The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-12-12
By James knelland Shawvan


thought of early boyhoodS days
and skating on one foot, rs the sole Of
one shoe struck IA flat piece of banana
peel, and | went sliding irreSiStibly to-
ward 4 wooden crate cover set over Il
manholc in the sidewalk.
Bang My feet met it, sending it
spinning halfway around on the I'M
fastened pivot and down | shot through
the half-moon aperture.
Thmmp, / landed ten feet down
amid utter darkness across an up
turned tub. knocking out its bottom,
and bringing hoops and slaves about
me in flying sections.
The shock was brief. my bruises tri-
vial. Then l congratulated myself.
If the under sidewalk space into
which | had been precipitated connect
ed with the main cellar of the Struc-
ture abutting upon it | would hail my
miSadVenture as q stroke Of genuine
good luck. That grim old time-Shat-
tered three-story building had been il
| center of considerable interest to me
!
1 its vicinity perSistently. Ii was to lit
| tie purpose however. Its rear was Il
| blank brick wall Its sides were
! guarded by heavy iron shutters. The
! front had but one entrance, double
4 doorway, and beyond it was a store
/ space shallow and narrow, more of Il
/ hall entrance than a room, barred
closely nights, and in the daytime,
seated behind bench hammering
/ away 1T various pieces of metal, was
a l0w-broWed, keon-eyed man. evident
! ly the guardian of the place.
l was on a still hunt for a missing
friend. and had been for over a month.
! That WIS how | came to be interested
in what had veritably become to me a
house Of mystery.
/ Acton MeScrye had been a fellow
worker ana close friend for something
like two years We were both of US
expert cngravcrS and earned good
wages in the service Of Il leading bank
note engraving concern. 1t was just
after lie had married and was gone
on his honeymoon that trouble began.
You must know that the working
economy 81 Il confidential and ilnpor-
tant business such as we We're engaged
in calls for strict integrity on the part
of those employed. It was about a
week after my friend MeServe had left
81 on his memorable vacation when Il dis
c0very was made that some govern
ment paper, some denomination dies
and Il kit of fine engraving tools We're
missing from the vault. When a
search was made in the Office there
. was found in McSerye'S desk some of
the paper. The company awaited the
/ return Of MeScrye to charge him with
irregularities, possibly theft. But
neither hc nor his wife returned to the
city III The end Of two weeks nor four
nor six In fact, although Il detective
was employed to seek to gain Il trace
Of their whereabouts. Acton MeServt
and his wife had disappeared as efrec
tuaIly rs though the earth had swal
lowed them up.
One day was summoned To the pri
waite office Of the president Of the com
pany. | knew that my close compan
! ionShip with MeServe had aroused suS
picion in the mind of the detective n
to possible knowledge on my part II,
| to what had become of MeServe. The
, disappearance of the welI-guardet
e property Of the company pointed to {
probable scheme to do Sonre 0utsid,
, plate work. This surmiSe was empha
sized by the strange absence of Ne
+ serve.
I'VE shall require your services NJ
! longer, Mr.. Illsley," spoke my superior
definitely and with 7sternness.
Il am sorry" l said simply. II vii
not ask you the reason of this unwar
4 rantable discharge, for | can guess
o You are wrong in attributing what 70,
imagine to AZ good a man as Actor
+ MeServe l shall make it my business
! to prove il 70 YOU soon
}, Il hope so, coldly remarked the Of
" fetal, and l further hope you viii
{ take care of yourself"
!. There was Significance almost in
i suit. in this last remark, and did no
Is resent it in words. ! had made up n
i mind that | would find Acton Meserv
Il if it took all | had saved up and
year Of my life to accomplish it. Their
was something wrong, not only at tn
engraving plant, but as regarded Ne
serve.
There was Il dense mystery SUI
rounding the abstraction of the proI
erty of the company and the inexplic;
BILE vanishment of Mescrve and hi
wife ! started TO solve the enigm;
firm in my faith in my tried and tru
comradc.
found his relatives and friends an,
: iouS and grieyed over his absenc
None Of them had seen or heard frol
= him since the day they had seen hi
started on his wedding journey.
went over his preSumable hOneymoo
trip, to lose all trace of him utterly.
returned to the city, more in the dar
than ever, gloomily disappointed a
most hopeless.