The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-03
The MISSING NAN ' .!.!!!!:!!::! !!!n

| thing l recollect distinctly"
Yes; Mr.. Libby, the conductor, said
he saw you there"
We'll, l knew nothing afterwards.
think l. must have overtaXed my
brain by too much work, too many
cares That is all the way can ac-
count for it,
Yes, you looked bad when you went
away; lost twenty pounds, you recol-
lect or maybe you don't recollect."
Yes; | remember now nearly every
thing that happened previous to the
! middle of May. Occasionally I find
myself at loss regarding some incident
that occurred before that time, but,
! doubtless, my mind will recover its
tone after while. But the time in
| tervening between May fifteenth and
| about two weeks ago is a total blank
, to me. l cannot tell of single Incl
| dent occurring all that time"
Van" said his uncle, suddenly do
! you suppose any of your actions were
questionable mean unlawful?'
II hope not" said Vane, looking
startled; still I don't know. As !
said, know no more than you do
what happened to me in the interval
referred to. l know l was doing good
honest work in Seattle when 1 came
to myself. Any one can be assured
OF that by writing to Barnacle & Co.,
| seattle, washington.
But before you went there, Vane p
Il don't know. There is something
back of your question, uncle. What is
! it?"
"Vane, you are looked upon as a de-
| faulter here in Grovedale"
"A defaulter! Why, l did not take
one penny of the bank funds when i
went away. 1 remember that perfect
ly. The notes and some other deposits
were put in the vault in Boston, but
1t was done before l went away-a
week before, if 1 recall the time per-
fectly."
Yes, about a week it was; but Tony
Osborn declares you came to the bank
on the twenty-second, at about O'Clock
in the evening"
He must have been mistaken"
No. he is positive; and besides, there
is a proof of it."
What proof?"
you spoke to him. 'Hullo,' says
Tony you said the same, and that he
| probably didn't expect to see you so
soon. He said he didn't, and passed
on. You opened the door with your
key and went in"
Strange! What does it mean? Did
l come here?"
mo, you evidently came as far as
the river bank, and there all trace
might have been drowned. A man
was found in the river,-his remains,
l mean,-and Constance had them
buried at her expense"
That accounts for the monument ?'
YES"
But how do you know came to the
river?"
Your travelling cap and one of your
shirt-studs were found there, the last
by an Italian employed on the railroad,
the first by Tony Osborn. Another
shirtstud was found on the desk at the
bank the morning after you entered
| it,"
Who SAYS so?"
TONY"
Does Tony think me a defaulter?"
mo, he does not. He and Con-
! nce-and-and-myself were the on
! ly ones who believed you innocent.
| Henderson, too, thought as 1 did; but,
of course, we were obliged to settle
the bonds"
Bonds? Did it go so far as that?
Then something was taken from the
| bank. 1t must have been a burglar
who entered and deceived Tony some
! how"
mo, not that. Nothing was ac-
| tually missing, and the pass books
sioner looked into the matter. The
loss, if any, was debatable-a matter
of balance, easily rectifed by you;
some erasures, also debatable, but not
| of consequence except in the light of
| your absence. But it was the notes,
one of Bowles & Estes, the other of
C. B. Cotton"
What of them?"
"Simon. Low declares you presented