Year: 1873

as those conditions are, 10 my


knowledge, favorable, we may look


upon the matter as settled"


Mrs. Wilmot expressed her pleas


ure at my improved prospects, and


then the commencement Of the din


ner interrupted our conversation


for q time. When we began to con-


verse again, an accidental remark


Of Mrs. Wilmot's led me to the In


PRODUCTION of 4 topic which had


repeatedly been mentioned in my


presence on former occasions, but


which had never properly fathom'


ed. ItreferFed to q very mysterious


affair connected with the disappear


ance of valuable jeWel-ease belong
ing to Mrs. Wilmot. Prompted By


curiosity, asked Mr.. Wilmot IL ht


would enlighten me as to the whole


facts Of this matter.


"Well, I will tell YOU all that


know about It, but that is net much


as the whole transaction was very


mysterious, and it has never yet


been cleared ND. The robbery, fol


such it undoubtedly was, toek placs


some three years and half ago, ano


therefore about six months before


you came TO this branch. 1t hap


pened in this way: We had dinner
party one evening, and my wife,
| when dressing, took some= }eWelfy


out Of her case, which brought
from my private safe for that pur-
pose. This case she left on her
dressing table, and when we went
out 10 our bedroom, after our
guests had gone, it was nowhere to
be found. We had servant who
was to leave the next day, the cause
of her dismissal being her habit of
going out without permission and
Keeping late hours. On inquiry, /
found that this girl had been away
from the house about two hours du-
ring the time We were with our
guests. E-2


"This circumstance, coupled with
others, excited my suspicions so far
| that sent for the superintendent of
police; but after q long and tedious
Inquiry, IL was impossible to obtain
any tauEible evidence against her.
Among 5nr guests on the evening
in question was gentleman named
Garstang, who filed the post Of ac-
countant in the bank here, but who
was on the eve of his departure to
take the managership at N. My
WEe was always firmly impressed
with the idea that Garstang was
connected with the DISAPPEARANCE of
her Jewels, but Of course looked
upon such q suspicion as simply
prepesterous in fact her only
grounds for it were her general dis
ike to him, and the fact that he had
departed before the rest Of the COM
pany upon what she thought an in
Sufficient plea"


"Whethsr / wrong him or not /
cannot tel, and may never know"
said Mrs. Wilmot, "but 1 have al
ways felt an irresistible conviction
that my impression was right. You
know, Stephen, that ] expressed =
dislike to him when first saw him.
There was something about the ex-
preston of his features that was
very unpleasant"


''That is my strongest reason for
distrusting your convictions, my
dear. I consider that it was the re-
suit of the bad impression he made
upon you at first, indefinite at start
ing, bat suddenly reduced to shape
by the circumstances Of the robbery.
II, however, you will consider Mr..
Garstang's prospects at that very
time, you must see that it would be
absurd to suppose for q moment
that he could be guilty of such an
egregious act Of folly-an act the
discovery of which would have
hurled him fr0m q most enviable
position to felon's cell. Such q
suspicion is unjust and dangerous,
and i should tremble if l thought
any one could get an inkling OF it.
1 need not impress upon you the ne
cessity of silence upon so delicate
subject; and Of course, Dandy"
said he, turning to me, "you fully
understand that what you have
heard is under the seal of friendship
and must never be even whispered
to your own ears"


l signifed my firm intention of
never breathing a word on this dan
gerous subject, and turned the con-
Versation to more ordinary matters.


We had just commenced dessert,
when telegram was brought in by
one of the servants, and handed to
Mr.. WilmOt, who quickly read it,
and with look of surprise passed it
to me. Now, In the course of our
extensive banking business, it was
continually necessary to coEamuni-
cate by wire from one branch to
another, on important matters, and,
for the sake of the needful secrecy,
a cipher code was adopted. This
code was only known to the chief
officials at each branch, and hence
none of the telegraph clerks could
understand our dispatches. The
telegram was in this code, and was
from M, q town about forty
miles of, where there were two
banks-viZ., our branch and q pri-
vate bank. The telegram stated
that this private bank had closed its
doors finally that afternoon at 4;
that Mr.. Dane, our manager at
NJ, had just got this information,
and that he expected severe run
upon our bank in the morning, He
urged us to send him immediate re-
lief, and suggested that we should
telegraph to our branch at O. for
gold for our use, so as to send him
as much as possible. The case was
q most urgent one, and Mr.. Wilmot
and myself quickly decided what to
do. j started in q cab to fetch the
cashier, who had one Of the three
keys of the bank strong-roOm, the
others being in the respective keep
ing of myself and the Manager
While / went on this errand, Mr..
Wilmot sent of a telegram, giving
g COPY of Nr. Danes, with some
further hints to the manager at O..
Mr.. Wilmot was at the bank when
II ,NHnr = ks,
found the porter, who like myself
lived on the bank premises-at
home, and we were not long in
packing up in suitable cases, sum
of seven thousand pounds in gold,
and about two thousand in Bank Of
England paper. For the convey
ance of this to the railway station
we summoned two cabs from an adj
joining stand. AS these cabs drove
up, 1 ran somewhat quickly out of
the bank, and, in so doing came
against q man who was passing
along the fOot-path. He had q hand
kerchief muffied about his throat,
and his coat buttOned up TO his
chin, in addition to which he held a
red silk handkerchief to his nose
and mouth. The inclemeney of the
night sufficiently accounted for
these precautions; but as / jostled
him, his hand was for an instant
cast aside, and 1 saw his face. 1t
was one not easily forgotten. 1t
was handsome, and vet repugnant.
However, i was busy. He passed
on and thought no more about it.
The manager and myself got into
one cab, and the cashier and the
porter occupied the other, and we
drove as rapidly as we could thro'
the town to the railway station
When We arrived there the mail
train for N was just about TO