The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-10-13

I had provided for through 50 many
\ years, TO whom he had given a home,
. had so ungratefully repudiated his
almost fatherly love. On the morn
| $4,000 check Mr. Clay has not seen
! her since. nor anyone else, so far as
We have been able to discover. At
! the moment when the young lady
passed out Of this bank she passed
I into obscurity. Our floor detective
| has made some casual investigation.
i He has found no trace OF the move
ments OF Miss Farrar later than II
! a. m, May IS, no clew nor hint of d
Clew as to her present whereabouts
/ She has vanished completely
The letter | asked for" said Mar
vel briefly, in his mandatory. decisive
way; and when | had prepared and
delivered it he left the. bank without
another word, his thoughts enVelop-
ing him in a silent, battling mood l
knew his habits too we'll to intrude
upon.
The loss Of $4,000 was not much
for an Institution of our financial in
tegrity, and so far as he was person
ally concerned our president would
ordinarily have been content to
charge it off to profit and loss ac-
count. However. when Resilius Mar
bring to light the goods or at
least some development that express
ed lucidity and satisfaction.
The bank was just closing that aft
ernoon when my friend reappeared
AS he came into the private Office the
president was just putting on his
| gloves preparatory to taking his au-
tomobile for the club He paused
with his usual genial nod to Marvel.
and stepped within the room and lin
gered for a moment
Il presume it is a plain case, and
the bank is 100000 out?" he observed
Hardly was the prompt response.
"The case, however, calls for some
attention possibly several thousand
miles from here"
Then there is a chance?" was sug-
gested hopefully.
Il shall want the best man in the
bank and my good friend" replied
Marvel, placing his hand on my Shout
der.
THAT is foregone, since you say it"
smiled our president. ITS the girl,
suppose-the forger?"
TT is the girl, yes" assented Mar
vel. "As to her being the forger-
doubt it,"
whats that" demanded the pres
ident, with a start. You don't mean
to say"
81 mean to quote from the CONNER
cial agency patter: considerable con-
servation should be exercised in deal
ings with
Warner Clay?"
Take it So"
SIS that a warning?"
"You might act on that basis until
you hear again from me-" said MAJ
vel
You amaze mel"
The president departed, thoughtful
ly drawing on a glove. an awakened
distrust in his bearing that indicat-
ed a shock.
Nov, then, you and I will thrash
this thing out" he began. First
though, make your arrangements to
bear me company"
How far?' I inquired, sorting over
| my short and long distance travelling
satchels in my mind.
"Galyeston-first You will have
time for preparations The train
leaves at s. I only want half an hour
just now. That is Miss Farrar." He
said, and drew card photo from his
pocket.
THE young lady" / ventured
SIS at Galveston, or Whereabouts.
I saw your esteemed bank client, this
! Mr.. Warner Clay. l found him as |
had pictured him: an elfish. misery
being with no thought outside of his
money and getting more. The man is
financial pervert and sly and
shrewd as a fox He positively vel
| coined me- Then he lied to me and |
! had him / left him so well salts
| fled that his word was gold with the
bank, and that my brief visit was 4
cursory and superficial bit Of routine,
! that he will gloat over his fanciad
| success for a week to come. When
! stated that We wanted to go over
! his returned checks as a matter of
| business system, he landed them
down on me with a frank willingness
that was almost painful. | even got
him to give me several samples of
his handwriting. BY the way. did you
ever notice his right hand forefinger
and thumb?"
OF course I had not. Perhaps the
paying teller had. and I said SO
Sometime and somehow our Mr..
Clay has slipped the upper joint of
that forefnger out of plumb mar
rated my informant. 1T does not
trouble him in eating, or cutting cou-
pons, or Tipping over interest money.
Nor when he writes a screed with
straight-going letters does he expe-
rience any difficulty. A lower loop.
however, is his Nemesis"
Nemesis" l repeated vaguely.
Not too strong, that, in this case.