beyond an
admonition tempered in mercy for the
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-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
only forty-nine for the second packet.
But why didn't you tell Mrs. Lawson
you made one short?"
Fact is, Edmond, that combination
chatter of ours had got into my brain.
1 thought Wilton had pinched a bill,
and l reckoned to do more for my
brother than Daddy would do for his
little girl"
"Ha," observed old Caleb, filling his
pipe. Duty first, family afterwards,
and roguery never at any time, under
any circumstances"
(The end.)