The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-05-17
Consigned by |. Green s Co.
BY PAUL COOK.

, Though astonished at this sudden move
on the part of his employer, Talbot had
the business in good shape, and soon had
the center table Of the office covered with
books and papers.
Green got up, locked the door and pro-
ceeded to business. Until a late hour, he
was closeted with the half-starved book
keeper, who missed both lunch and dim
ner. At the close of the conference,
Green had a fair working knowledge of
the business. knew the combination Of
the safe, and could lay his hands on all
the available cash with dispatch. AS the
weary Talbot began gathering up his pa
pers, Green remarked casually, by the
way, how many bales were ginned yes
terday2"
Forty" replied Talbot. 1.-THE whole
number Is In the compress, and will be
shipped to Liverpool tomorrow. via
Woodliff Bros. at New Orleans"
Very well, l am tagged out, and think
! shall retire. And let me have your Of
flee keys. I mislaid mine somewhere and
can't imagine what has become of them.
1t would not be a god idea to leave any
thing valuable outside the vault at night
as long as they are missing"
With that he drew on his overcoat,
bowed to Talbot and withdrew, leaving
that young man in a highly puzzled
frame of mind. Certain little things had
to explain. First. there was the sudden
desire on the part of Mr.. Green to find out
the status of the FIRMS business, and at
times during the consultation he seemed
to know nothing at all of men and affairs
that had occupied his attention for years.
These things set the bookkeeper to
thinking all kinds OF vague things. He
began to wonder If his employer were
7 temporarily unbalanced
The next daW Mr. Greep al Word
| was sent to the office that he would not
be down, and callers at his apartments
| were refused admittance. The time was
| put in by Green In rummaging through
his brothers private papers, packing up
articles of clothing necessary for long
Journey, and making other preparations
for departure. 1t would be at least weeks
and perhaps months. before the fatal
bale would be opened by the spnners
and its gruesome contents revealed, so
he was not in a hurry.
The former tramp had coup mapped
| out that caused him to smile with salts
faction. The affairs of the firm were
| straight, he was sure of that, and there
would be no hint of rascality In 1t. Ig-
natius Green. the prominent citizen and
wealthy cotton factor, would mysterious
| ~ disappear. An immense sensation
would be caused. No reason could be as
signed for his disappearance, and search
would be unavailing. Then in some
pleasant land, perhaps France, perhaps
| Italy, Albert Greene would settle down
to enjoy the accumulated wealth of Ig-
natius Green, which he had brought
away with him.
What If they found him? He was Ig-
natius Green He was leaving behind
property enough to satisfy all creditors,
and no one could make him return
| against his will.
After several days OF ILLNESS" and
| supposedly close confinement to his apart
ments, Albert Green had things In shape
for his departure. Accordingly he order
ed his private team of thoroughbreds
harnessed to a light buggy and drove
away alone In the darkness to a neigh
boring town. Having assumed a disguise
| brought among. he secured Pullman re-
servations boarded an express train a
few minutes later, and Ignatius Green
was well on his way to oblivion.
The next morning after breakfast
Green was glancing over his paper when
the following Press dispatch caught his
eye:
Fire In New Orleans.
Fire was discovered at II 80 o'clock last
night In the large cotton warehouses of
! Woodliff Bros, and before the flames
| were COTTON under control, $50 bales
stored In the building were destroyed
|
to Liverpool by I. Green &, Co. OF Spots
Vile
At seeing the paragraph Albert Green
| started. Then a thought struck him that
| stunned him with its daring Why run
away at all? The fatal cotton bale was
destroyed. Not trace Of his crime re-
manned, and to all the world he was Ig-
natius Green The role was a difficult
one, but then the stake was large and
he longed to try the life of the gentle
man once more.
Two days later. Green stepped briskly
into the office of I. Green & Co., seeming
ly little impaired by his illness, and with
drew to the privacy Of his sanctum
From that day the difficult part of lead
ing the life Of a double began.
Securing a grasp of the business was
easily accomplished by a few weeks of
close application, for Albert Green was
a far quicker man than his brother, but
the social relations were extremely diff
| cult. People began to comment on the
erratic conduct of Mr.. Green, who was
reputed to be courteous, conservative
man o. business. Old friends were ne
elected frequently acquaintance were
not recognized
He seemed to have forgotten all names
and betrayed other signs of what his
friends feared was mental alteration
| Yet. he was so jovial. so kind and con-
siderate when opportunity offered. that
they hesitated to do more than anxIously
comment upon his condition.
Blu superhuman exertions. Green was
slowly but surely working his way to
where he would have easy sailing In his
new life. He kept a vigilant guard on
himself and the actions OF others. He
was constantly on the watch to avoid
those unpleasant situations where his ig-
norance of things might cause embarrass-
ment. 1t was hard very hard. and no
one knew what was the matter with Mr..
| Green.
Nearly year had passed away.
! Green's efforts were beginning to tell He
had now reached comparatively easy
sailing. He had learned thoroughly the
part he was to play, and had made many
friends, some of them former friends OF
the real Ignatius Green. His brothers
pew was occupied by him regularly, Ig-
natius Green again sat In his favorite
easy chair at the club and at last the
usurper felt that he stood firmly In his
1