Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1902-06-26
THE LOST BILL
lOriginal.1

dren OF her own, and ii was TO her In
terest that should not marry and
rear a family, for she had arranged
with my father that II he died before
l had issue / was to have but small
fraction Of his estate. IT, on the con
trary, l married and had a family.
was to have half.
| did not think Mrs. Mendlcott 80
depraved as TO commit any overt act
TO keep me from marriage, but be-
lieved she would foster any circum-
Gtance that might lead to that result
She had a governess for her children.
Adele Trimball, a sweet, patient girl
of strong character. with whom ] fell
In love AS soon ms Mrs. Mendicott
discovered the situation she gave Miss
Trimball notice that she would dis
pense with her services.
The day before her departure she
came into the lihssry, where ! was
sitting. very much dlscomposed.
what is itY' | asked.
George" she said. Mrs. Mendicott
has made up her mind to keep us
apart by running me-"
"uow do Won knowY"
"Know I've seen through her from
the first. What do you suppose she
has done1 On poing into INV room
tret nov found n twenty dollar hill
ON tho aoor hofore nv dressing table.
Mrs Nendicott mt Il tbere I'm the hone
tbot would toke II and she could ac-
o,sa ma of etenl,no it"
"yhot ala vou do with itp
DJoft n where she nlaced II. II
,ou,dn., touch n with a mir of
,onas"
..,Thot ,von,t do III 90 ond rct II"
hostoned to tho room and Looked nil
ovor tho aoor but the hin was not
there nor could Adele find II when she
went 10 Iool for n Mrs MendIcott an.
nou,cod ,bot she had lost n twenty dol
Ior I'm in Adelo's room when she went
there with her nurse I'm her hand to
nut some clothes I'm tbe empty bureau
drawers She loft us nil 10 draw our
oyn inference
dl1 NOT nronose that Adele should
rest under sncb an imnutotIon. oues.
toned INV stenmother not telling her
tbat I had been warned I'm the matter.
md she convinced me that she had
not herself taken the money from the
room questioned the servants. but
gained no clew from any OF them TIM
I come IN Joe the colored manseryant.
I locked loo I'm the eve and saw there n
slv shrewdness thot convinced me of
his guIlt I searched him and his room.
bnt found nothing.
Then NV father come 10 me and in
sisted that Miss TrImbalrs effects be
searched before she left the house. /
nrotosted but without avoil The bIll
,yos no, found but mora monev xyas I'm
ber nossessIon thon II was believed she
had for sbo was very moor and her
salary had been very small. At INV
rate Mrs. MendIcott convinced nv IA.
ther that Adele was the thief. and II
was Informed that II | married her I
would be dlslnherited.
What would II avail TO tell my father
that Adele had seen the bill In her room
and told me Of It? Such a statement
would not be believed and would only
widen the breach. Either Mrs. Mendi-
colt had taken the bill herself or some
one had gone Into the room in Adele's
absence and taken II. l inclined to-
ward the latter opinion. must either
find the thief or lose my patrlmony, be-
sides seeing the girl | would marry re-
main under cloud. lay awake the
night OF Adele's departure thinking
out some plan of investigation, but
could hit on nothing. believed that
Joe had appropriated the bill, but since
he and his effects had been searched
there seemed TO be nothing more to
do.
One Sunday evening Joe came home
smoking n cigarette. He had cob
pipe In the stable which he smoked
when OF duty, and had sometimes
seen him smoking n cigar, but never
before a cigarette. had been watch
ing for him to possess something new
which he had bought with the money
! believed he had taken.
Joe" ! said. "haye you another Gig
nrctter
He pulled out package and handed
II TO me. ! took one, looking into Joe's
face as | did so and noticed that he ap-
peared anxious. Lighting the clga-
rette. puffed awhile, then said:
"These nre fine, Joe. Where did you
get themr
lie told me, ana In ton minutes was
In the shop In conference with the to-
bacconlst to find out II Joe had offered
a large bill for his purchase was
disappointed The boy had paid in
small change,
Later went out TO the stable, where
] found Joe enjoying his pipe
"Haye you another cigarette, JoeY"
nsked.