ANNA
KATHARIN E
GREEN


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THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS










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’ Capright, 1909, by Richard G. Badger
Cberight, 1908 and 1909, by the Crowell
Publishing Company 7
All Rights Reserved


THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
788327 A
ASTOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDA'I lONS
R 1936 L
M
The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.


CHAPTER
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
CONTENTS
“ Do you know what would
happen to him ”
“ Thousands in that safe ” .
“ How does it stand ”
“ Stenographers must be
counted ”
“ I "ve business with him ” .
“ If I could tell you his
story”. . . . .
“ I’m sure that I can get
them for you ”
“ Idz'd as you bidme ” .
“ ‘ The safe door is opened,’
I cm'ed ” . . .
PAGE
9
17
23
29
35
43
51
59
67
5


CONTENTS
CHAPTER
XI
XII
XIII
XIV
XV
XVI
XVII
XVIII
XIX
XX
PAGE
“ I havea scheme ” 75
“ She will go in ” 81
“ A block of steel ” 89
“ I am from head-
quarters ” 95
“ Y on do not answer ” . 103
“ Now, Fellows will
stay away ” . 111
“ It was not paper I meant
to have ” . . . 121
“ N ow for my part of the
bargain ” . . 129
“ What have you done
among you ” . 189
“ S 0 that was your moti've” 147
“ A jewel of far greater
'value” . . . 155
6


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
OPPOSITE PAGE
' “ Now state your problem ” Frontis
“ He transferred his attention to
the door ” . . . . . . 38
“ Grace, you have misunderstood
me ” . . . . . . . 48
“ An old man was looking up at the
face of a young girl ” . . 80
“ She was ignorant of his pres-
_ ence ” . . . . . . 100
“ The door opened and Philip
Andrews came in ” . . . 144
“ ‘ R. S. T.,’ read the ofiicial ” . 152
“ He was even present at the wed-
ding ” . . . . . . 158





“ Do you know what would happen to
him? ”


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
It seemed a needless question.
Though it was broad daylight outside
and they were in the very heart of the
most populated district of lower New
York, they could not have been more
isolated had the surrounding walls
been those of some old ruin in the heart
of an untraversed desert.
A short description of the place will
explain this. They were in the for-
saken old church not far from Avenue
A , a building long given over to
desolation, and empty of everything
but débris and one or two broken stalls,
which for some inscrutible reason——
possibly from some latent instinct of
inherited reverence — had not yet been
converted into junk and sold to the old
clothes men by the rapacious denizens
of the surrounding tenements.
Perhaps you remember this building;
perhaps some echo of the bygone and

12


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
romantic has come to you as you passed
its decaying walls once dedicated to
worship, but soulless now and only dis-
tinguishable from the five-story tene-
ments pressing up on either side, by its
one high window in which some bits of
colored glass still lingered amid its
twisted and battered network. You
may remembergthe building and you
may remembergthe stray glimpses af-
forded you through the arched opening
in the lower story of one of the adjacent
tenements, of the churchyard in its rear
with its chipped and tumbling head-
stones just showing here and there
above the accumulated litter. But it
is not probable that you have any recol-
lections 0f the interior of the church
itself, shut as it has been from the eye
of the public for nearly a generation.
And it is with the interior we have to
do — a great hollow vault where once
13


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
the door I unfastened for you, and not
one of them is a cop. You may take my
word for that. Besides—”
“ But the kids? They’re every-
where; and if one of them should have
followed us ”
“ Do you know what would happen
to him? I’ll tell you a story — no, I
won’t; you’re frightened enough al-
ready. But there’s no kid here, nor
any one else but our two selves, unless
it be some wandering spook from the
congregations laid outside; and spooks
don’t count. So out with you’re pro-
position, Mr. Fellows. I —”

15


“ Thousands in that safe ”





CHAPTER II
“ Thousands in that safe ”
“ O names! ” hoarsely inter-
rupted the other. “ If you
speak my name again I’ll give
the whole thing up.”
“ No you won’t; you’re too deep in
it for that. But I’ll drop the Fellows
and just call you Sam. If that’s too
familiar, we’ll drop the job. I’m not
so keen on it.”
“ You will be. It’s right in your
line.” Sam Fellows, as he was called,
was whispering now - a hot, eager
whisper, breathing of guilt and despera-
tion. “ If I could do it alone — but I
haven’t the wit —— the ”
“ Experience,” dryly put in the other.
“ Well, well! ” he exclaimed impa-

19


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
l v
tiently, as Fellows crept nearer, but said
nothing.
“ I’m going to speak, but — Well,
then, here’s how it is!” he suddenly
conceded, warned by the other’s eye.
“ The building is a twenty-story one,
chuck full and alive with business. The
room I mean is on the twelfth floor; it is
one of five, all communicating, and all
in constant use except the one holding
the safe. And that is visited con-
stantly. Some one is always going in
and out. Indeed, it is a rule of the
firm that every one of the employees
must go into that room once, at least,
during the day, and remain there for
five minutes alone. I do it; every one
does it; it’s a very mysterious proceed-
ing which only a crank like my em-
ployer would devise.”
“ What do you do there P ”
“ Nothing. I’m speaking now for
20


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
“Oh, you’re manager, are you!”
came in slow retort, filling a silence
that had more of pain than pleasure
in it. “ Well, manager, your story is
very interesting, but by no means com-
plete. Suppose you hurry on to the
next instalment.”
Cringing as from a blow, Fellows
took up his tale, no longer creeping
nearer his would-be confederate, but,
if anything, edging away.
22


“ How does it stand ”





THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
Every passerby can look in. If it is
opened it must be done in broad day-
light and by the person whom the old
man trusts. By that means only would
I get my revenge, and revenge is what I
want. He don’t trust me, me who have
been with him for seven years and —”
“ Drop that, it isn’t interesting. The
facts are what I want. What kind of
safe is it ? ”
“ The strangest you ever saw. I
don’t know who made it. There’s
nothing on it to show. Nor is there
a lock or combination. But it opens.
You can just see the outline of a door.
Steel — fine steel, and not so very large,
but the contents —— ”
“ We’ll take its contents for granted.
How does it stand? On a platform? ”
“ Yes, one foot from the floor. The
platform runs all the way across the
room and holds other things; a table
26


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
which nobody uses, a revolving bookcase
and a series of shelves, fitted with boxes
containing old receipts and such junk.
Sometimes I go through these; but
nothing ever comes of it.” He paused,
as if the subject were distasteful.
“ And the safe is opened P ”
“ Almost every week. I’m ashamed
to tell you the old duifer’s methods;
they’re loony. But he isn’t a lunatic.
At any rate, they don’t think so in Wall
Street.”
“ I’ll make a guess at his name.”
“ Not yet. You’ll have to swear——
“ Oh, we’re both in it. Never mind
the heroics. It’s too good a thing to
peach on. Me and the manager! I
like that. Take it easy till the job’s
done, anyway. And now I’ll take a fly
at the name. It’s —”
He had the grace to whisper.
”
27





“ Stenographers must be counted ”


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
who knows the cipher can read them.
I don’t know the cipher. At night I
take them down, number them, and file
them away. They have served their
purpose. They have been seen by the
person whose business it is to carry out
his instructions, and the rest you must
guess. His brokers know the secret,
but it is never discussed by us. The
least word and the next cablegram
would read in good plain English, ‘ Fire
him! ’ I’ve had that experience. I’ve
had to fire three since he went away two
months ago.”
“ That’s good.”
“ Why good? ”
“ That cuts out three from your list.
The person is not among the ones dis-
missed.”
“That’s so.” New life seemed to
spring up in Fellows. “ You’ll do the
job,” he cried. “ Somehow, I never
32


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
thought of going about it that way.
And I know another man that’s out.”
‘G ”
“ Myself, for one. There are only
seven more.”
“ Counting all ? ”
C‘ All.’,
“ Stenographers included P ”
“ Oh, stenographers! ”
“ Stenographers must be counted.”
“ Well, then, seven men and one
woman. Our stenographer isawoman.”
“ What kind of a woman? ”
“ A young girl. Ordinary, but good
enough. I’ve never noticed her very
much.”
“ Tell me about the men.”
“ What’s the use? You wouldn’t
take my word. They’re a cheap lot,
beneath contempt in my estimation.
There’s not one of them clever enough
for the business. Jack Forbush comes
33


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
the nearest to it, and probably is the
one. The way he keeps his eye on me
makes me suspect him. Or is he, too,
playing my game ? ”
“ How can I tell? How can I tell
anything from what you say P I’ll have
to look into the matter myself. Give
me the names and addresses and I’ll
look the parties up. Get their rating,
so to speak. Leave it to me, and I’ll
land the old man’s confidential clerk.”
“ Here’s the list. I thought you
might want it.”
“ Where’s the girl’s name? ”
“ The girl! Oh, pshaw! ”
“ Put her name down just the same.”
“ There, then. Grace Lee. Address,
74 East Street. And now swear
on the honor of a gentleman — ”
Beau Johnson pulled the rim of
Fellows’s hat over his eyes to suggest
what he_thought of this demand.

34


“ I "ve business with him ”





CHAPTER V
“ I’ve business with him ”
EXT day there appeared at the
offices of Thomas Stoughton, in
Nassau Street, a trim, well-look-
ing man, who had urgent business with
Mr. Fellows, the manager. He was
kept waiting for some time before being
introduced into that gentleman’s private
room; but this did not seem to disturb
him. There was plenty to look at, or
so he seemed to think, and his keen,
noncommittal eyes flashed hither and
thither and from face to face with rest-
less activity. He seemed particularly
interested in the bookkeeper of the
establishment, but it was an interest
which did not last long, and when a
neat, pleasant-faced young woman rose
“n
37


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
from her seat and passed rapidly across
the room, it was upon her his eyes
settled and remained fixed, with a
growing attention, until a certain door
closed upon her with a sound like a
snapping lock. Then he transferred
his attention to the door, and was still
gazing at it when a boy summoned him
to the manager’s office.
He went in with reluctance. He had
rather have watched that door. But
he had questions to ask, and so made
a virtue of necessity. Mr. Fellows was
not pleased to see him. He started
quite guiltily from his seat and only sat
again on compulsion -— the compulsion
of his visitor’s steady and quelling eye.
“ I’ve business with you, Mr. Fel-
lows.” Then, the boy being gone,
“ Which is the room? The one open-
ing out of the general office directly
opposite this? ”
38


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
Mr. Fellows nodded.
“ I have just seen one of the em-
ployees go in there. I should like to
see that person come out. Do you
mind talking with this door open? I
know enough about banking to hold
up my end of the conversation.”
Fellows rose with a jerk and pushed
the door back. His visitor smiled
easily and launched into a discussion
about stocks and bonds interspersed
with a few assertions and questions
not meant for the general ear, as:
“ It’s the girl who is in there. Not
ordinary, by any means. Just the sort
an old smudge like Stoughton would
be apt to trust. Now what’s that? ”
“ Singing. She often sings. I’ve
forbidden it, but she forgets, she says,”
answered Fellows. ,
“ Pretty good music. Listen to that
note. High as a prima donna’s. Does
39


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
she sing at her work? ”
“ N 0; I’d fire her she did. It’s
only when she’s walking about or when
9’
“ She’s in that room? ”
“ Yes.”
“ At par? I buy nothing at par.
There! She’s coming. I wish I dared
intercept her, rifle her pockets. Do you
know she has pockets? ”
“ N 0; how should I .9 ”
“ Fellows, you’re not worth your salt.
Ah! there’s a face for you, and I can read
it like a book. Did a letter or cablegram
come to-day? ”
“ -Y es; didn’t you see it? Hung up in
the outer ofiice.”
“ I thoughtI saw something. Ninety-
five? That’s a quotation worth listen-
ing to. Three at ninety-five. That
girl’s a trump. I will see more of my
lady.” Here he took care to shut the
40





CHAPTER VI
“ I f I could tell you his story ”
HAT evening a young woman and
a young man sat on one of the
benches in Central Park. They
were holding hands, but modestly and
with a clinging aflection. No one
appeared in sight; they had the moon-
light, the fragrance of the spring foliage,
and their true love all to themselves.
The woman was Grace, the young man
was Philip Andrews, a candid-eyed,
whole-hearted fellow whom any girl
might be proud to be seen with, much
more to be engaged to. Grace was
proud, but she was more than that;
her heart was all involved in her hope —
a good heart which he was equally proud
to have won. Yet while love was theirs
45


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
and the surroundings breathed peace
and joy, they did not look quite happy.
A cloud was on his brow and something
like a tear in her eye as she spoke gently
but with rare firmness.
“ Philip, we must wait. One love
does not put out another. I cannot
leave my old father now. He is too
feeble and much too dependent on me.
Philip, you do not know my father.
You have seen him, it is true, many,
many times. You have talked with
him and even have nursed him at odd
moments, when I had to be out of the
room getting supper or supplying some
of his many wants. Yet you do not
know him.”
“ I know that he is intelligent.”
“ Yes, yes, that is evident. Any one
can see that. And you can see, too,
that he is frequently fretful and exact-
ing, as all old people are. But the
46


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
qualities he shows me — his strong,
melancholy, but devoted nature, quick-
ened by an unusually unhappy life—
that you do not see and cannot, much
as you like him and much as he likes
you. Only ‘ the child who has sur-
prised him at odd moments, when he
thought himself quite alone, wringing
his hands and weeping over some intol-
erable memory —— who has listened in
the dead of night to his smothered but
heart-breaking groans, can know either
his suffering or the one joy which pal-
liates it. If I could tell you his story ——-
but that would be treason to one whose
rights I am bound to reverence. You
will respect my silence, but you must
also take my word that he needs and
has a right to all the pleasure and all
the hope my love can give him. I can-
not be with him much; my work for-
bids, but the little time I have is his,
47


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
except on rare occasions like this, and he
knows it and is satisfied. Were I mar-
ried But you will wait, Philip.
It may not be long — he grows weaker
every day. Besides, you are not ready
yet yourself. You are doing wonder-
fully well, but a year’s freedom will
help you materially, as it will me.
Every day is adding to our store; in a
year we may be almost independent.”
“ Grace, you have misunderstood me.
I said that 'I was no good without you,
that I needed your presence to make a
man of me, but I did not mean that you
were to share my fortunes now. I
would not ask that. I would be a fool
or worse, for, Grace, I’m not doing so
well as you think. While I knew that
my present employment was for a
specified time, I had hopes of continu-
ing on. But this cannot be. That’s
what I have to tell you ‘to-night. It

48




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THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
looks as if our marriage would have to ’
be postponed indefinitely instead of
hastened. And I can’t bear it. You
don’t know what you are to me, or
what this disappointment is. I ex-
pected to be raised, not dismissed, and
if I had had —— ”
“ ’,
The word came very softly, and with
rare tenderness. It made him turn
and look at her sweet, upturned face,
with its resources of strength and shy,
unfathomable smile. “ What?” she
asked again, with a closer pressure of
her hand. “ You must finish all your
sentences with me.”
“ I’m ashamed.” He uttered it
breathlessly. “ What am I, to say,
‘ If I had three thousand dollars the
Stickney Company would keep me?’
I have barely three hundred and those
are dedicated to you.”
49





“ I’m sure that I can get them for you ”





CHAPTER VII
“ I’m sure that I can get them for you ”
“ F you had three thousand! ” She
repeated it in surprise and yet with
an indescribable air, which to one
versed in human nature would have
caught the attention and aroused strange
inner inquiries. “ Does the Stickney
Company want money so badly as
that? ”
“ That’s not it. They have plainly
told me that for three thousand dollars
and my services they would give me
ten thousand dollars’ stock interest, but
insist that the man who assumes the
responsibility of the position must be
» financially interested as well. But I
haven’t the money, and without the
money my experience appears to them
53


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
loses it. You must not borrow
“ I will not borrow.”
“ Nor raise it in any way without
telling me the sacrifice you must make
to obtain it. But it’s all a dream; tell
me that it’s all a dream; you were
talking from your wishes, not from any
certainty you have. Say so, and I will
not be disappointed. I do not want
your money; I’d rather go poor and
wait till the times change. Don’t you
see? I’d be more of a man.”
“ But you’d have to take it if I gave
itZto you, and—perhaps I shall. I
want to see you happy, Philip; I
must see you happy. I’d be willing to
risk a good deal for that. I’m not so
happy myself, father suffers so, and the
care of it weighs on me. You are all I
have to make me glad, and when you
are troubled my heart goes down, down.
But it’sgetting late, dear. It’s time we

56


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
went home. Don’t ask me what’s in
my mind, but dream of riches. I’m
sure they will come. You shall earn
them with the three thousand dollars
you want and which I will give you.”
“ I shall earn them honestly,” were
the last words he said, as they rose from
the seat and began to move toward the
gate. And the moon, coming out from
its temporary eclipse, shone on his clear-
cut face as he said this, but not on her
bowed head and sidelong look. They
were in the shadow.
’5There was something else in the
shadow. As they moved away and
disappeared in the darkness the long,
slim figure of a man rose from behind
the bush I have mentioned. He had a
sparkling eye and a thin-lipped mouth,
and he smiled very curiously as he
looked after the pair before turning
himself about and going the other way.
57


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
It was not Fellows; it was his chosen
confederate in the nefarious scheme
they had planned between them.
58





THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
commingled at times; yet Fellows felt
at moments so doubtful of all human
presence that instinctively his hand
would go groping out till it touched the
other’s arm or breast, when it would
fall back again satisfied. He was in a
state of absolute terror of the darkness,
the oppressive air, the ghostly sounds,
and possibly of the image raised by his
own conscience, yet he hugged to him-
self the thought of’ secrecy which it all
involved, and never thought of yielding
up his scheme or even shortening his
tale, so long as the other listened and
gave his mind to the problem which
promised them thousands Without the
usual humdrum method of working for
them.
We will listen to what he had to say,
leaving to your imagination the breaks
and guilty starts and moments of intense
listening and anxious fear with which he
62


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
seasoned it.
“ I did as you bid me,” he whispered.
“ Yesterday fresh orders came from
abroad, in cipher, as usual. (It’s an
unreadable cipher. I’ve had experts
on it many times.) I had hung it up,
and though business was heavy, my
business, you know, I had eyes for our
fair friend, and knew every step she
took about the offices. I even knew
when her eyes first fell on the cable-
gram. I had my door open, and I
caught her looking up from her work,
and what was more, caught the pause
in the click—click of the typewriter as
she looked and read. If she had not
been able to read, the click-click would
have gone on, for I believe she could
work that typewriter with her eyes shut.
But her attention was caught, and she
stopped. I tell you I’ve been humili-
ated for the last time. I’m in for any-
63





“ ‘ The safe door is opened,’ I cried ”





CHAPTERLIX
“ ‘ The safe door is opened, ’ I cried ”
“ O on! Don’t be a fool; that
was nothing.”
“ I don’t know; it was like a
great sigh at my ear. But this is awful!
Couldn’t we have one spark of light? ”
“ And have the police upon us the
next minute? Look up at that window
You can see it, can’t you? ”
“ Yes, yes, but very faintly,” Fel-
lows whispered. ~
“ But you can see it. So could those
outside, if we had one glimmer of
light in here. -No, no, you’ll have to
stand the dark or quit. But you shan’t
quit till you’ve told me what you saw
in the room where the safe is.”
“ The safe door opening.” His voice
69


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
trembled so that the other shook him
to steady his nerves. “ Not opened,
mind you, but opening. It was like
magic, and I stared so that she forgot
her fears and forgot her questions.
Turning from me with a startled cry,
she looked behind her, and saw what
I saw, and tried to push me out. ‘ I’ll
come, I’ll come,’ she whispered.
‘ Leave me a minute and I’ll come.’
“But I wasn’t going to do that.
‘ The safe door is opened,’ I cried.
‘ Did you do it?’ She didn’t know
what to say. I have never seen a
woman in such a state; then she Whis-
pered in awful agitation, ‘ Yes; I’ve
been given the combination by Mr.
Stoughton. I’m duly following his
orders. But my father! What about
my father? You frightened me so I
forgot that —-—’ I waited, staring at her,
but she didn’t finish. She just asked,
70


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
stands herself only too well, but I am
manager, and I paid her back in her
own coin. ‘ That’s all very well,’
said I, ‘ but what proof have I that you
are telling me the truth? You have
opened the safe — you say you have
the combination -- but people some-
times surprise a combination and open
a safe from other interests than those
of their employer. You seem a good
girl, but you are a girl, and there are
men here much more likely to be in Mr.
Stoughton’s confidence than yourself.
With that open safe before us I cannot
leave you here alone. What you take
from it I must see, and if possible be
present at your negotiations. That I
consider a manager’s duty under the
circumstances.’ ‘ Mr. Fellows,’ she
asked, ‘ can you read this morning’s
telegram?’ ‘ No,’ I felt bound to
reply. ‘ Then that acquits you. I
72


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
9
can. And again she tried to urge me
to go out. But I would not be urged.
I was staring across the room at the
open safe and in fancy clutching its
contents. In fact, I made one step
toward them. But she drew herself up
with such an air that I paused. She’s
a big girl, you know, and not to be
fooled with when she’s angry. ‘ Come
a step farther and I will scream for the
watchman,’ she whispered. All our
talk had been low, for there were lis-
tening ears everywhere — we couldn’t
risk that, and I stepped back. Imme-
diately she saw her advantage, and
added, ‘ If you do not think better of it
and leave the room, I’ll scream.’ For
answer to this I said that I ”

73


“ I have a scheme ”


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
I demanded to know.”
“ And did she tell you ? ”
“ No. She merely repeated, ‘ I will
scream, and that will cause a scandal
which will lead to your discharge, not
mine.’ So — so, I came out.”
“ Blast your eyes! And when did
she come out? ”
“ Within five minutes. I watched
the clock.”
“ And what did she have? ”
“ Nothing in sight.”
“ I see. A deep game. But I know
a deeper. There is no possibility of
breaking into that safe by night, un-
detected by the watchman ? ”
“ None; and that watchman is in-
corruptible. The whole contents of
the safe wouldn’t move him to connect
himself with this job. ”
“ The job must be done by day and
duing office hours? ”
78


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
“ Yes.”
“ And cannot be done without the
assistance of this girl? ”
“ You’ve heard.”
“ Verywell; I have a scheme. Now
listen to me.”
Not even the rat which at that minute
nibbled at Fellows’s boot heel could have
heard what followed. The panting of
two breasts was, however, audible; and
when, fifty minutes later, both crawled
out of the cellar window among the rub-
bish which littered the rear of this once
holy place, the one was trembling with
excitement and the other with fear.
They parted at the first thoroughfare,
neither having eyes to see nor hearts to
appreciate the touching scene which
miles away was taking place in a little
flat not very far from Harlem. An old
man, frail in body, but with a sturdy
spirit yet, was looking up from his
79


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
pillow at the loving face of a young girl
who was bending over him.
“ I cannot sleep to-night,” he said to
her; “ I cannot sleep; but that must
not disturb you. I have so many
things to think, pleasant things; but
you have only cares, and must rest from
them. You look very tired to-night,
tired and worried. Leave me and
sleep. I want to see you bright in the
morning.”
80


u,”

A", '
l. \' ‘ \ v 7“ \~ t
\* v - .- lb , 1,4
" L


“ She will go in ”


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
and non-surveillance of the two clerks
who did the business of the day seemed
rather to elate her, and she went about
her work, copying letters and taking
down notes with an alacrity and air of
cheerful hope which caused the man-
ager to cast toward her more than one
suspicious look from his desk in the
adjoining room. He was not busy,
though he had been the first to arrive
that morning; and he had brought with
him a large square package which he
had taken into the room which held the
safe. He pretended to be busy, but
any one watching him closely would
have noticed that his eyes, and not his
hands, were all that were engaged, and
they were anywhere but on his desk or
the letter he appeared to be reading.
An observer would also have noticed
that his nervousness was of the extreme
sort, and that the trembling which
84


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
but when he turned toward the room
of the safe, he met Miss Lee’s eye
fixed upon him with such a keen, in-
quiring look that he faltered in his de-
termination, and went in another direc-
tion instead. She knew that he had
no business in that room, and she also
knew that he knew she knew this.
Any pretense that he had would only
rouse her suspicions, and these must be
lulled to the point of security, or she
might not enter there herself, and on
her entering there everything depended.
Almost immediately upon the thought
he was back in his seat, and the weary
moments crept on. Would she never
make her accustomed visit to that
room? No cablegram had come that
morning, but she would find some
reason for going in. Of that he had
been assured by Johnson. Why, he
had not been told. “ She will go in,”
87


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
Beau Johnson had said, and Fellows
believed him. He believed everything
the other said, otherwise he could not
have gone on with this business. But
she was very long about it. Harlowe
would be coming back

88





CHAPTER XII
“ A block of steel ”
H, be had an idea! It was not his
own, but for the moment he
thought it was. He would leave
the oflice himself and thus give her an
opportunity to quit her work and shut
herself up with the safe. But — (was
his mind leaving him P) there was
something to be done first. The way
must be cleared for the man in hiding
to enter that room before she did.
How was this to be accomplished?
A dozen suggestions had been given him
by his confederate, but he had forgotten
them all. He was in too great a whirl
to think, yet he must think; some way
must be found. Ah, he had it. Tak-
ing up the receiver at his side, he tele-
91


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
phoned to a German friend to call him
up in five minutes, giving him the num-
ber of the telephone in the farthest
room. This he did in German, telling
him it was a joke and that he was not
to insist upon an answer. Then he
waited. In five minutes this farther
bell rang. Calling to Miss Lee, he
asked her to answer for him, saying he
was very busy. As she rose, he gave
a preconcerted signal on the door of
Mr. Beers’s room. As she disappeared
in the one beyond, the dapper figure
of Johnson crossed the outer office and
slipped into the one holding the safe.
A minute later she was back reporting
the message and getting instructions,
but the one thing she had to fear had
been done; the trap had been laid, and
now for its victim!
It was not long before that victim
responded to the call. On the de-
92


“ I am from headquarters ”





CHAPTER XIII
“ I amfrom headquarters ”
OR just a minute Grace Lee
paused before the blank door of
the safe, then she passed around
to an unused speaking tube in the
neighboring wall. Halting before it, in
low but distinct tones she began to sing
the famous aria from “ The Magic
Flute.”
All agog, with eyes starting and ears
alert, the man behind listened and
watched. Nothing happened.
Then came a change. Gradually
her voice rose, sweet and piercing, till
it reached that famous F in alt so rarely
attempted, so exciting to the car when
fairly taken and fairly held. Grace
Lee could take it, and as it hung, sweet
97


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
and deliciously thrilling in the air, Beau
Johnson saw, to his amazement, though
he was in a way prepared for it, the
heavy safe door slip softly ajar. She
had done it with her voice. How, he
could only vaguely guess. He was
better educated than most of his class,
or he could not have understood it at
all. As it was, he laid it to the vibra-
tion caused by a certain definite note
acting on some delicate mechanism set
in accord with that note, which mechan-
ism starting another and a stronger one
gradually led up to that which drew the
bolts and set the door ajar. Whether
his theory were true or not mattered
little at the moment. The event for
which he waited had been accomplished
and accomplished before his eyes. To
profit by it was his next thought, and
to this end he held himself ready for
the spring which had laid latent in his
98


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
readiest in his class, and he owed her a
grudge, if only for that. Smiling —— it
was a way of his when deeply moved or
deeply dangerous — he accosted her
with smooth and treacherous words.
“ Don’t scream, young lady; scream-
ing will do no you good. Mr. Fellows
has left the business to me and I am
quite competent to manage it. I am
from headquarters—a detective. Yes-
terday you aroused the manager’s sus-
picions, and I was detailed this morn-
ing to watch you. What do you want
from Mr. Stoughton’s safe? An honest
answer may help you. Nothing else
will.”
“ I want —— ” she hesitated, eyeing
him over with an insight and an un-
doubted air of self—command which
told the hardy rascal that in this woman
he was likely to meet his match. “ I
want some securities of Mr. Stoughton’s
100








CHAPTER XIV
“ You do not answer ”
HE recoiled. Strong as she was,
she was not proof against this
surprise.
“ How do you know that?” she
asked, her voice losing its clear tone.
“ I do not deny it, but how could you
know what I thought to be a secret
between ”
“ You and your lover? Well—we—
the police know many things, young
lady. We have a gift. We also have
a kind of foreknowledge. I could tell
you something of your future if you
will deign to listen to me. Your lover
is an honest man. What do you sup-
pose he will do when he hears that
you have been arrested for attempted

105


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
burglary on your employer’s effects? ”
He had been slowly advancing as he
reeled off these glib sentences, but he
paused as he met her smile. It was not
of the same sort as his, but it was not
without a certain suggestiveness which
he felt it would be best for him to under-
stand before he threw oif his mask.
“I don’t know what he will do,”
said she, meeting the false detective’s
eye as she laid her hand on the safe,
“ but I know what I shall do if you
carry out the purpose you threaten.
Show my papers to the police and de-
mand evidence of my having any bad
intentions in opening this safe this
morning. I think you will have diffi-
culty in producing any. I think that
you will only prove yourself a fool. Are
you so strong with the authorities as
to brave that ? ”
Astonished at her insight and more
106


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
one could enter that way, she knew.
Even her screams, if she survived them,
might alarm, but could not bring her
help for several minutes, if not longer.
Yet she did not tremble; only grew a
shade paler.
“ You do not answer. What have
you to say? ”
“ This.” She was like marble now.
“ You will not kill me, because that
would be virtually to kill yourself.
You cannot leave this room without my
help, nor fire a shot without being
caught like a rat in a trap. I want
three thousand dollars, and I mean to
have them, but I do not see how you are
going to get the few more which you
promise yourself. Certainly I am not
going to aid you in doing so, and you
cannot open that safe. You have not
the musical training.”
“ No.” The word came like a shot,
108


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
possibly in lieu of a shot, for if ever he
felt murderous it was at that moment.
“ I have not a musical training, but
that does not make me helpless. In
a few moments I shall have the pleasure
of hearing you test your voice again.
There’s the office clock ticking; count
the strokes.”
She stood fascinated. What did he
mean by this? Involuntarily she did
his bidding.
“ One, two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven! ”
“ Yes,” he repeated, “ eleven! And
at half past your old father dies.”
“Dies?” Her lips did not frame
the words; her eyes looked it, her
whole sinking, suddenly collapsing fig-
ure gave voice to the maddening query,
“ Dies? ”
109





“ Now, Fellows will stay away ”





THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
at the instigation of any gang. In the
first place, he is not strong enough to
attempt the stairs. You cannot de-
ceive me in this fashion.”
“ He might be carried down.”
“ He wouldn’t submit to that, nor
would the other lodgers in the house
allow it without an express order from
me.”
“ They got the order; not from you,
but from him. He demanded to be
allowed to go. You see, Mr. Fellows
sent a message that you were hurt —
I will speak the whole truth, and say
dying. The old man could not be held
after that. He went with the mes-
senger.”
Her cheeks were now like ashes. She
had gauged the man before her and felt
that he was fully capable of this vil-
lainy. How great a villainy she alone
knew who had the history of this old
114


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
man in her heart.
“ He went with the messenger,”
repeated Johnson, watching her face
with a cruel leer. “ That messenger
knew where to take him. You may
be sure it was to a place quite unknown
to the police and to every one else but
myself. Five minutes more gone, miss.
In just twenty-five minutes more you
will be an orphan and one impediment
to your marriage will be at an end.
How about the other? ”
“Oh!” she wailed. “If I could
really believe you! ”
“ I can smooth away that doubt. If
you will promise not to compromise
me with the clerks or any one inside
there, I will allow you to telephone
home and learn the truth of what I have
told you. Anything further will end
all business between us and wind up
your father’s affairs at the hour set. I
115


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
can afi’ord to humor you for ten min-
utes more in this nonsense.”
“ I will do it,” she cried. “ I must
know what I am fighting before ”
She caught herself back, but he was
quite able to finish the sentence for her.
“ Before you submit to the inevita-
ble,” he smiled.
Her head fell and he pointed toward
the door.
“ I will trust you to guard my -— our
interests,” said he. “ Open and go
directly to your own telephone.”
With a staggering step she obeyed.
Creeping up stealthily behind her he
watched her manner of opening the
door and profited by the one quick
glance he got of the office as she stepped
through and passed hurriedly forward
to her desk. There was no one within
sight. Mr. Fellows had not yet re-
turned and the clerks were too remote

116


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
to notice her agitation or pay attention
to her gait or the tremulousness of her
tone as she called for her home number.
“ Couldn’t be better,” thought he.
“ Now if Fellows will stay away long
enough, I’ll be able to double the boodle
I’ve promised myself.” This with a
chuckle.
Meantime Miss Lee had got in her
message. The answer sent her flying
toward him.
“ He’s gone! He’s gone! ” she gasped.
“ My old, old father! Oh, you wretch!
Save him and ——-— ”
“ You save me first,” he whispered,
and was about to draw her back into
the room with the safe, when the outer
door opened and a stranger entered
on business.
Her agony at the interruption and
the few necessary words it involved
caused the visitor to stare. But she
117


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
was able to make herself intelligible
and to turn him over to one of the
clerks, after which she rejoined Johnson,
closing the door quietly behind her.
His greeting was characteristic.
“ You waste breath,” said he, “ by
all this emotion. You’ll need it to
open the safe.”
“ What guarantee have I that you
will keep your part of the contract?”
she cried. “ I sing ——the door opens
— you help yourself, and you go.
That does not restore to me my father.”
“ Oh, I’ll play fair. In proof of it,
here’s my pistol. If on our going Out
I do not stop with you at the telephone
and let you communicate with your
father and send my own message of
release, then shoot me in the back. I
give you leave.”
Taking the pistol he held out, she
cocked it, and looking into the cham-
118


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
bers, found they were all full.
“ I know how to use it,” she said
simply.
Admiration showed in his face. He
bowed and pointed toward the tube.
“ Now for the song,” he cried.
119





“ It was not paper I meant to have ”


CHAPTER XVI
“ It was not paper I meant to have ”
ITH a bound she took her
stand. She was white as death
and greatly excited. Watching
her curiously, the crafty villain noted
the quick throbbing of her throat and
the feverish grip on the pistol.
“ Time is galloping,” he remarked.
She gave a gasp, opened her lips and
essayed to sing. An awful, indescrib-
able murmur was all that could be
heard. Stiffening herself, she reso-
lutely calmed down her agitation and
tried again. The result was but little
better than before. Turning with a
cry, she looked with horrorstricken
eyes into the unmoved, slightly sardonic
face of the man behind her.
123


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
Had there been, he would have seen a
strange spectacle, for no sooner had
Johnson’s hand struck those shelves
and minute drawers, than Grace Lee’s
whole attitude and expression changed.
From a terrified, incapable woman, she
became again her old self, strong, self-
controlled, watchful. Creeping up be-
hind him, she looked over his shoulders
as he examined with his quick, ex-
perienced eye the various papers he
drew out, noting his anger and growing
disappointment as he found them un-
available for immediate use. Con-
scious of her presence, his rage grew
till it shot forth in words. Not stinting
oaths, he whirled on her after a moment
and asked where the securities were.
“ You meant to have them; you know
where the ready money is. Show me,
show me at once or -—-— ”
Then a great anguish passed across
126


“Now for my part of the bargain ”





CHAPTER XVII
“ N ow for my part of the bargain ”
I IE was looking at the jewels, ap-
praising them, making sure they
were real and marketable. She
was looking at them, too, with a wild
longing and a bitter disappointment,
which he, turning at that moment to
mark her looks, saw and rated at its
full value.
“ Well, I guess they’ll do,” he ex-
claimed, pausing in his task of thrusting
the gems in his pocket to hand her
a bracelet ornamented with one small
diamond. “ But I expected more from
all this fuss and feathers. Was it to
guard these —— ”
“ Yes,” she murmured, thrusting the
bracelet into the neck of her dress and
131


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
nervous; want’s to hear her father’s
voice. Have him up! two words from
him will answer.”
“ Father! ”
Grace’s mouth was at the phone.
N 0 reply.
She cast one look at Johnson.
“ They’re getting him on his feet,”
he grumbled. His eye was on the
door.
“ Father! ” she called again, her voice
tremulous with doubt and anxiety.
A murmur this time, but she recog-
nized it.
“ It’s he! it’s he,” she cried. “ He’s
safe; he’s well. Father!”
But Johnson had no time for dilly-
dallying. Catching the receiver back, he
took his place again at the phone and
shouted a few final injunctions. Then
he faced her with the question:
“ Are you satisfied ? ”
135


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
She nodded, speechless at last and
almost breathless from exhaustion. He
bowed and made for the door. As he
opened it, Mr. Fellows slid forward and
joined him. Both were leaving. He
as well as Johnson. She caught the
look which the manager threw her as
he closed the door behind them. There
was threat in that look and her heart
strings tightened as she stood alone
there facing her fearful duty. Mr.
Fellows was a thief! The manager of
this concern was even then perhaps
walking off with the booty wrenched
from her care by the devil’s own in-
quisition. What should she do? Send
for Philip? Yes, that was all her tor-
tured mind could grasp. She would
send for her own Philip and get his
advice before she notified the police or
sent the inevitable cablegram. She
was too ill, too shaken to do more.
136


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
Philip! Philip!
She was fainting —— she felt it, and
was raising her voice to call in one of
the clerks, when the outer door opened
and Mr. Fellows came in. She had not
expected him back. She had fondly
believed that he had gone with his pro-
fessional comrade; and the sight of him
caused her to rise again to her feet.
“ You! ” she murmured, facing him
in dull wonder at his renewed look of
threat. “I cannot stay in the same
room with you. You are —— ”
137





“ What have you done among you ”


CHAPTER XVIII
“ What have you done among you ”
“ EVER mind me,” came clearly
and coldly from his lips. “ It is
of yourself you must think.
Here, officer! ” he cried, opening the
door again and ushering in a man in
plain clothes, but evidently one of the
force. “ This is the young lady. I
accuse her of taking advantage of her
power to open Mr. Stoughton’s private
safe to steal his jewels. Her confed-
erate has escaped. He had a pistol
and_,'_I had no means of stopping him.
Butgishe is right here and you will
make no mistake in arresting heril The
booty is on her, and smart as she is,
she cannot deny that proof.”
With a cry, Grace’s hand went up to
141


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
her throat.
Then she settled into her usual self
once more.
The officer, eyeing her, asked what
she had to say for herself.
“ A great deal,” was her low answer.
“ But I shall not say it here. If Mr.
Fellows will go with me to wherever
you take people suspected of what you
suspect me, I can soon make plain my
position. But first I should like to
send for my friend, Mr. Philip Andrews.
He is with the Stickney Company, and
he is acquainted with my affairs and
the understanding between Mr. Stough-
ton and myself by which I have access
to that gentleman’s safe and do much
of his private business for him.”
“ That’s all right. Send for hIr.
Andrews if you wish, but you mustn’t
expect to talk to him without witnesses.
Is that your coat and hat ? ”
142


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
“ Yes.”
“ Well, put them on.”
Mr. Fellows advanced and whispered
something in the officer’s ear. Imme-
diately the suspicious look grew in his
eyes, and he watched her every move-
ment with increased care. She saw
this and stepped up to him.
“ I shall not deny having this piece
of jewelry about my person,” she said,
drawing the bracelet from its hiding
place. “The man whom Mr. Fellows
calls my confederate gave it to me and
I took it; but it will be hard for him
or any one else to prove that it is a
theft, harder than it will be for me to'
prove who is the real culprit here and
the man whom you ought to arrest.
Watch me, but watch him also; he is
more deserving of your close atten-
tion than I am.”
Her disdain, her poise, the beauty
143


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
which came out on her face when she
was greatly stirred, gave her a striking
appearance at that moment. The offi-
cer stared, then followed her glance
toward Mr. Fellows. What he saw in
him made him thoughtful. Turning
back to Miss Lee, he said kindly enough,
“ Will you let me have that bracelet? ”
ll? She passed it over and he thrust it in
his pocket.
“ Now,” said he, “ I will go first. In
a few minutes follow me and go down
Nassau Street. A carriage will be at
the curb. Take it. As for hIr. Fel-
lows ”
“ I cannot leave till some of the clerks
come in.”
“ We will all wait till a clerk comes.”
Mr. Fellows paled.
“ Here is one now.”
The door opened and Philip Andrews
came in.

144








CHAPTER xrx
“ So that was your motive ”
WO hours later Grace was explain-
ing herself. She was still pale,
but very calm now, though a little
sad. The sadness was not occasioned
by any doubt she felt about her father.
She had telephoned home and learned
that he had arrived there and was well,
and had nothing but good to say of his
captors. No, there was another cause
for her manifest depression, a cause not
disconnected with Philip, toward whom
her eyes ever and anon stole with an
uneasy appeal which her mother would
have been troubled to see. But it com-
forted Fellows, who began to regard her
threats as idle in face of the evidence
of her complicity as afforded by the con-
149


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
cealed bracelet.
The officer on duty was questioning
her. Had she done this and that?
Yes, she had. Why? Then she told
her story —— the story you have already
read. As she proceeded with it, every
eye sparkled underzthe graphic tale,
and the police, who had some acquain-
tance with Beau Johnson, recognized
his hand in all that she told. One
face only wore a sneer, and that was
Fellows’s. But no sneer could dis-
credit a story told with such vim and
straightforward earnestness. As she
mentioned the emptying of the office,
each person present turned and gave
him a look. The manager had under-
taken a piece of work too big for him.
His explanations of the presence of the
graphophone in this inner office were
feeble and contradictory.
But he had his revenge, or thought he
150


THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
ness of the share, for that makes the
portion saved for the owner of little
account. Yet that portion is saved.
I wish it had been a larger one.”
“ No doubt. So that was your motive
—to save this souvenir for 1\Ir.
Stoughton? ”
Casting a proud look at Philip, she
moved a step nearer to the table on
which the bracelet lay. “ Will you be
good enough,” she asked her interro-
gator, “to take up that bracelet and
read the initials on the inner side?”
“ R. S. T.,” read the official.
“ Does any one here know Mrs.
Stoughton’s maiden name? ”
Evidently not, for all remained silent.
“ Does any one here know my
mother’s maiden name? ”
Philip started.
“ Yes,” he cried, “ I do. Her name
was Rhoda Selden Titus.”

152






,
l
’ read the ofiieza
T
S .
‘(CR





THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
“ R. S. T.,” smiled Grace. “ This
bracelet was my mother’s. Mr.
Stoughton allowed me to place this
keepsake and some other valuables of
mine in his private safe. Gentlemen
the whole of those jewels were mine —
my sole and only fortune. I was keep-
ing them for ” — her eyes stole toward
Philip — “for my marriage portion,
the secret and great surprise I had
planned for my future husband. They
are worth some five thousand dollars —
my mother was the daughter of a
wealthy man. They would have given
us a home if I could have kept them;
they would also have given my husband
a start in business, and this I should
have preferred, but I could not let Mr.
Stoughton’s securities be endangered,
and so they had to go. Philip, cannot
you forgive me when you think that it
was through my folly the secret of the
153








CHAPTER XX
“ A jewel of far greater value ”
RACE never got back her jewels.
The wily Johnson was not
caught, though Fellows turned
state’s evidence and did all he could to
have the professional netted in the
same manner as himself. But she did
not suffer from this loss. When Mr.
Stoughton learned the full particulars
of this daring robbery, he made good
to her the value of those jewels, and
the prosperity of this young couple was
secured. He was even present at the
wedding. Grace wore her mother’s
bracelet, but on her breast was a jewel
of far greater value. On its back was
engraved,
To brave G. L.
From her grateful friend, T. S.
157





$11


RICHARD S. WORMSER
22 West 48th Street
New York ‘