The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1906-07-11
CHAPTER XXXIIL.
F@VERYTHING seemed Ike
- dream to Brewster as he rushed

3 GaT CONSCIOUS. "a piteCA 9A11AS
about his lips as he drew away from
the street car track almost as MS hand
touched the rail of car he had sig
naled. He remembered that be did ncI
have money enough to pay his fare. It
was six or seven blocks to the Office OF
itfe lawyers, and he was actually run
aing before be stopped at the entrance
OF the big building.
Never had an elevator Travelled more
slowly than the one which shot him to
= the seventh floor. a light shone through
the transom above the attorneys door,
and he entered without so much as q
rap on the panel Grant, who was pac-
Ing the floor, came to staEdstill and
faced his visitor.
sClose the door, please" came in
steady tones from Ripley. Mr.. Grant
dropped into chair, and Brewster
mechanically slammed the door.
IS it rue?' he demanded hoarseiy,
{ his hand stil on the knob.
sssit down. Brewster, and controi
yourself" said Ripley.
Good God, man, can't you see ana
caimsa cried Monty. go on. tell me
all about if. What do you know? What
have you,heardg
AHe cannot be found, that's all" an
nounced Ripley, with deadly intent
ness. I don't know what it means
There IS no explanation. The whole
thing is inconceivabie. Sit down, and i
VIII tell you everything as quickly as
possible
ssThere isn't much to teI,'' said Grant
mechanically.
81 can take it better standing" de
clared Brewster, shutting his jaws
tightly.
Zones was last seen in Butte on the
8d Of this month"; said Ripley ''We
sent several telegrams to him after
that day, asking when he expected to
leave for New YORK. They never We're
claimed, and the telegraph company
reported that he could not be found.
We thought he might have gone off to
look after some of his property and
were not uneasy. Finally we began to
wonder why he had not wired US Oh
leaving for the east / telegraphed
again and got no answer. 1t dawned
upon us that this was something IN
usual. We wired his secretary and re-
ceired response from the chief OF
police. He. asked in turn if we could
tell him anything about the where
sabouts. OF Jones. This naturally alarm
ed us, and yesterday we kept the wires
hos The result Of our inquiries is ter
srible, Mr.. Brewster
s7Why didn't you tell me:" asked
Brewster.
There can be no doubt that Jones
has fed, accompanied by his secretary.
THE belief IN Butte is that the secretary
has murdered him.
s2 Ripley meistened his lips and went
soa.
= Eve have dispatches here from the
police. the banks, the trust companies
and from half dozen mine managers.
You nay read them if you like, but I
can tell you what they say. About the
list of this month Jones began to turn
various securities into money. It is
now known that they We're once the
property of James 7. Sedgwich, held
IN trust for you. The safety deposit
vaults were afterward visited, and in
spection shows that he removed every
scrap Of stock, every bond, everything
OF value that he could lay his hands
upon. His own papers and effects
were not disturbed Yours alcne have
disappeared 1t is this fact that con-
yinces the authorities that the secreta-
~ has made away with the old man
and has fed with the property. The
bank people say that Jones drew out
every dollar Of the Sedgwick money,
: and tie police say that he realized tre-
a1aendous sums on the convertible Sc
curities. The strange part of it is that
: he sold Your mines and your real es-
Sate. the purchaser being a man named
Golden Brewster. tit looks very
much as if he had disappeared With
every thing
brewster tllu hol tlhe us Z. CD AAo-ii
gipley's face throughout the terrible
speech. lie did not move fraction OF
an inch from the rigid position as
sumed at the beginning.
sIs sany&aiEg being done: he asked
mechanically
>sThe police are investigating. He IS
known 10 have started off into the
snounta;as with this secretary on the
30 Of September Neither has been
seen since that day so far as any one
knows. The earth seems to have swal-
lowed them. The authorities are
searching the mountains and are max
sng eyer. eIort to Gnd jones' or his
body. lie is Known 20 be eccentric, and
at first not much Importance was at
cached to his actions. That is all we
can tell you at present. There may be
Developments tomorrow 1t looks bad
terribly bad. We've had the utmost
confidence in Jones. wish / could
selp you, my bos-"
:, ,,....<, x-o,, f,ao+iarnpO - said