Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-09-26
DAILY SHORT STORY
A LEVEL HEADED GIRL.


copyright, 1901. by r. c. McClure.l
l WAS only twcnty-Tour years old
and yet L had been cashier of the big
dry goods house of Thomas X Co. for
five years. one of the department
managers cousin Of Thomas. named
Yorllc- had been friendly with me all
this time, and he was looked upon 10y
all as pattern of morality.
one busy afternoon Mr.. Thomas
gave me two or three extra things
To do and when it came time To make
our bank deposit l had several irons
in the fire at once. Trade had been
rushing and sales heavy, and il so
happened that about everything was
cash. The sum for deposit was $1,000.
and | had just counted it when HOrke
came into the office to ask about I
check that had been mailed by com
try customer and had not turned up.
l was in a hurry To get out the
Items for statement of account want
ed, and as Yorke had his hat and coat
on and was evidently going out, l
asked him to take the money and the
book and make the deposit. l did not
see him when he returned. L found
the book on my desk and placed it in
the safe without opening IT. II WAS
not until next forenoon that l made
the discovery that no deposit had been
credited the day before. / at once
went upstairs to see NOrke and ask
him for an explanation.
The man stood right up and denied
everything. He even stated that he
did not 60 out on the street. 1t so
h1nnnrn1 la1 him
in the office, and so it WAS a question
of veracity. l had seven or eight
years of faithful honesty service to
my credit Yorke was relative. Il
church member and above reprOach.
He denied asking me about the check
or being in the Office, and he lied 50
easily and gracefully that everybody
was deceived. l was asked'tO resign.
l was engaged TO a young lady. and
one of the first results was that her
father forbade me the house. l
shouldn't have blamed the girl had
she added Il postscript 20 his message,
but instead of that she Iost\nO time
in coming to see me at my boarding
place, and there we discuSSedtt he mat
ter in all its bearing. She WIS sen
sible. level headed girl, and she,said:
Your story sounds all right to me.
but the trouble Is to make other folks
believe il. He denies being in the
office at all. Our first move must he
to prove that he was. Can you re-
member of no one calling TO ask ques-
tons or TO use the telephone at about
the time he was there?'
"No. Hold on a minute Yes, I do
| nj
Harry Johnson was in and telephoned
about a horse, but the matter had ell
tirely slipped my memory"
Then lose no time in finding him"
When l started to look him up l
found that Johnson was in a city 25O
miles away. Next day I walked in on
him. He hadn't heard of my trouble,
and hadn't finished telling my story
when he interrupted me with:
mo use going any further, my boy.'
While l stood with the trumpet at my
ear I saw you hand Yorke the money
and the book, and I heard you say
that he had only time to reach the
bank"
Johnson's statement was put in the
form of an affidavit, and I returned
home rejoicing that my disgrace had
been removed.
You have hardly begun yet" OBJ
served the level headed girl, as she
finished reading the document This
satisfies me, but it won't satisfy the
firm. Johnson is a friend OF yours,
and they viii argue that he is trying
to help you out
But what else can we do?" I
asked.
Trap the thief. We know that he
has a bank account. but he is too
sharp TO deposit any of the stolen
money as soon as this His boarding
house is in Vine street. l believe that
search Of his rooms would discover
the money. Can you remember the |
denomination Of any Of the bills?"
There was a good deal OF small !
money, but there was one $500 bill II |
did not come from a customer. but !
changed II for Slater. the druggist 1t |