El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-07-15
THE IMPOSTURE
By A. G. Greenwood.

q III q
L written on blue foolscap.
The money of which 1 should die in
possession. amounting TO $500, viii
be found in notes in the secret drawer
| of the Patsea oakchest. To open the
| TeceDtacIe. press the fingers of the
/ right hand upon the five small knobs
4 in the margin Of the second panel on
: the right hand side with the Jhumo
! touch the inlaid rose IN the center OF
! the side panel On opening the chest
| the drawer viii be found open also"
/ l read thus far, then vaguely Won
dered If the secret drawer had been
/ discovered l glanced at the date o.
the will and the name, ADDRESS and
J description of the testator-slnce 1880,
/ When Erasmus Whitehead, sculptor,
I lain hid Where had the old eccentric
lived? At Mrs. Pelham's 81 Marianet-
1 made up my mind to call at % right
Erasmus Whitehead, Dead these
20 years" puffed an old woman who
! opened 22's blistered door TO me-
Lodged with me 80 years, he did, and
breath. Miss Jan does now, an a
sweeter body you'll not meet In al
on'On-nO, that you won't, an l don {
care who says sol!
Mrs. Pelham showed = up TO liz
( tie sitting room Jane Whitehead
opened the door.
Her dress was plain, but her sweet
ness was enough TO keep any ass Of 80
like MYSELF tonguetied and staring
like d raw youth from the country.
1 found my tongue and plunged into
explanations. Erasmus was her uncle.
He was supposed TO have died iRtes-
tate. He had left nothing.
On 1 went about my discovery Of
the chest
despair and her mouth tremoled- "Oh,
oh, it's SOldl'
Twas old Sydney-Jacob Sydney
( who bought il, dearie," observed Mrs
| Pelham. The shop disappeared 10
I'll try to trace it, said Jan. And
thank you ever so much for being SO
] kind"
I'm only too glad to help you
in any way" 1 suffered and depart
ed, leaving my card.
1 wanted to see her again 1 thought
out thousand plans. billion eX-
But I never saw her Seven whole
wasted days passed Then l had a
note.
Dear 8Ir. Oakley" it ran
4 have been fortunate enough to
trace the chest. but am unable to open
the secret drawer. Could you help meE
I am in some haste, and would count
myself even deeper IN your debt II you
would come to my aid. shall be IN
after $50 each night, If you could
spare me five minutes.
Jan Whitehead"
Spare her five minutesi Five years!
Five lives if had EN-.
At the end of the road I met her.
She was obviously pleased Ton the
beastly chests account of course).
Mrs. Pelham hustled up TO watch
proceedings. 1 examined the chest
bosses knobs inlaid strips and the
rose. Then l opened the lid. A floor
panel had been risen, from it, to one
side, Obtruded a drawer. Jan bent
down, Mrs. Pelham lowered her head,
painting. I stood uu, a sharp pain in
my head.
1t was empty. Whatever it had con-
tanned had been distracted.
Jan Strengthened and walked to the
window Mrs. Pelham subsidized into
chair and blubbered.
''Forgiye-how foolish you must
think me-" she said, trying to smile
a piteous attempt that shook a shower
of tears from her trimming eyes. I
i had been silly enough to be too
sanguine."
Silence feIl-a strained silence. Tlen
she told me Of her hunt for the pur-
chaser of the chest She had found
Jacob Sydney in a back street in Put
ney, whittier be had gone on giving up
the shop. Fortunately-so fortunate
~. as she then thOught-he had taken
a fancy to the Patsea chest The old
man was i'll; she had not been allowed
to see him, and it was only at a vastly
enhanced price that he consented TO
sell-$250, she told me with a SILVER.
I've never felt so utterly wretched,
so entirely despairing, as L did III that
night, and the next day-tiu an hour
after John King had left me
I'm worried old Kink had
growled.
It's a girl-a typist-in the office.
I've always thought her as honest as
daylight y day or so ago she came
to me in a state of nervous excitement
She's been with US six yearS-since she
was 1S-else she wouldn't have asked
nor been so foolish as to give IN.
She asked point blank for loan OF
$3.50 No wonder you jump" he
groWled. she promised to repay with
in IS hours She was certain of her
ability; some money had come to ~er
unexpectedly. I let her have it. I
trusted her implicitly. 1 tell you. To-
day she came to me, white as a sheet,
her eyelinds swollen with tears, big
blue rings round her eyes, absolutely
ashamed of herself, and confessed she
couldn't pay"
What's her name?" I asked as care
lessly as L could.
Whitehead" said he
At siX-thirty I found Jan awaiting
her.
i've been thinking I said. speak
ing rapidly in jerks We've gave
up too soon. We should have searched
the chest more carefully. The notes
might have slipped, you know"
1 went over to the chest, found the
catches and threw up the lid,
She bent down. thrusting her little
hand into the hollow from which the
drawer had risen.
1 heard her draw a noisy, shudder-
ing breath from the hole she dragged
Understanding wrapped in yell
low, duststained paper, tied with a
TOtting string. CObwebs and dirt fell
in a shower az she tore away the COW
ering. Then she threw back her head
with a cry of delight of huge relief.
laughing unsteadily, trembling viO-
lently.
God bless you, look, You don't
know all you've done for me 1 feel
I can breathe again. feel clean now.
felt dishonest Now-now every
InlnS glorious! How much is there,
M Oakley2"