Show a GUILTY OR 0 I 1 le 1 INNOCENT no CENT I 1 w m jmj by AMY BRAZIER j tj www 0 CI V continued something comet baing must have happened people a are re running there is a little crowd rc round the bank and a policeman Is Iju pushing shing his way through what can it be bea sebastian joins the pro d and the people tall fall back and make way mr air saville Is a magis and a 43 very one stands aside to let him pass in the I D ank itself a small eager crowd are peering over the counter at a strange scene within the bank manager isi is stooping over a prostrate figure the body ot of the cashier limp and Insen sit ie le that then has been an outrage Is plain to the commonest understanding the floor is strewn with papers and a stool Is overturned over turned there must have been a desperate despi erate struggle before the young man was overpowered the place is a reiT ilar wreck at first the general opinion Is that the cashier Is dead murdered most probably there Is a heavy taint odor of some drug mr air kelly tiie tilie bank manager lifts an ashen face it must have been very quickly done clone I 1 had not left the bank ten minutes I 1 was at af my lunch and when I 1 got back I 1 found grey like this has any one gone tor for a doctora mr air saville puts the question as he stands looking down on the livid in sensible face of the bank clerk give him air open his collar he says and glances around on the scene of contusion confusion the money lying on the floor the books the sebastian stoops aud suddenly denly and picks up a cheque off the floor george bou vere Is scrawled across the back of it without a word he hands the cheque to the bank manager remarking mr air bougere may be able to throw some light on this I 1 met him corn com ing out ot of the bank about a quarter of an hour ago he can at least say it if averyt everything hing was right then where is mr bouverie Bou verle nowa gone home I 1 fancy he was ing oe off a large sum of money at the postoffice post office when I 1 met him mr air kelly turns white as his eyes meet those of sebastian I 1 do not know it if anything has been taken he says very low still chafing away at the limp hands of mr air grey then the doctor hurries in and makes an examination the man Is not dead he has been chloroformed 1 alls is is the verdict and the news goes out to the little knot of people outside not only has the cashier been chloroformed but the bank has been robbed so tar far has been ascertained by a eastly examination it Is a very clever robbery evident ly well planned and carried out sue cess fully during the time the manager was at his lunch nothing further can be known till mr air grey recovers consciousness the cashier who Is a very uninteresting young man be comes all at once an object of excite ment and discussion and through the length and breadth of Por traven the news goes like wildfire CHAPTER VI it was a very near thing indeed the doctor says when at last he sue ceede in restoring mr air grey this you young ng man has a weak heart and very little more would have finished him As it Is the cashier lies limp and liv id from the effects of chlo form by whom administered it were hard to say sebastian saville watches eagerly hungrily while mr grey greys s dazed sen ben ses come back and he casts terrified glances round there now you are all right says the bank manager nervously and im patiently he is anxious to find out it if the cashier can give any account of the as sault upon him any clue to the per pe of the outrage A couple of policemen stand by mr grey 8 eyes turn towards them almost apprehensively he must have got a terrible shock to be so unnerved and shaken now mr air grey try and give us come rome account of this mystery you must know something mr air saville says every moment moments s delay gives the thief time to get off it seems from the hasty inspection made by mr air kelly that over a hundred pounds have been taken the injured man s lips writhe and a damp sweat stands out on his tore fore head he lifts two shaking hands he tried to murder me he gasps almost inarticulately I 1 was all alone and be he sprang over the coun counter tery who asks mr saville with des earnestness quick do you know who it was wasa 9 the cashier cashiers s face turns ashen be he has not yet recovered by any means his eyes rove anxiously round mr air grey you are losing time the manager says it Is of the greatest importance that your statement should be made perfectly clear I 1 will tell all I 1 know the young man whispers with you had gone to your lunch mr kelly it was very quiet about two 0 clock a time very few people are about I 1 was writing in the ledger athen hen the bank door opened and a man came in he ile had a small bag in his band hand he presented a cheque tor for payment it was for five pounds he said he would have it in gold and I 1 turned to get it for him this is gods god s truth mr kel ly in a second he sprang over the counter seized me by the collar chok ing me we struggled desperately but I 1 could not call out I 1 was choking and then he stuffed a handkerchief soaked with chloroform in my mouth he held it there I 1 do not know any more he shivers as he speaks and covers his ghastly face with his hands sebastian saville bends forward who was the man mana he asks the question intently earnestly mr grey lifts his head it was george bouvette Bou verle verte I 1 knew it mr air saville says quiet ly I 1 saw him coming out of the bank and immediately after dispatch money by telegraph it was vas a bold robbery indeed now mr kelly what are you going to do doa mr kelly s face looks grey with ter I 1 cannot believe it he exclaims george bouverie Bou verle the thing seems to me impossible mr grey fixing stern eyes upon the droope drooping ng figure ot of the cashier do you swear that mr bouverie drugged ou and robbed the banka before god is this the trutha yes it is the truth I 1 am prepared to swear it I 1 the cashiers tones are steady enough now he ile looks mr air kelly straight in A fn the face I 1 did not know the bank was as robbed I 1 only know for certain that george Bou bouverie verle attacked and drugged me he has been financially embar mr air saville says he has been in desperate straights for money I 1 I 1 know admits mr kelly relue bantly remembering a passionate re quest from young bouverie to be al lowed to overdraw his account but still from money difficulties to a bank robbery was a wide and awful gulf mr grey is examined and ana cross ex he sticks to his statement in ill an unshaken manner this is terrible groans mr air kelly to think young bouverie should sink to an act of burglary it will kill his mother mr saville prepares to depart it is sad indeed but that young man is steeped to the lips in turf transactions more or less discreditable I 1 suppose you will have a warrant made out immediately 7 he lowers his eyes to conceal the look of triumph branded as a crim inal barbara can no longer think of george bouverie Bou verle the bank manager sighs and passes his hand across his forehead I 1 suppose it will have to be done he says slowly but mr air grey I 1 could almost believe you the victim of a hallucination sebastian laughs hallucination can not chloroform a man or rob a bank I 1 mean said mr kelly that he might have been mistaken he might have fancied it was bouverie mr air saville holds out the cheque he had picked up on the floor of the bank this Is conclusive evidence this is the identical cheque mr grey was giving gold for at the moment he was attacked I 1 cannot see the slightest loophole for doubt I 1 myself ca can n swear to having met george bouverie running hastily down the steps of the bank carrying a small bag and ten minutes after saw him handing in a pile of gold at the post lre let him account for that money being in his possession mr air grey sits white and listless ner bously clasping and unclasping his hands I 1 feel ill he says looking at the doctor who has turned his back and stands in pale consternation george bouverie a thief impossible the doctor has known him since he was born and now to hear that he has sunk so low Is appalling he feels stunned yet he remembers the young man s altered look of care that sat so oddly on the young face during those anxious weeks of mrs bouverie Bou verle s ill ness he had noticed george often find ing him sitting moody and depressed poor poor lad it if he had only made a clean breast of it to me I 1 says kindly old doctor carter to himself I 1 would have helped him only too gladly but facts are facts and within an hour two constables are driving rap idly towards the grange on an outside car and one of them holds a warrant for the arrest of george bouverie the 1 rant is signed by two magis one of whom is sebastian sa valle who never in all his life signed his name with such alacrity before tor for i 1 ie io downfall of his enemy Is corn com CHAPTER VII the evening sunlight is slanting across the lawn making a glory of the dancing daffodils and the birds are li holding a concert that commenced with the dawn th s morning such a tender loving spring evening the sun shines in at the windows of the grange and one shaft rests lov angly on the fair head of george bou bon verie verle mrs bouverie looks at the sunshine and at the face of her handsome son and smiles as she gaas her own eyes are very tweet and patient she Is very happy this evening ba tween her r nd rid id george stands a tea ta e and george Is laughing and pouring out the tea desperately par nicular as to sugar and cream waiting on his mother with gentle courtesy her pale cheeks have taken a pink tinge soft as the blush on a girlish face she wears lilac ribbons in her filmy lace cap and lace ruffles tall fall over her slender hands in upon this homelike scene talks a trouble dark and horrible the maid with a pale face opens the door and stands trembling looking from her mistress to the face of the young man who Is so calmly helping himself to a second cup ot of tea well mary what Is if it he asks gaily cosing a lump of sugar to a fox terrier sitting at his feet oh mr air george I 1 don t know stammers the girl it Is something dreadful sir there Is a sergeant and a constable in the hall I 1 george lays down his cup but no idea of the truth rises in his mind the bank that Is odd but I 1 am not a magistrate what do they want me for fora he says III just step out and ask the sergeant what it means but before he can leave the room there is the sound of a little contusion confusion in the hall and doctor carter with i grave desperate face hurries in and goes straight to mrs bouverie Bou verle my dear old friend there Is some monstrous mistake I 1 there don t get frightened the whole thing Is imps sible a travesty of justice what it is a driveling idiot making a statement like a lunatic I 1 you 11 set them right in ten minutes george won t you youa I 1 a shade of anxiety creep ing ng into his voice what Is ita asks mrs bouverie Bou verle sitting up pale and trembling doc doe tor carter what Is it all he pats the trembling hands he holds my dear lady leave it to george it is all nonsense the blundering saville and that fool of a bank clerk but I 1 don t understand what has my son to do with ita asks mrs bou verie verle getting frightened sure im I 1 m telling you cries the doctor his natural tongue getting the upper hand it seems some one drugged the clerk and robbed the bank and the tool fool dazed with chloroform has saddled the crime on george on mea george exclaims a flush of indignation dyeing his forehead how dare any one say such a thing they have dared retorts the doc doe tor furiously mrs airs Bouier le george can explain everything you austn t excite yourself georg my boy you were at the bank this morning 7 yes I 1 cashed a cheque george says his face growing stern yes afterwards saville saw you wiring oft off a hundred pounds your money of course but you ve just got to tell them that and look here doctor carter stops short at the look that has come over the face of george bouverie Bouver fe a stricken conscious I 1 look ook A hundred pounds oh orge what does it meana cries his mother weeping now in her tear fear george gives one look at her and then his eyes meet the troubled in quiring gaze of the doctor my boy my boy surely you 11 set it right the old man stammers george bouverie Bou verle s face Is as white as death he touches doctor carter on the arm I 1 will go and speak to the sergeant he says in a hard cold I 1 voice to be continued |