The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-12-14

I
of tslo~saelk No man could have set
out to render himself more agreeable
/ than the French bookkeeper did. He
/ first invited Agnew to his home to din
ner. 1t was modest little cottage.
( plainly furnished and evidently eco
nomically managed. There was a wife
and two children, and the family ap-
+ peared to be happy and content.
Agnew had made up his mind that
| Dubois was certainly living on his in
come and was a man of steady habits
I when the wife happened to mention,
during the momentary absence of the
husband, that she would be entirely
happy if Claude did not have to re-
main at the office so late three or four
nights in the week. AS a matter OF
fact the Office always closed at $3.50
p m. and Agnew was made uneasy by
the remarks. Dubois made arrange
ments to show the American certain
sights the next evening. and they were
together for several hours. AT a cafe
where they stopped for a last drink
Agnew, who had taken very little dur
ing the evening. and who called for
mild glass on this occasion, suddenly
found the room Whirling round and
round with him and finally pitched
forward on the floor and became I'M
conscious. When he came to. some
time during the next day, he was i'll
and found that he had been robbed
and was clothed in the garb of work
lngman- He was also prisoner in a
cellar so dark that he could not see
across it. There was a pitcher Of
water and a loaf of bread beside him
He drank of the water and slept for
hours When he aWoke again the eff
feet Of the drug were gone and he ex-
plored his prison, to discover that it
had only one small window, and that
looked out on backyard and was
heavily barred. There had been stairs
leading up to a door, but they had
been removed. No sounds reached him
from above and the noises from the
street were muf1ed.
An hour later a man thrust a ladder
down and brought more bread and
water. He was armed with a knife
and refused to answer any questions
The American coaxed, threatened and
tried to bride, but the man was firm.
Three times a day for the next ten
days he brought bread and water, but
never anything else. Then one evening
he left the ladder behind him when he
assembled as If by an oversight and
after waiting for an hour Agnew crept
up to find the door open. He had no
trouble in leaving the house. which
was without tenants and situated in a
slum street. The man hadn't a penny
in money and his suit was old and
ragged. When he accosted a gen
darme he was ordered to move on He
moved on and told his story again and
again. and at length was arrested and
locked up. In the morning the police
judge was about to commit Agnew as a
vagrant when he asked that the head
of the firm be sent for. This was done,
and of course the prisoner was soon at
liberty. He could not guide the police
to the street where he had been held a
prisoner. but a visit to the home of
Dubois explained everything. He had
abandoned his family eight days pre-
viously. In a day or two it was shown
that for five years he had maintained
three separate esta blishments. and in
two of them he had passed for a single
man. Instead of being q man of
steady habits he was a regular round
er. Instead of being a man of probity.
brief examination Of his books
showed that he had stolen thirty
thousand dollars from the firm in six
years. Had an expert been put on his
books at any time his frauds must
have been discovered in half day.
1t took the police a couple of weeks
to secure clue. but the embezzler was
finally followed to South Africa and
up the country to the diamond mines.
When arrested he was all bravado. but
three days later he committed suicide
under the officers nose and the case
against him was Copyright,
1905. by Mcclure Newspaper Syndi-
cate.)