Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1912-09-18
COPYRIGHT I9W

NC~00 t1C0S4 - 40ASO
jubilant. | was certain that / was on
the track of important revelations.
LET me see," she continued, sit was
a week ago Tuesday-no, it was We'd
nesday, for I went over to my sisters
Tuesday and Mr.. Rouser left word
for me, and found it waiting for me
when I came back. He asked me to
come over and take the Office for the
day. I was surprised when l come
over here to open up to find him here,
for I'd understood that he was going
to be gone all day. He explained that
he didn't have to go till after the mail
was in, and he stayed here and helped
me sort. There was a lot of mail
that day, people round here are great
for answering advertisements and get
ting circulars. Besides that, some Of
them get-rich-quick concerns have got
hold of our telephone subscribers
book and there's always a lot of min
ing stock letters. There was no less
than four good-sized bundles OF letters
from New York. Rouser was sorting
the letters and I was handling the
second class and the papers. 1 got
through with that and picked up the
last bundle of letters, In it was no
less than six letters addressed to Lock
Box II. 'Seventeen's rented at last
says /, thinking it funny that 1 didn't
know the name on them, Henry Mai
colin Stewart. Who's got it? I'll take
charge of them,' says he, taking the
letters right out of my hand before l
had a chance to look at the pOstmarks
or anything. l noticed, too, that he
didn't put them in the box, but damned
them into his pocket along with a lot
Of other letters he had. l couldn't
say who the other letters was ad-
dressed to, for I didn't get a chance
to see them. They might have been
his own, for all I know. But l couldn't
help thinking. that the only reason he'd
waited till the mail was distributed
was to get hold of them Lock Box II
letters. AS soon as he got them he
went away, and he didn't come back
till after closing time"
Have you any idea where he Went?"
when l come over here that day I
supposed he was going to the city, but
a few minutes after he left the Office I
saw him driving past in one of the
livery rigs"
Which direction did he go?" I
asked, feeling more and more sure
that I had struck the right trail. In
all probability this young fellow in the
p~ost-Of1ce was merely an innocent tool
of Crandall. He had driven of some
where to meet Crandall and give him
the Lock Box II letters, for I was con-
WINGED that Stewart was merely an
alias of the villain who had been send
ing out the yellow letters. If I could
learn where the postmaster had gone
on this visit, I might be able to find
him now.
Every time Charlie Rouser goes
driving" said Miss Cox, che always
goes that way" indicating the opposite
direction from the station. 81 shouldn't
be surprised in the least if he was
keeping company with some farmers
daughter
A sudden light came into her eyes
and a smile of satisfaction spread over
her face.
Land alive, I never thought Of it
before" she exclaimed, '"but I'd bet
anything he's gone off to get mar
ried."
Hardly likely" said I. Tie wouldn't
go off and leave the Office unguarded
without telling any one. And he
wouldn't leave five thousand dollars
tying there in the drawer
That's just what he would do. I'll
bet he had a windfall of some sort
and the minute he got the money in
his hands he just couldn't wait to go
and tell the girl"
Somebody would have known it if
he got a horse at the livery stable,
would they not?"
ooh, that's neither here nor there.
He might have gone on his bicycle.
He generally keeps it over there in
the corner, and it amt there now"
1T might be up at his boarding
house,
ct might be-" said Miss Cox.
It came to me that if Davis had
thought it worth while to go to the
Widow Smiths to make inquiries, it
might be worth my while, too After
asking Miss Cox for directions, I told
her I was going to 6 if Rouser's
wheel vas missing, and made my way
up one of the side streets to the
clearinghouse. Davis visit evidently
had rufled the widow. l found her
in anything but a communicative
mood.
IF you're another Of those detec-
tive men coming prying around here .
she said, "you might just as well get
out. I've said all I'm going to say,
and that's all there is to it."
please don't mistake me for a de-
tective,' I said as pleasantly as I
could. "Pm-a-friend of Miss Cox
down to the p~ost-ofice and we were