Evening star., 1912-10-06


his accounts for the day in his hand, stood
near. Another man, the receiving teller,
was just resting a long drawer filled with
packages of banknotes on the edge of my
desk, with tally sheet beside it. The
stenographer had gone. There was no one
else in the room. What | must do now was
to get these two men from my office for the
fraction of second, so that | could abstract
as many of those bundles of notes as the
time would permit After that
THERE was a confused murmur outside.
l turned toward my door. Mr.. Flan-
ders,' l said to the note teller, will you
kindly see what that is out there:?'
FLANDERS stepped out into the hall. l
turned carelessly to the receiving teller
Just step out and ask them to hurry little,
| said quietly, and proceeded as if counting
the packages of bills. as the young man
obeyed my order. Quick as a flash | had
slipped three bundles of the bills under my
coat, ready to drop them into my suitcase,
which stood waiting between my knees.
dared do no more just then. But nobody
came into my office as soon as | had ex-
pected. Perhaps luck was with me! l
dropped the packages of bills into my bag.
l glanced at the others. Could L? Dare l?
| would! -Four, five, six, of the bundles, con-
tanning knew not how much, had gone into
the bag. closed it.
81 stepped to the door of my Office leading
into the hall. There seemed to be scuff1e
of some sort going on just in front of me.
Several of the uniformed officers of the bank
were apparently trying to keep protesting,
gasping woman from entering. | stopped
aghast at recognizing her. 1t was Nina
Fabre She saw me at the same instant.
Poh ba
to see-to see if you had taken my warning
over the telephone and gone. Now it's too
late! They're here!
"At the same instant heavy hand was
laid on my shoulder, and turned toward
stern-faced man, who said:
"'Huh! Making your getaway? Well,
you re too late, as the lady says!'
"'Too late! What do you mean?'
"That1l do, Barringer We want you
for a little matter of three hundred thousand
dollars that the bank says you've pinched.
So come on!
"There was shrek from Nina, groan
from Hadley, the venerable president of the
Fortieth National, who had come in and was
standing right behind me, and |, looking
Fate square in the face, laughed loud and
crafty, and said to the jeering goddess:
al give up | can't beat you too!' Then
and went along!' Blakely paused exhausted,
and leaned over, his head in his hands.
PUT go on!' demanded.
- go on! What more is there to te1l?"
"Why, everything. You were arrested as
Robert Barringer Why didn't you deny it,
"Deny it? Why, of course | did! And
what happened? They said | was crazy!
Didn't they have everything to prove it,"
"But, Great Scott, Man! Your-I mean
Barringer's wife!"
eyes, she too-and Nina Fabre. They
both swore that was Barringer. And l let
them, when | saw how it was"
"Let them! And went to prison for the
crime of another man.
"They managed to get me here on the
ground that must have been insane"
"But it's a prison, just the same. And
you've been standing for it, taking another
mans punishment, when you could have
proved your innocence
"Innocence?' Blakely laughed slyly. "You
seem to forget that l had gone to the For
tieth National to relieve it of few hundred
thousand dollars, and if had proved that
was Blakely they'd have had me for that.
"By George, that's SO! Then what's to be
done?'
"Find Barringer!"