Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1901-11-06
THOs. j ADAMS PROPRIETOR.
HOW HARLOW GOT HIS THIEF


the thought that l trusted him and
that he has cheated me. l liked him
l liked him the first time saw him
and I've trusted everything to him al
most from the first week he came-and
that is over year ago. Now, it mad
dens me-the thought that he was q
thief, after ALL Only catch him and
half the $1,000 he has taken shall be
yours. Put him in the dock. l don't
care what it costs me. Let me sec
him punished. Let me see him caught.
Cor for him for all you're worth, Eli
NARROW, and the very day he is
charged I'll give you a check for
s500!"
The detectives thin face flushed.
He was young and unknown, and SO
far had never had chance. Now it
had come; and he might not only
make his reputation but $500 as we'll,
and that last would give him all that
was best in the world to hinl-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.
"I'll lose no tine" he said. "Pll do
my best" But all the same it seemed
an almost hopeless task. Fred Ember-
son, the thief, had had 4 good u 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 paying 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 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 inell-
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 stormed 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
ried him.
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-
celveu agaru seemed to Iiels a -hin,-nanra
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 a 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.. Ritchie looked up at the detec-
tive.
Hes arranged it all, Of course" he
| cold UEa 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 thir;! Every
thing was arranged
The detective nodded.
81 must see what there is at his
lodgings" he said. "A criminal all
ways gives himself away somewhere.
He can't help it. If it wasn't for that
the world would be dangerous place
for honest men. But they always leave
something undone, and very often it
is 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
from the Office into the noisy streets
Of the busy Midland town,
He sent his men to the station to
make inquiries, and then made his
way towards the rooms in which Fred
Emerson had lodged during the year
he had been with Mr.. Ritchle. He
went up to them, questioning the land
lady as he went, and getting no infor-
nation, except that she had not seen
Emerson since he had left for his office
the morning before.
Upstairs NARROW found everything
in order. The rooms were just as EN-
| berson had left them. He might be
coming hack -in-half- an hour. The
chest of drawers was full of clothes
and Uttered with k-knacks-pipes
and pouches and tobacco. There were
boots arranged underneath, carefully
polished; brushes and combs lay on
the dressing table, and writing desk
stood close at hand. But in it Detec-
tive NARROW could find not a single
scrap of paper, not a letter or an en-
velop or bill Emberson had arranged
everything. There was nothing to be-
tray him-not even an ink mark on
the blotting paper,
NARROW looked round in some dismay
when he had finished. He couldn' t
find single clew, not thread to
start search, not thing to go upon,
and he made close search. too. for
the thought of the $500 reward made
him strain every nerve.
He was almost giving up at last when
suddenly tiny scrap of cardboard
fallen between the mantel-piece and
the wall caught his eye. He took his
penknife and began forcing it un. 1t
might he nothing, of course. but he
had turned over every scrap of paper
and every book in the room. and he