The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-25
DANGEROUS DISCOVERY
'x JOHN GAsroN.

r ,+2 .l S
 1t a1l came about because I was too I0ouisitive-and too honest. I was em- pl6ted in the counting room of Lemuel 82pleE the wealthy broker. A very n4ccessful man was Lemuel Ripley. 4is signature was good for fabulous &u1ne and the "street" shook when he went In to Influence the market. He used his wealth well and was a shin ir1k pillar of the church while every appeal for purposes of charity or civic reform found his ears open and his check book at hand.
 n had been in his employ for some npe years and had acquired a very re- sponsible position when one day l ran against a most peculiar thing in the books. Of itself it was not of great hiknificance, but 1t suggested that the books had been tempered with. The diocovery frightened me. as had had Scharge of the books. and l resolved to { 1uvostigate. The further I delved the Lore puzzling the matter became Aand the amount involved rose to f1g- 0rea that made me gasp.
 | found that customers of the house 6od been cheated out of hundreds of Thousands of dollars but try as would could not see how anybody had prof. 1ted by it. l decided to take 1t to Mir. Ripley.
 sAh, yes, you have discovered that series of errors. have your" he re- sponded blandly. They gave me the most serious annoyance and I spent many nights over the books straight ening the affair out. You are vigilant, Charles. I am mC~e than pleased that you found this matter because it gives me confidence that I can depend on you. Have you discussed the matter x n~. nf fkA Ath aln rlrCg hastened to tell him that I had spoken of the matter to no living be- tng.
 "Quite right, quite right" he re- uponded. "It has all been straightened ont but 1t would be unwise to have il 6e talked about. By the way, Charles have been watching your work with . great deal of interest and I have come to the conclusion that you are worth more to the house than an paying you. Hereafter you will draw a hundred dollars a month more thar you have been getting"
 Oh. fool that was not to see the whole thing then when he nearly doubled my salary. If I had knowr anything about the world I should have seen through the scheme. In. stead ieaped to my feet with extrav- agant exclamations of gratitude.
 I thought of one entry in the books 7 that might give a clsw to the errors which had so puzzled me and I went to the office after dinner that night tc make one more trial to clear up the mystery. Sure enough the entry did give me clew and following it up received q shock that nearly took away my sense. There was the evidence ir black and white that Ripley himself had tempered with the books and had literally robbed his customers of great fortunes. While sitting stupefied al the discovery a key turned in the dool and in walked Mir. Ripley. Glancing al the open books he Saw what I had found
 "Stiil at work, Charles? I desire tc use the >books tonight. You need no wait. will sec that they are put away"
 All the next day. thought 1t ovel as I fumbled through my work. Rip ley called me into his office and asked me a lot of questions about the error in the presence of other employees There were discussions going on in hi private room. In the afternoon { deputy sheriff appeared and to my sur prise said that I was wanted at thu court house.
 What was my horror when I found was called before the court to have my sanity inquired into? Ripley wa: there. as was his manager and severa employees of the house. Ripley wen on the stand and testified that wa! unouestionably insane.
 T saw through the whole affair in { minute I was to be buried alive in 1 mad house. All the clerks followed Ripley's lead, and each spoke of my particular delusion to the effect tha Mr. Ripley's books had been tam pered with. In despair and anger, told the story of Ripley's guilt. In { moment I saw my fatal mistake. Th' face of the judge showed that he wal
 Sunday, ECONOMY" by opie Re-