Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1918-08-02

scratched out.
Captain Elisha looked the speaker in
the face, then slowly turned his look
upon the other two faces.
Scratched out?" he repeated. "Who
scratched it out?"
Graves shrugged his shoulders.
"Yes, yes" said the captain. "You
don't know, but we're all entitled to
guess, hey2 Humph!
IF this person is living" began Syl-
vester, at follows that
Hold on a minute! I don't know
much about corporations, of course
That's more in your line than It's In
mine. But want to ask one question.
You say this, what dye call it-this
Akrae thingamajig-wass sold out, hull,
canvas and riggin', to crowd in Bra
zil? It's gone out of business. then
it's deadT
Eyes, but
"Wait! Amt it customary when a
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. 1 know that. But
to complete the'trade wouldn't this ex-
try hundred shares be turned In or
some sharp questionin' done II
'twa'n'tT"
He addressed the query to Sylvester
The latter seemed more troubled than
before.
THAT" he said, with some besita'
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
ley and transferred on the back by
him to your brother-that is, it was
presumably so transferred"
presumably - presumably? Yor
mean
81 mean that this certificate is-well
let US say, rather queer. To begir
with, no one knows who this Bradley
Is, or was, and the-well, I 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
well" he said slowly, 1--WE aim
children. We might as well call thing!
by their right names. Bile forged tina
certificate
I'm afraid there is no doubt of it."
1oorI Whu thnU
folks in states prison for that!"
yes But a dead man is beyond
prisons"
That's so. Then I don't see
"You will. You don't grasp the full
meaning Of this affair even yet. If tn
Bradley certificate is a forgery, a fraut
from beginning to end, then the pre-
sumption is that there was never an,
such person as Bradley. But some on
paid $4,000 for 100 Akrae shares whel
the company was formed. That certiti
cate has never been turned in. Som
person or persons somewhere hold To-
shares of Akrae Rubber cOmpan
stock. Think, now! Suppose that som
one turns up and demands all that h
} has been cheated out of for the pas
seventeen years! Think of that!'
"Well, am thinkin' of it. l got tn
scent of what you was drivin' at fly
minutes ago. And l don't see that W
need to be afraid. He could have pu
! Bile In Jail, but Bile is already servir
a longer sentence than he could Civ
him. So that disgrace amt bearir
down on us. And, if l understan,
about such things, his claim is agains
the Akrae company, and that's dead
, dead as the man that started it. May
be he could put in keeper or a receiy
err or some such critter, but there
nOthin' left to keep or receive. Ain
/ right?"
"You are or you would be but 70
one thing, the really inexplicable thin
in this whole miserable affair You
brother, Captain Warren, was dishor
; est. He took money that didn't belon
, to him, and he forged that certificate
But he must have intended to max
restitution. He was always optimisti
and always plunging in desperate an
sometimes rather shady speculation
which he was sure would turn out fl
vorably. If they had-if, for instance
the South Shore trolley combine ha
been put through. You knew Of tina
did your"
1--WE been told somethin' about 1
Go Onw
well, it was not put through, so hi
hopes there were frustrated. And tha
was but one of his schemes. How
! ever. when the sale of the compan
was consummated he did an extraol
binary thing. He made out and sigI
ed his personal note, payable to tn
Akrae company, for every cent he ha
misappropriated. And we found tina
note in his safe after his death. Tha
was what first aroused our suspicion!
Now, Captain Warren, do you under
standW
Captain Elisha did not understand
that was evident.
"a motel" he repeated. Bile pu
. his note in the safe? A note promisiI
to pay all he'd stole. And left it Their
} where it could be found? Why, that