Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-03-12
NUMBER II.
"Heyi WHAT'S thati Don't you know

"Heyi WHAT'S thati Don't you know
who he wasr
"No, we do not. The name upon the
stub Of the transfer book has been
scratched out"
Captain Elisha looked the speaker In
the face, then slowly turned bis look
upon the other two faces.
Scratched outf he repeated. "Who
scratched It outT
Graves shrugged his shoulders
"Yes, yes" said the captain. "You
don't know, but we're all entitled to
guess, heyi Humphr
If this person is living" began syl
vester, 1T follows that
"Hold on q minuteI I don't know
much about corporations, Of course.
That's more In your line than tbs In
mine. But want to ask one question.
You say this, what dye call it-this
Akrae thingamajig-was sold out, hull,
canvas and r1ggin', to q crowd In Bra
zil3 It's gone out Of business. then-
it's deadY
"Yes, but
"Waitl Amt 1t customary when q
sale like this is made to turn over all
the stock. certificates and all? Some.
times you get stock In the new COM
pany in exchange. know that. But
to complete the trade wouldn't this ex.
try hundred shares be turned In or
some sharp Questionin' done II
'twa'ntT
He addressed the query to Sylvester.
The latter seemed more troubled than
before.
THAT" he said, with some hesita-
tion, is one Of the delicate points in
this talk Of ours, Captain Warren. A
certificate for the missing hundred
shares was turned in. It was dated
at the time of the original issue, made
out In the name of one Edward Brad.
ley and transferred on the back by
him to your bfother-that is, 1t was
presumably 80 transferred"
PRESUMABLY - presumably? You
mean
II mean that this certificate isAwell,
let US say, rather queer. To begin
with, no one knows who this Bradley
Is, or was, and the-well, ! hate to say
1t, 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, we amt
children. We might as well call things
by their right names. Bite 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 q dead man is beyond
prisons"
'aThat's so. Then I don't see"-
"You will You don't grasp the full
meaning of this affair even yet II the
Bradley certificate Is q 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 lOo
shares of Akrae Rubber company
stock. Think. now! Suppose that some
one turns up and demands all that be
has been cheated out Of for the past
seventeen years! Think Of that"
"WelL am thinkin' Of It I got the
scent Of what you was drivin' at I'VE
minutes ago. And don't see that we
need to be afraid. He could have put
Bile In Jail, bur Bite is already servin'
q longer sentence than he could give
him. So that disgrace amt bearin
down on US. And, II understand
about such things, bis claim is against
the Akrae company, and that's dead
dead as the man that started It May
be he could put In q keeper or q receiv-
er or some such critter. but there's
uothin' left to keep or receive. Amt
I 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 speculatons
which he was sure would turn out fa'
vorably. II they had-if. for instance
the South Shore trolley combine had
been put through. You knew OF that
I'D your
"rve been told somethin' about t.
10 onr'
"Well, it was not put through, 20 bis
hopes there were frustrated. And that
was but one Of his schemes. How.
aver. when the sale Of the company
was consummated he did an extreor.
iinary thing. he made out and sign
ed his personal note, payable to the
Akrae company, for every cent he had
And we found that
uote In his safe after his death. That
was what first aroused our suspicious.
Now. Captain Warren. do you under.
vtandY
Captain Elisha did not understand.
that was evident.
"A note! he repeated. Bic put
bis note In the safe7 A note promisin'
to pay all he'd stole. And left 1t there
where It could be found? Why, that's
pretty nigh unbelievable, Mr.. Sylves-
teri He might just as well have con-
cessed his crookedNess and be done
with It."
"Yes. It is unbelievable, but It 70
true. Graves can show you the note.
The junior partner produced . slip
Of paper from the portfolio and regard
ed 1t frowningly.
"Of all the pieces Of sheer lunacy,
be observed. "that ever came under my
observation this Is the worst Here ie
Is, Captain Wsrren."
Ee extended the paper. Captain
Elisha waved It aside.
81 don't want to see it-not Jet" hs
protested. "I want to think. ! want
to get at the reason II can. Why did
be do It'll"
"That Il what we've been tryin' 70
dnd-the reason" remarked Kuhn,