Year: 1863

Two months a. 20 man paid TO me, ]


the afternoon, FIVE hundred dollars


I put it In the drawer, and on the mex
! morning before you came in. ] locke
at your cash account and found only
two hundred of that set down. From
, that time / have been very wstchful
and have detected q dossn simifa
cases. / have noticed every dolla
that came in after the bank accouu
was made up. and have also taken not
Of the amount entered upon the book
and during that time there has been /
lacking Of over seven hundred dollars
Now who has access to the safe ant
to that drawer?"


! ] was astonisbed. could only as
sure my employer that l knew nothing
it; and / saw that be wanted to be-
lieve me. I asked him il be hac
spoken Of this to any one else. Not .
living one but me be replied. l pom
derered few moments. and then said;


"Wharton, could l be made to be.
lieve that, even ignorantly, had
wronged you to the value Of a dollar,
should not feel the perfect conscious
ness Of honor that now feel. There
must be thief somewhere. Some Of
the clerks may find access to the
money. But are you willing to let the
matter rest few days? will strain
every never to detect the evil doer"


He finally consented to let me try
my hand at detecting the thief. He
promised not to lisp a syllable upon
the subject to any one else, and also to
leave the matter entirely in my hands
for one week. He gave me warm
grasp when we separated, and said he
hoped would succeed.


On the following morning I entered
the store with all my energies Of mind
centered upon the work before me.


There were four clerks or statesmen,
and one boy in constant attendance.
besides myself, and the money received
had to pass through my hands. Some
times / made up my cash accounts at
night, and sometimes not till the next
morning.


In the latter case, I generally put
the money drawer into the safe and
locked il up. The key to this safe was
kept in small drawer, TO which there
were two keys, one of which l kept,
while Mr.. Wharton kept the other
The only other person who ever helped
us in the store was Henry, my en-
ployer's only son. a youth OF twenty
years of age. He was preparing for
college under private tutor, but found
time to help us when business was
driving. He was kind hearted gen.
erous fellow, and strong mutual at
tachment had grown up between u.s.
At FIRST l thought of getting him to
help me find the thief. but as Wharton
had promised to speak to no one else
upon the subject, l concluded to keep
silent also.


That night l counted my money,
but made no entry on the account
There was three hundred and forty
odd dollars. l put it in a new calf
skin pocketbook, placed that in the
money drawer, and locked the whole up
in the safe. On the following morn
ing 1 found fifty dollars missing. l
counted the money over carefully, and
l was not mistaken. 1 began to feel
unpleasantly. Ny suspicion took a
very unwelcome turn.


During the day 1 pondered upon the
subject, and finally hit upon the fol-
lowing experiment: When l locked up
the safe for the night, l spread upon
the knob Of the door, and upon the
money-drawer some pale red lead,
being careful not to get enough on TO
be easily noticed. I had left the ac-
count open to be closed the next morn
ing. When next opened the safe all
was as l had left it.


The next night l fixed the knob in
the same manner, and on the following
morning 1 found forty dollars gone
Upon the pocketbook were finger
marks of red lead; and when l came
to open my cash book l found the
same kind ofmarks there. So / had
learned one thing--the thief knew
enough to ssee whether any account
had been made of the money before
he took it. l felt more unpleasantly
than before, for my unwelcome sus-
picions we're being confirmed. had
gained new light. There was a pecu-
liarity in the red finger marks which
told sad story: Still / wished to try
further.


-Fvr Two nights after the safe re-
mained undisturbed, but on the third
night I missed seventy-Eye dollars,
and now set my trap more carefully
The red pigsment was not only used,
but had put private mark on every
bill in the drawer. The pocketbock
and each book were fingered as be-
fore. and the marks were clear and dis
tinct. ~


When the week was up, Mr.. Whar-
ton came and asked me what 1 had
found. - - oe sg


"Ah." said he, as be noticed the sor.
rosful expression upon my counte-
nance, "you have failed to discover
anything"


"Alss. Wish 1 could say So" I re.
piled, 81 have discovered TOO much
In the first place, the money has been
taken from the safe, and the key left in
the proper drawer, and locked up as