Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-02

isolated sitting room upstairs and, with this
as a hall Of justice, followed out with his
usual carefulness a plan he had conceived.
First he wrote a brief note to Allis Por-
ter asking her to come in and see him at
once. One line he wrote made certain the
girls coming: 1T have important news to
communicate concerning Mr.. Mortimer"
Then he sent the note off with a man in the
buggy.
Next he dispatched a messenger for David
Cass. He pulled out his watch and looked
at it. 1t was 8 o'clock. AZ think 5 will do"
he muttered; at should be all over by that
time"
Another note addressed to Mortimer, ask
ing him to call at the hotel at 5 o'clock,
went forth.
David Cass came. treading on the heels of
a much whiskered hostler who had sum
moned him.
"You sent for me, sir?" he asked OF
Crane. 1t may have been the stairs-for he
had come up hurriedly-that put a waver in
his voice, or It may have been the Fremont
tion OF trouble.
Take a seat. Mr.. Cass," Crane answered,
arranging a chair so that a strong light
from the one window fell athwart the visi-
tors face.
The hostler had left the sitting room door
open. Crane closed II carefully, and, sitting
with his back to the window, said to the
bank clerk: 'Mr. Cass, l am going to be
very candid with you; I am going to tell
you that / have discovered that you stole
the $1,000 Mortimer has been accused Of
taking"
Cass' face blanched a blush white; his
Jaw dropped loosely like the jaw Of a mar
who suddenly had been struck a savage
blow. His weak, watery, blue eyes opened
wide in terror, he gasped for breath; hi
essayed to speak, to even give a cry Of
pain, but the muscles OF his tongue were
paralyzed. His right hand had been rest
ing on the arm of the chair in which he
sat, and as Crane ceased speaking, his arm
fell hopelessly by his side, where Il
dangled like the cloth arm of a dummy.
Crane saw all this with fierce satisfac'
ton He had planned this sudden accuse
tion with subtle forethought. 1t even CAV
him relief to feel his suffering shifted Il
another; he was no longer the assailed o
evil fortune, he was the assailant. Alread!
the sustaining force of right was on hi
side; what a dreadful thing It was Il
squirm and shrink in the tolls OF crime
A thought that he might have been like thi
had he allowed Mortimer to stand accuse,
flashed through his mind. He waited 70
his victim to speak.
At last Cass found strength to say, "Mr
Crane, this is a terrible accusation; Their
is some dreadful mistake-I did not"
Crane interrupted him. The mans de
fence must be so abjectly hopeless, sue
a cowardly, weak string Of lies. that on
of pity. as he might have ceased to bea
a hound, Crane continued, speaking rapidly
holding the guilty man tight in the gras
Of his fierce denunciation:
"You stole that note. You sent 1t wit
a special delivery stamp to your brothe
Billy Cass, in New York, and he be
on II for you on my horse, the Dutch
man, on the 13th; and-he lost IT. MORT
mer, thinking that Alan Porter had take
the money. replaced 1t, and you committe
a greater crime than the crime OF steal
ing when you allowed him to be dis
honored. allowed him TO be accused an
all but convicted OF your foolish sin.
is useless to deny it; all this can I
proven in court. ! have weighed the ma
ter carefully and II you confess you wi
not be prosecuted; IL you do not you wi
be sent to the penitentiary just as sure
you are a living man"
Cass, stricken beyond hope of defenc
rose from his chair, ~steadying himself wit
I his hands on the table. leaning far ov'
It. as though he were drawn PHYSICAL
, by the fierce magnetism Of his accuser. ar
spoke in q voice scarce stronger than II
treble Of . ehild's; MY Godl Mr.. Cram