The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1918-06-14

He addressed the query to sylvester.
The latter seemed more troubled than
before.
That" he said, with some hesita-
ton, lis one of the delicate points in
this talk of ours, Captain Warren. A
certificate for the missing hundred
shares was turned in. 1t was dated
at the time of the original ISSUE made
out in the name of one Edward Brad
lev and transferred on the back by
him to your brother-that is, it was
presumably so transferred"
presumably presumably? You
mean
81 mean that this certificate is-well,
let US say, rather queer. To begin
with, no one knows who this Bradley
is, or was, and the-well, l hate to say
it, Captain Warren, but the handwrit-
ing on that Bradley signature resem-
bles very closely that of your brother"
At length the captain raised his head.
"Wen." he said slowly, eve amt
children. We might as well call things
by their right names. BBe forged that
certificate -
I'm afraid there is no doubt of it"
"Dear, dear, dearl Why, they put
folks in states prison for that!
Eyes. But dead man is beyond
prisons"
That's so. Then 1 don't see
"You will. You don't grasp the full
meaning Of this affair even yet. II the
Bradley certificate is forgery, fraud
from beginning to end, then the pre-
sumption is that there was never any
such person as Bradley. But some one
paid $4,000 for 100 Akrae shares when
the company was formed. That certifi-
cate has never been turned in. Some
person or persons somewhere hold 1OO
shares of Akrae Rubber company
stock. Think, now! Suppose that some
one turns up and demands all that he
has been cheated out of for the past
seventeen years! Think of that!'
"Well, am thinkin' Of it. 1 got the
scent Of what you was drivin at five
minutes ago. And / don't see that we
need to be afraid. He could have put
Bile in JAIL but Bile is already servin'
longer sentence than he could give
him. So that disgrace amt bearin'
down on us. And, If I understand
about such things, his claim is against
the Akrae company, and that's dead
dead as the man that started it. May
be he could put In keeper or a receiv-
er or some such critter, but there's
nothin' left to keep or receive. Amt
1 right?"
"You are or you would be but for
one thing, the really inexplicable thing
in this whole miserable affair. Your
brother, Captain Warren, was dishon-
est. He took money that didn't belong
to him, and he forged that certificate.
But he must have intended to make
restitution. He was always optimistic
and always plunging in desperate and
sometimes rather shady speculations
which he was sure would turn out ia
vorably. If they had-if, for instance,
the South Shore. trolley combine had
been put through. You knew Of that,
did your"
"Tve been told somethin' about it.
Go onr'
hopes there were frustrated. And that
was but one of his schemes. How
ever. when the sale of the company
was consummated he did an extraor-
binary thing. He made out and sign
ed his personal note, payable to the
Akrae company, for every cent he had
misappropriated. And we found that
note in his safe after his death. That
was what first aroused our suspicious
Now, Captain Warren, do you under
stand?"
Captain Elisha did not understand
that was evident.
"a motel" he repeated. Bile put
his note in the safe? A note promisin'
to pay all he'd stole. And left it there
where it could be found? Why, that's
pretty nigh unbelievable, Mr.. Sylves-
ter! He might just as well have con-
fessed his crookedness and be done
with it."
"Yes. It is unbelievable, but 1t is
true. Graves can show you the note"
The Junior partner produced slip
Of paper from the portfolio and regard
ed it frowningly.
"Of all the pieces Of sheer 1unacy,"
he observed, "that ever came under my
observation this is the worst. Here it
is, Captain Warren"
He extended the paper. Captain
Elisha waved 1t aside.
II don't want to see it-not yet" he
protested. 81 want to think. I want
to get at the reason if can. Why did
he do it2"
THAT is what we've been tryin' to
find-the reason" remarked Kuhn,
"and we can only guess. Sylvester has
told you the guess. Rodgers Warren
intended or hoped to make restitution
before he died."
"Yes Known Bile, can see that.
He was weak, that was his main trou
BILE. He didn't mean to be crooked, but
his knees want strong enough to keep
him straight when it come to a hard
push. But he made his note payable to
a company that was already sold out,
so it amt good for nothin'. Now,
Why
Graves struck the table with his open
hand.
HE doesn't understand at allw he
exclaimed impatiently. Captain War
ren, listen! That note is made payable
to the Akrae company. Against that
company some unknown stockholder
has an apparent claim for two-fifths of
all dividends ever paid and two-fifths
of the $75O,OOO received for the sale.
With accrued interest that claim
amounts to over $5OO,0OO."
Eyes, but
'That note binds Rodgers Warren's
estate to pay that claim-his own per-
sonal estate! And that estate is not
worth over 100000! If this stockhold-
er should appear and press his claim
your brothers children would be not