Show T true Mes stories 35 uncle slam of the federal areat greatest in I 1 m detective 64 D bip e 1 4 detective Agen agency cV the bureau of information N I 1 U S dept ri of justice it r by ATTON ATHERTON RV DU PUY rai the Psycho lodi cal sleuth copyright by W 0 chapman billy gard card was jogging comfortably from the station to the commercial hotel in the carryall which la in royer ton still afforded the only link between those two points when pandemonium broke out in the streets ile he met its forerunner foie runner head on not two blocks blacks from the station this bolt that had launched itself from the clears clear skies took the form of ai s normally dignified family carriage drawn by two lean bays but the sedate respectability which surrounded this equipage when ft hen it was driven by its proper owner president derit ats sons ot of the royerton royeston Ro national bank had been lost in the madness aadnes s of the mhd present exploit forthe foe the lean bays were now extend ing themselves in what appeared to be an attempt to break all speed records that the community had ever known the dignified carria carriage a was careening from side to side I 1 4 a way that threatened its overthrow at ani any moment gards cards first impression was of a team that had broken loose from a hitching rack and dashed away uncontrolled but as it flashed past him there was an instant in which the actual situation was waa photographed upon his brain for this team was not without a driver ile he had bad seen the form of a slim allm young man maa which leaned far out ov over erthe the dashboard pale refined features that fitted illy into a scene of such vigorous action bu what wp was more surprising was that this driver instead of attempting to restrain his t horses was every moment lashing them into new exertions df homer nester as I 1 live I 1 the driver of the carryall in consternation ster nation who la is homer B kester ester asked gard card the cashier of the bank was the reply whereupon the young special agent bof of the depart tn nt of justice acquired au an even gre gichter titer interest in the situation than he had experienced be aio oio tor be had bad come t to royerton royeston Ro tor for the purpose of making inquiries into the condition ot of its national bank which was under cusp suspicion acion behind the fleeing carriage camo came the town constable who had evidently appropriated for purposes of giving ch first horse he had found by the side of th the estreet street others had bad joined in the pursuit and brabble a rabble of small boys and curious townsmen crowded the street from these tho the 1 stranger was soon able to gather tho the story atory of what had happened in the im mediate past it had suddenly developed that the cashler cashier was short in his accounts the directors had bad awakened ol of a sudden to ta a realization that the institution over which they presided was but a financial shell there was no delay in the interest of expediency an immediate call was sent forth for the constable the young cashier went into a panic in desperation he rushed from the back door of the tha bank cut loose the team of the institutions president which stood near leaped in handmade and made a dash for it it would have appeared that such a procedure would have been entirely tuble that there would have been no question bl 01 the apprehension of this criminal yet such was not the case and homer nester was a thorn in the flesh alesh of the authorities and particularly oi of special agent billy gard for many a day for he bo ran his team two miles into the tha country abandoned it but sent it still adrift caught a cro cross ss country trolley and with the excel alp alon n of a single fleeting moment was waa zt ct again seen by the authorities toe for abear a year and a half G lard gard in the meantime w was as faced with the immediate problem of determining the nature of the crime and representing the united states that justice might bs be meted out in the course of which work he developed the detail of what had happened to the tone lone financial institution ot at this doun country town and revealed a method by which a single depositor had filched it of its funds la in a way vay that almost amounted to the and consent of the directors the alie trouble was all caused by a I 1 ya young ung man by the name of george D caviness Cavin who was born bom with a peculiar gift of inducing hla his associates jo to perform for hini him such favors as were better not granted it would z seem that hohag bo had taken for his model j an n life the monkey it if it was i a monkey that had first induced the cat to pull those historical chestnuts boutot the fire but so BO alluring were hta his so attractive his personality son sona lity allty so popular was he be rocia socially llY that the town had become accustomed to forgiving his transgressions and allowing him mohave to have his way thy father of geor george ged D had biad been a director of theno the Nat national tunal bank and at one time a man of means tit lit was a great shock to tho town tova when alien three years earlier the elder cavaness had blown out his brains it was a to his associates to find that hla his estate had so dwindled that there was almost nothing left the ban bank kwas was directly embar ras sedo sed because of the fact that the younger caviness had borrowed upon hla his fathers endors endorsement e me at from that institution knowing ster as asi these directors did they called him on the ithe carpet and asked him what ho he intended to do toward making good 1 I am going to pay these notes almost immediately he be said confidently you know that I 1 the local representative of a new york insurance company j I 1 am doing a great business lu in fact I 1 can promise a payment tomorrow 1 but urged a director your personal account I 1 Is 9 also alsa overdrawn that thai will not be necessary I 1 lany any more said caviness 1 I am now on a firm financial basis I 1 am new drw in a position to throw new business to the bank bajik instead of being a burden to it with these assurances the directors pari parted edwith with young caviness on the friendliest of terms they wanted to believe in what he said as this would savo save the bank money and themselves embarrassment t further than this there seemed nothing that could bo be done and the boundless optimism of the young man created confidence the next day the insurance agent deposited for dis discount count a sixty day note for given him by a man tor for whom he had written a policy he drew 50 in cas casbana cash band and allowed the balance to be placed to his credit the directors were encouraged the in byrance sy rance man continued such oceia opeia operations much of his paper gaper being iper i perfectly good it would appear that he wad was anthe on ithe way toward clearing up his affairs but CaT Ca vinesa iness spent much money some of it going toward the entertainment of 0 sons and daughters of the directors if they stopped him at any time it would have meant the absolute absolu ie loss of the amount he already owed As illogical as it might seem beem more and more credit was extended in addition to the liberties that caal ness thus thu took with the directors of the bank he be had also established a sort of domi dominance nance over homer kester its young cashier the dominant insurance roan man had been a leader among their mutual associates froni from youth was the social lion of tho town and always patronized the cashier that timid youth had allowed his friend to overdraw his bis account when his father was a director and it therefore seef seemed fied sate safe this tact fact made it easier afterward when it was unsafe finally the directors awoke to the tact fact that george caviness owed the tha bank homer kester hester the cashier so reported the directors were appalled this was the end caviness was contrite he made new notes for the whole amount these would at least appear in the assets of the bank when the examiner came around he promised he would in future deposit only cash and certified checks the hope of recovering some odthe of the money led the directors to keep the account open there seemed no other way but nester kester the cashier had not reported all the facts with relation to the caviness accounts the checking account of the latter was at this time overdrawn to the amount of the cashier realized that he had been personally nt at fault in allowing this he had con confessed if essed his embarrassment to caviness the latter had bad advised that the cashier juggle the accounts in 16 such a way that the shortage would not show and that he be fall fail to report it to the I 1 directors arranging tiie ahe ex accounts counts was vas easy As a matter of fact these overdrafts were already being hid by being carried on the books as cash the arrangement had become necessary upon the occasion of a recent visit of a national bank examiner As the examiner examine rhad had been deceived so might be the directors so it happened that caviness was deeper in debt than the directors knew billy gard was fascinated in developing the psychology of the case the manner in which bilich this prodigal played upon the cashier and the directors to his advantage but liere here the miscreant had come to the end of hla his string with the directors he was to be allowed only to pay in money but with the tha cashier the situation was different caviness now had bad kester hester in his control that young ster had made a false falie report to the examiner and the directors he had violated the law hta his position even his bis freedom depended on helping car iness to make good it if I 1 had bad but a taw few hundred dollars caviness told kester hester when they met surreptitiously to talk the raal mat ter over 1 I could afe clean an up the whole amount I 1 have a most unusual bust 1 ness opportunity in philadelphia YOU must lot let me overdraw just once more k not a cent insisted kester hester 1 I i have already let you ruin me and tho the bank I 1 will go no further it if you dont brutally stated the insurance man you are ruined by wb what at you have already done I 1 am ruined the banks bank is ruined ruffied this athla lis la the one chance in the end ho he went to philadelphia to grasp ghisone thi this sone one chance billy gard acknowledged that it was logical that the cashier should allow him to do so BO the draft that caviness drew was waa for twice tile the amount he had named but the harassed cashier could not bring himself tol to refuse to honor it caviness vinesa Ca had proven himself a psychologist again two days later a smaller smalle r draft came but with no line of explanation the chance to recoup might depend upon this money we tho cashier felt he appreciated the greater chances on the other side but having honor honored edthe the larger check he could not turn down the smaller on one 0 it was not logic that he should do so As the days passed there came other drafts tor bor always smaller amounts there was still no report from caviness yet what excuse could the cashier offer himself for refusing these small drafts when he be had honored the big the prodigal gali drew in a single day forty small email checks ranging from ono one to five dollars despairingly the cashier cashed everyone every everyone oie it was during the week that followed that the directors had bad precipitated the flight of the cashier billy gard found the whole case easy to clear up with the exception of the apprehension pre 11 bension of tho two men who had been the instruments in wrecking the bank the special agent had little doubt of his ability to tb catch homer kester the cashier there was the almost infallible theory that such a fugitive would write home there was but the necessity to wait until he should do so and the point at 0 hiding would be indicated by the post mark there I 1 FELLED BYA BY A BLOW FROM THE STOUT STICK OF A SLIM antagonist was no need ot of haste tn in the case of nester keeter it seemed but caviness was ft as harder to figure out yet just the reverse proved to ba true gards cards theory for catching a man of the type held good whilmon wh ileon the fugitive cashier ile he absolutely tailed failed in royeston royerton Ro it was waa easy to find many intimates of the insurance man prom from these it was learned that the spendthrift often visited philadelphia aud and that while there he kept fast company some of the young men of the village knew of the places he be frequented quen ted tho the pl people eople who were his bis friends such a man soliloquized billy gard card always hides bides with a woman i whereupon the special agent rei turned to philadelphia and began in veti gating one atter after another the resorts and the sporting friende of the missing insurance agent one thread itter after another was followed to i its end until in tracing gracin g a certain wom woman an to io germantown the special agent met gitil a result and a surprise that was beyond his expectation A drayman who had hauled the goods and chattels of the woman he be was tracing bad given gard the germantown address it was eleven on a sunshiny morning when the special agent reached the address it was a narrow house in a closely built row and evidently was rented each aae h fleoras flo floor oras as a flat fiat gardrad gard bad had recon recoil tottered nott ered front and back bach had gossiped with the grocer at the corner with some gome child children in the street he was looking for or an opportunity to approach the janitor of the house to question him informally wanted to talk to the postman then he met the policeman on this beat he ha had asked this guardian of the law about the occupants of the flat in question and the two men were drifting idly past when pande broke loose after shriek tore its way through the drawn curtains of the ground floor flat there was the crash of broken furniture furni the whack of heavy blows the thud of falling bodies the policeman and tb the special especial agent ran to the door odthe of the house to which the former put his hia shoulder with good effect they were thus let into anar a narrow hall off of this were the doors to the flat through which the noise of a vast disturbance continued to come it required the strength of the two men tob to break Teak through the barr barrier ler and some delay was occasioned but when the door was finally forced it was a wild cene that was revealed they had broken into tho the sitting room sprawled across its floor was the form of a disheveled woman blonde shapely clad in a dressing dressl ng and evidently unconscious chairs were upset tables overturned the intruders gave gale but a hurried glance to this apartment however how over for the action of the play was still going forward and might be seen through the torn portieres port leres eres that le led dinto into the adjoining dining room As they looked the term of a strong young man tell fell heavily across thed the dining lnig room table felled by a blow from the stout stick of EL a slim antagonist the waelder N of the attack shifted his position and billy gard got a view of his face lividly white delicately chiseled and refined in appearance if It seemed illy to fit ints into this chaotic sc scene erfe yet the special ag agett xit knew be had seen it before afta a end and instantly the photographic flush of I 1 such a faced face bending over the dashboard of a ma madly adly plunging carriage returned to his consciousness it was the face of homer kester billy gard had often had occasion to jo be vastly surprised by the unexpected vigor and prowess of mild and law abiding men when edby circumstances into the realms of the lawless he had therefore not been greatly surprised arl sed when the young yo ung cashier had made hla his wild ride to freedom but as the aggressive wielder of a heavy stick that had beaten his |