Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-02-11
DAILY SHORT STORY
UNpER SUSPICION.
IOriginal.l

| business and despite has unprepossess-
| ing appearance very attractive to wo-
men. This l accounted for from his
smooth tongue He could say more
| fattering things to girl IN a few min
/ utes than 1 could say in a week In
| deed his remarks were such palpable
| fattery that | wondered the girls
would swallow them.
There came a leakage in the gold
| dust passing through our hands, and
was suspected of being the thief. Up
| to this time Florence March and l had
| been getting on admirably, but now
one day / heard BOutelle pay her one of
his sickening compliments, and from
that time she seemed to lie completely
under his influence. Then l heard that
BOutelle had accused me-
The leakage in the dust was very
small, but it was constant, SO that in
course of time it must be very large.
The thief had some method of carrying
il away in infinitesimal quantities. but
with great regularity. / was.c called into
private office one evening after stop
ping work and searched The other
clerks We're put through II similar proc
us. 1 was put under special surveil-
lance and it was not long before l dis
covered that a new man who had come
into the assaying room and who APP
peared to have taken desperate fancy
TO me was watching me-
Florence March gave me to under
stand that she did not believe | was
guilty, but instead of reSllming her for
mer relations with me she accepted
more and more Phil BoWtelle's atten-
tons. l charged her with. her perfidy,
which, though it panied lPr. made no
difference in her treatment of my rival
and accuser. My position was indeed
painful Conscious of beng suspected
by my employers and fellow clerks,and
watched by a spy, l saw the girl who
should have stood by me associating
on terms Of intimacy with the man
whom / believed responsible for the
suspicion resting upon me. BOOItelle
endeavored to maintain friendly rela-
tons with me, but l spurned him.
But one day the tables were turned.
l missed BOutelle from his work and
upon inquiring learned that he had
been arrested the night before. During
the morning was called intD the office
of my employers, and an apology was
made to me for the spying that had
been done on my movements.
You have discovered the thief?' /
asked
"Yes."
''To a certaintyY'
Yes"
How was the discovery accomplish
ed?"
THAT IS n secret"
returned to my work and that after
noon passed Florence March on the
street. Now that / was indicated and
the man she had taken UP with in my
stead was known TO be the guilty par
ty. l felt that 1 could show her my
opinion of her conduct with a better
grace than before. l walked by her
without looking at her.
Boutelle pleaded guilty, so there was
no evidence brought forth TO shOw'hOw
his iniquity had been discovered. This
was very disappointing to me. One
day soon after he had disappeared
from the world, while l was in the
private office of my employers. I asked |
if / would ever know how the culprit /
had been discovered.
why do you wish to know"
Because a girl whom / respected de |
serted me for him. though he accused |
me of the crime of which he was him !
self guilty / am curious to know more |
on her account
do you refer to Miss March,"
81 do"
After few words whispered be- |
tween them one Of the partners said:
Miss March discovered BOutelle's |
rascality.''
1 was thunderstruck. How did she |
do IL = asked
For that you must go to her"
hurried to Florence. She came
down to see me. maintaining a reserve.
Il am told you discovered the thief"
| said. Would you mind telling me
how you accomplished it,"
Il suspected him from the moment l
heard he accused you. Besides. he was
too broad with his compliments. 1t
seemed to me they were intended to
cover some object"
You mean thatT'
Certainly"
And why did you desert me for
hlm?"
TO rescue You from the position you
occupied
And how did you do that?"
Il tried to win his confidence, but
failed
''WellE''
Il can't tell you any more. You will
blame me"
NO / said. now knowing that she
had saved me. Il will not blame you
I now believe In you thoroughly"
We'll. ! permitted him 10 become so
intimate that one evening he sat so
near as to put his head just above my
shoulder When / went to my room
saw something sparkle on my dress.
brushed II into q china cup. and IL
proved TO be gold dust / gave the in
formation. detective was put on Bou-
telle's track. and il was found that he