The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1901-12-14
VOL. XIII.
HOW NARROW GOT HIS THIEF.

that he mas cnedteu me. H!.eu niEl
liked him the first time saw him
and I've trusted everything to him al
most frcm the first week he came-and
that is over a year ago. Now, 1t mad.
dens me-the thought that he was q
thief after all. Only catch him and
4 half the $1,000 he has taken shall be
J yours. Put him in the dock. | don't
rare what it costs me. Let me sec
him punished. Let ME see him caught
Cor for him for all you're worth, Mr.
NARROW. and the very day he is
charged I'll give you check for
95OO."
The detectives thin face flushed
He was young and unknown. and SO
far had never had a chance. Now it
had come; and he might not only
make his reputation but $500 as well
and that last would give him all that
was best in the world to him-the girl
he loved for wife; and without it it
might be years before he could afford
to marry.
He turned eagerly and gathered up
his papers and notebook
'TIl lose no time" he said. iii do
nv best" But all the same it seemed
an almost hopeless task. Fred Ember-
son, the thief. had had good II hours
start He had gone at o'clock the
day before to the bank to pay money
in and to cash check as usual ready
for paving the mems wages on the
morrow, and he had never returned.
The check had been cashed. the money
never paid in, and Fred Emberson had
vanished.
Mr.. Ritchie was a hard and bitter
man. He had been soured five years
before by the disappearance of his
only daughter She had met, at the
house of some friends she had been
visiting, a man with whom she had
fallen in love. He had been ineli-
gible in every way--a poor man with
no prospects, with apparently nothing
to recommend him-but that made no
difference to her.
Mr.. Ritchie had storn.ed and ragged,
had refused emphatically to see him,
and had forbidden her ever to mention
him again. She had refused. She
had tried for some months to induce
the two men to meet, she had persist
ed in sticking to the man she loved,
and then she had run away and mar
E ried him.
i Mr.. Ritchie never forgave her
never would. He had returned all her
letters unopened. He washed his
hands of her and settled down. bitter
and soured, to live out the remainder
Of his life in hard work.
Now to find that he had been de-
ceived again seemed to make him more
bitter than ever At first he could
not believe that his trusted clerk had
really done anything wrong-he would
turn up and explain, he thought, and
he waited until the morning before he
sent for detective. Now the last
doubt seemed removed. Fred Ember-
son had not been seen at his lodgings
since the morning before, and from his
desk at his Office had gone every paper
except those bearing directly on the
business of the firm.
Mr.. Richie looked up at the detec-'
tive.
He's arranged it all, Of course" he
said, angrily. HE meant to go. He
always goes to the bank on Fridays
to draw the money ready to pay the
men on Saturday morning, and he
thought he'd seize the opportunity, OF
course. You see, he's left nothing be-
hind in his desk-not scrap of paper
to betray him. Not thing! Every
thing was arranged"
The detective nodded
I must see what there Is at his
lodgings" he said. "A criminal al
ways gives himself away somewhere.
He can't help it. If it wasn't for that
the world would be a dangerous place
tor honest men. But they always leave
something undone. and very often 1t
y the cleverest thieves who are the
easiest to catch in the end. They're
TOO clever sometimes"
Mr. Ritchie NODDED. Detective Mar
low pocketed his papers and went out
trom the Office into the noisy streets
ol the busy Midland town.
He sent his men to the station to
make inquiries, and then made his
way towarus the rooms in which Fred
Emerson had lodged during the year
kae had been with Mr.. Ritchie. He
sMent up to them, questioning the land
SAdy as he went, and getting no infor-
HnS1ion, except that she had not seen
enerson since he had left for his office
FEzne morning before
Upstairs NARROW found everything
kM order The rooms were just as En-
Eeerson had left them. He might be
Eeoming back in half an hour. The
nest of drawers was full Of clothes
|Aad Uttered with knickknacks-pipes
~ pouches and tobacco. There were
cots arranged underneath, carefully
olished; brushes and combs lay on
re dressing table, and writing desk
lood close at hand. But in it Detec-
I'VE NARROW could find not a single
ZAP of. paper, not letter or an en-
eaop or aNbill. EmbersOn had arranged
|naev$h;~- XNsrrh ava xx,oc uofhinu IN ho-