The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1905-01-27
A LEVEL HEADED GIRL
IcopyrlsA.. lses. BY T. c. Mcclurs,l j


Yorke-had been friendly with me all
this time, and he was looked upon by
all as pattern Of morality.
One busy afternoon Mr.. Thomas
gave me two or three extra things
to do, and when 1t came time to make
our bank deposit l had several irons
IN the fire at once. Trade had been
rushing and sales heavy, and 1t so
happened that about everything was
cash. The sum for deposit was $500,
and l had Just counted 1t when Yorke
came into the office to ask about a
check that had been mailed by coun-
try customer and had not turned up.
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 |
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 1t in
the safe without opening It 1t was
not until next forenoon that I made
the discovery that no deposit had been
credited the day before. I at once
went upstairs to see Yorke and ask
him for an explanation.
The man stood right up and denied
everything. He even stated that he
did not go out on the street II so
happened that no one had seen him
in the Office, and so II was question
of veracity. l had seven or eight
years of faithful honesty service to
my credit. Yorke was relative, a
church member and above reproach.
He denied asking me about the check
or being in the Office, and he lied so
easily and gracefully that everybody
was deceived. / was asked to resign
/ was engaged to a young lady, and
one Of the first results was that her
father forbade me the house.
shouldn't have blamed the girl had
she added postscript to his message,
but instead of that she lost no time
in coming to see me at my boarding
place, and there we discussed the mat.
ter In all its bearing. She was a sen
sible, level headed girl, and she said:
'sYour story sounds all right to me,
but the trouble is to make other folks
believe it. He denies being In the
Office at ALL Our first move must be
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 thereT"
mo. Hold on a minute. Yes, ! do
remember. / am almost sure that
Harry Johnson was in and telephoned
about horse, but the matter had en-
tirely slipped my memory"
Then lose no time In finding him.
When l started to look him up I
found that Johnson was in a city 250
miles away. Next day walked in on
him. He hadn't heard of my trouble,
and hadn't finished telling my story
when he interrupted me with:
No use, going any further. my boy.
While Istood with the trumpet at my
ear 7 saw you hand Yorke the money
and the book, and | heard you say
that he had only time to reach the
bank" ..........
q Johnson's statement was put in the
form Of an affidavit, and | 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 friend Of yours,
and they win argue that he is trying
TO help you out"
But what else can we doY' ]
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. / believe that
a search Of his rooms would discover
the money. Can you remember the
denomination Of any of the bilIsT'
"There was good deal Of small
money, but there was one $500 bill 1t
did not come from customer, but
changed it for Slater, the druggist. 1t
was brand new treasury note, and
he said he got it from Williams, the
real estate man."
While | set out to trace the bill the
girl started to investigate Yorke fur
ther. Knowing that he had sister in
a distant town, she provided herself
with travelling bag and drove up to
the house in hack, and claiming to be
the sister come on brief visit she was
passed up to Yorke's room. She found
that money in ten minutes search. 1t
wasn't hidden away In closet or be-
tween the mattresses or under the car
pet, but between the covers of big b.
BILE ostentatiously displayed on cen.
ter table. An hour later she met me to
say:
Nov you go to Mr.. Thomas and
show him the affidavit. Then apply for
a search warrant and have it served
right away. Inside Of two hours your
name will be cleared, and Yorke will
be a much astonished man."
Mr.. Thomas was bit surprised at
my call. He was good deal more sur
prised when handed him the affidavit
and told him about the $500 bill and
L Z