River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1917-02-15

acknowledged the return or the roun
! tain pen. Soames. glancing furtively
about him. replaced the money in the
| envelope and thrust the latter careful
:; ~ into trousers pocket.
| Now" resumed Gianapolis. I'VE
| must not permit our affairs of business
| to interfere with our amusements."
| He stepped nI TO the bar and or
| dered two more WHISTLES with soda
! These being sampled business WAS re
/ sumed
Tomorrow. said C;anapoliS. lean
! ing forward across the table 50 that
his face almost touched that of his
companion. you will Ue intrusted by
| Mr. I.eroux with commission
Soames nodded eagerly, his eyes upon
the speakers face.
You will accompany Mrs. Leroux to
the bank" continued Gianapolis. lin
! order that she may write a specimen
! signature in the presence of the man
ager for transmission to the Credit
LyonnaiS in Paris"
Soames nearly closed his little eyes
in his effort 10 comprehend.
"A draft in her favor" continued til:
| Greek has been purchased BIZ My
LerouX's bank from he Paris bank.
and Oh presentation Of this a check
book will be issued to Mrs. LerouX by
the Credit LyOnnais in Paris to enable
her to draw at her convenience upon
that establishment against the said or
der. DO you follow meI"
Soames nodded rapidly, eager to ex-
hibit an intelligent grasp of the situa-
ton.
"Now"-Cianapolis lowered his voice
impressively-"no one at the Charing
Cross branch of the London County
and Suburban bank has ever seen Mrs.
LerOuX. Oh. we have been careful OF
that, and we shall be careful in the
future. You are known already as an
accredited agent Of Leroux. There
fore"-he bent yet closer to Soames'
ear-''you will direct the chauffeur to
drop you not at the Strand entrance.
but at the side entrance. You folIow?"
SoameS, almost holding his breath.
nodded again.
AT the end OF the court, in which
the latter entrance is situated lady
dressed in the same manner as Mrs.
Leroux Ghis is arranged will be wait
ing Mrs. Leroux will walk straight
up the court, into the corridor Of Bank
Chambers by the back entrance and
from thence out into the Strand. You
will escort the second lady into the
managers office. and she will sign
Mira Leroux' instead Of the real Mira
LerOuX."
SoameS became aware that he was
changing color. This was a superior
felony. and as such it awed his little
mind 1t was tantamount to burning
his boats. Missing silver spoons and
cooked petty cash were trivialities
usually expiable at the price Of boot
assisted dismissal, but this!
You understands" Gianapolis was
not smiling now. There is not the
slightest danger. The signature Of the
lady whom you will meet will be an
exact duplicate Of the real one-that
is, exact enough to deceive man who
is not looking for forgery. But 1t
would not be exact enough to deceive
| ing for a forgery. You follow me?
! The signature on the checks drawn
against the Credit Lyonnais will be
the same as the specimen forwarded
by the London County and Suburban.
since they will be written by the same
lady. the duplicate Mrs. Leroux. There
| fore the French bank will have no
means of detecting the harmless little
deception practiced upon it, and the
English bank. if it should ever see
| those checks, will raise no question.
since the checks will have been hon.
ored by the Credit Lyonnais."
Soames finished his whisky and soda
at gulp.
"Finally." concluded Gianapolis, ''you
will escort the lady out by the front
entrance to the Strand. She will leave
| you and walk in an easterly direction
| making some suitable excuse if the
manager should insist upon seeing her
| to the door, and the real Mrs. Leroux
will come out by the Strand end of
| Bank Chambers corridor and walk
back with you around the corner to
where the car will be waiting. Per
fect?"
Quite said Soames huskily.
But when, some twenty minutes lat
err, be returned to Palace mansions he
was man lost in thought, and he did
not entirely regain his wonted compo-
sure and did not entirely shake off the
incubus-doubt-unt in his own room
he had recounted the contents of the
brown paper envelope. Then:
Its safe enough" he muttered. land
! it's worth it,
Thus it came about that on the fol-
lowing morning Leroux called him into
! the study and gave him just such in
structions as Gianapolis had outlined
The evening before.
Il am-er-too busy to 20 myself.
Soames." said Leroux. ''and-er-Mrs.
Leroux will shortly be paying visit
o friends il-er-in Paris. So that |
I'm opening a credit there for her
/ covo ON much trO1bla-and-SIlch n