The Washington times., 1912-10-02

"I knew that you and Mr.. Collins
brought them from the bank vaults
And did you see them while they
"I-no. I don't think so. sir. You
were locked up In here with Mr.. Col.
a lns and d., i hSS no occasion to enter
"Trac-Td forgotten that" Grafton
| stared at the ceiling in silence.
| Jennison watched him with some GU
riosity.
"Is anything wrong, sirf'
| well, one thing that's wrong" smiled
| Grafton, lis that must have been 80
exceedingly and unusually careless as
bonds on this open desk when left.
went away In q hurry. you know"
II remember. - 0''-. ..'
And another, thins-that doors
eiS;ed. 10 nyLanother thing. which you
that the whole collection OF them were
stolen from here last night"
J !s,n,.D s,r mouth opened.
walked OF with bodily, some time In
the neishborhood Of II O'Clock last even
The chief clerk half rose from his
chair-then sank back again and capped
Why-it can't be, sirI"
IT not only can be. but II Is. and an
unplea:antly cold and indisputable fact
They are gone-ail Of themf"
The whole lot Just as they were
when left them, tied with a bit of red
| silk tape. Jennison."
you came this morning."
| No-last night when brought a
friend to seq the building. Just before II
"God bless my soul. sir, That's ter
ITS all of that" r
~, An" a ID. do you suspect who the thief
oIa haven't the yssSss idea h the
he was he must have arrived some time
after II and accomplished an entry here
by means Of duplicate keys. The Col
son papers had left on the desk here.
Spouse to a telegram, you will remem-
Der. Now they're no longer here--were
no longer here Ut midnight. That's the
whole story, Jennison. r.
| But you mus. have some clues, slr7"
Grafton looked him over thoughtfully.
Jennison was all right; Grafton trusted
him with everything and no trouble had
ever ensued; and stu. until he had dis:
Collins. II would be as well not to re-
veal too much. He had been upon tho
| point Of recounting to Jennison the
whole remarkable series of happenings.
upon an explanation. Now he paused.
Nothing very DEFINITE. Jennison, a.
yet. and don't know that we ever shall
The chief clerk shook his head hope
However" Grafton went on, "the
great thing Is that they are gone. and
that unless ] have them by noon on
son will not take place. You win SEES
quite readily that the situation holds
inconvenient possibilities"
.. II .hcula say u, that Il aid. eiIr' NM.
have ", you rot to suggest as scheme.
"Why-I don't know. SIR"
Then you're in my predicament az
froSnsd .bss 9a TSsn +. looked a us
and raised his eyebrows.
Weli, think II over anyway. Jenni-
son,,and don't take to thinking It out
sn SSf s n sfs senns o, Ssss
Whatsoever with the robbery. let me
know instantly. And II any sort of So
luton OF the difficulty should chance
to occur to you. let mo know that at
Indeed will. sir. but"
But you feel hardly up to coping
with II. eh2 I have some such sensa-
ton e Siffidenee myself said Graf
proposition. and IL you md q way out
Of the hole you shan't lose by II, Jen-
nison. That's all for the present"
The chief clerk walked out. and the
door closed. Grafton settled back for
fresh meditation on. the problem Of his
And now in business hours. in his
business office, the case began to take
on. something Of a new phase, . strictly
Plainly that was a side to merit his
deepest thought-mucn of the future
might depend directly upon It. Hero he
stood. within forty-eight hours OF the
fabulous sum Of money he had loaned.
The time might come around-would. to
all present appearance-and he would
have to admit frankly that he had
no papers whatever to show the debt Of
After that? Well, at the very best It
was bound to look rather queer In some
ways. Colson. to be sure. would know
Would we know /, Sn; fSs
involved his risking Of seven million
dollars on Grafton's pare word. Would
he do that? Emphatically he would not,
and Grafton could hardly blame him In
the slighestest degree.
The whole business would simply have
to be held up until Burleigh or the po-
J lice or some one else succeeded In locat.
ing the notes. That. too. promised t.
appear rather peculiar. Grafton's credit
and his reputation were OF the very
best. yet In such an occurrence as this
there would always be enough to hint a,
strange doings somewhere.
Grafton might have become pressed
for money In some unknown way; NJ
, | might have given the notes to-whom ?
for security. They were worth a pretty
figure, certainly. as collateral. He nigh
deny 1t upon oath and consent to hay
ing the original notes Cancelled and new
ones signed and half dozen more
things OF the sort; yet not a soul could
say positively that he had not made I'm
, proper use Of the original papers.
The more he considered this view o.
the affair the less It pleased him. Alb
solutely answering uprightness ant
, honesty had carried him to the point h,
had reached. both In the money sens,
/ and in the estimation of Kenyonville a
large; he was Intensely proud of hi
= good name and of its solid foundation
. Even for seven million dollars he woul,
hardly have cared to see It risked.
1t was a snag and miserable one
Grafton took to pacing his office u
] last, and when he had covered the dis
,tance a dozen times way appeared I,
him. Colson, too, was an upright indi
yidual-or always had been In his deal
ings with Grafton. He was a decen
0 fellow, 100, with heart and a capacit!
for rea soning. 50 far as Grafton ha,
ever been able to Judge.
A Continuation of This story Wi