Raymond Sperry

“ I am just beginning to realize how hard it must be for a bank clerk, on a comparatively small salary, to see millions of dollars every day, and know that he must not touch them. And most of them are young fellows, with a love for the pleasures of life. It is hard, very hard! A great temptation!”
“Stuff and nonsense!” exclaimed the lawyer gruffly. “They should resist temptation. The money is not theirs. If they take it they must suffer the consequences. Call up the police at once, and have them arrest this fellow. I congratulate you, young man,” he said to Larry. ”

“ You’re a big depositor there, aren’t you?”
“I am, Larry. But, Great Scott! A robbery of a million! You must be mistaken. Such a thing could not happen. A million dollars!”
“That’s right,” said the lad. “I got it from my city editor, on good authority. Now look here, Mr. Potter, I want that story. I want to get it exclusively. The bank people know the facts, but they won’t talk. If they’ve lost a million it’s the right of the public to know it. Maybe the depositors unknowingly are keeping on putting money in a bank which is on the verge of failure. It isn’t right! ”

“ If he’s still working in the bank, and I’m sure he is, he must be as nervous as a cat for fear some false move will give him away. It’s like sleeping over a powder mine, not knowing what minute it may explode. It must be an awful strain.”
Then Larry, in his mind, went over all the employees on whom, by any stretch of the imagination, suspicion might fall. He could recall none who acted as though they feared arrest at any moment.
“Whoever he is, he’s a star actor, and he ought to go on the stage,” decided the young reporter. ”

“ He says he was there all the while, and yet, when the other bank’s tellers open the satchel, they find bricks instead of money. That’s the mystery. It’s like a conjurer’s trick. And that’s your story, Larry.”
“And a mighty big story it is, too!” cried the young reporter “I’m ever so much obliged to you, Mr. Potter. I think I’ve got the biggest scoop of years. I’m going to make a good story of it, and play up that mystery for all it’s worth. May I use your telephone?” ”

“ The young reporter swung around to face the bank clerk, but to his surprise he saw a young man, with a sandy moustache, come out—a young man who did not at all resemble the bank clerk, and who looked at Larry with no sign of recognition. ”

“ Larry bought a bag of peanuts, and, as he crossed over a roadway, and reached the other side, a big squirrel sat up with tail erect, and eyed him hungrily.
“Peanuts, eh? Want some peanuts?” asked Larry, and, holding out one in his hand toward the squirrel, he was rather surprised when the nimble little creature scrambled up his leg, as though it was the trunk of a tree, thence to his shoulder and along his arm to his outstretched hand, and took the peanut in its paws. Then, as fearless as a kitten, the squirrel sat up on Larry’s shoulder, and ate the nut. ”

“ No one dreamed that it was in the cupboard, under the desk at which Norton was so innocently working.
Watching his chance, the absconder slipped into the vault with the bag containing the million. Unobserved he pulled out the two ledgers, smeared some liquid glue on their backs, and stuck the backs on the narrow end of the valise. The valise, with the money, he slipped into the space occupied by the books, the ledger backs being outward. It fitted perfectly, and no one looking at the row of old ledgers in the vault would have suspected that two of them consisted of backs only. ”

“ It’s the biggest bank mystery that’s happened in years, and if you possibly can, Larry, I want you to get a scoop out of it. I don’t believe any other papers know about it yet, and if you go at it right you can make a big story.”
[11] “A million dollars stolen!” gasped Larry. “I should say it was a big robbery.”
“A corker!” exclaimed Mr. Emberg admiringly, not because of the criminal action, however, so much as for the chance of a big story for his paper. “A corker, Larry. Get right after it, and, if you can find the money, or the thieves—well, that will make it all the better. Get busy!” ”

“ Some of the very rich people make it hard for working girls,” she went on. “They seem to think we have no feelings. But Miss Potter is very different. I wish there were more like her.”
“Did you notice who was with her?” asked Larry.
“Not particularly. I saw that it was a young man, not bad-looking. He was—why, of course!” suddenly exclaimed Miss Mason. “I know now what you mean! I was wondering why his face was so familiar. He was the one who jostled me in the subway train that day; wasn’t he?” and she leaned eagerly toward Larry. ”

“ I can explain everything if you’ll give me a chance.”
“You’ll have all the chance you want,” declared Larry. “I’ve got plenty of evidence against you. I saw the thousand-dollar bill in your room. I saw you trying on a black beard, I found a sandy moustache in your room. The bricks that were in the dummy bag came from a new house right back of you in Hackenford. I traced you to Seven Mile Beach. I traced you here. You had the million all right. You bought the duplicate valise of Miss Mason, and I found where you hid it behind the old ledgers, the one that held the money. I’ve got you right!” ”

“ Emberg, city editor of the Leader, had his desk and chair.
“Good-morning, Larry,” said Mr. Emberg briskly. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I’m sorry I was late,” answered the reporter. “I started out in time, but I had a couple of experiences with a ‘subway porker.’ A fellow shoved himself all over. Stepped on a girl’s ankle, and there came near being a row. It’s funny how selfish some chaps are. Maybe it would make a good story to write something about our overcrowded conditions in the subway.” ”

“ If I find nothing suspicious, that will end it. If I get a clew, then——”
“An arrest will follow!” exclaimed Mr. Bentfield. “Justice must be done, no matter what the result. The bank owes it to itself, and the other clerks, who are under an unjust suspicion, must be cleared, Larry, the quicker this is over with the better.”
The young reporter lost no time in starting for Hackenford. He planned to reach it before the other boarders came home to supper, as that would make his task easier. The lawyer went with him to secure the search-warrant, and then returned to New York. ”

“ It may attract enough attention so that the general public will be interested in earning the reward,” remarked Mr. Bentfield. “It may help to arrest the thief.”
“I suppose you mean the reward will be paid if the thief is arrested, and the money recovered,” suggested Larry.
“No! The reward will be paid for the apprehension of the thief, whether he has a dollar of the money or not!” cried the president. “We want to make an example of him! It is a heavy loss for the bank, but, unless we find out how the robbery was committed, and get the thief, other banks may suffer likewise. ”

“ For Larry was fast becoming known as the “star” reporter on the New York Leader, an afternoon journal. And, as he had to begin his duties in the morning, he always liked to see what the news of the day was likely to be, by scanning some rival sheets.
“Some folks want more than their share, anyhow,” went on the newsboy. “I see lots of ’em here. Say, but that was a big fire last night, Mr. Dexter. It ain’t out yet.”
“So I see,” remarked the young reporter, for he and Jim had grown to be quite friendly during the year or more that Larry had been buying papers at this stand. ”

“ Not too quiet, either, for in a place like that there are not enough people but what some one knows the business affairs of every one else. He’d pick out a small hotel, or a fairly large boarding-house,” went on Larry, thinking to himself in the quiet of his hotel room. “Then the thing for me to do is to make a round of these places, and ask about all new arrivals. And I’d better get a letter, or something, from the chief of police here to show I’m not a second-story man, or a gold-brick worker.” ”

“ Several depositors announced themselves as anxious to look into the vaults. They were escorted there and, on coming back, stated that they had seen several millions in currency, or Government bonds. It developed later that, in anticipation of a possible run, when the million-dollar robbery should become known, the bank had, a few days previous, and directly after the theft, stored a large amount of cash in its vaults.
“Are you satisfied?” demanded the president.
“Yes! Yes!” exclaimed the crowd, and it began to melt away. ”

“ The young reporter prepared his story of the finding of the bag, so cunningly hidden behind the old ledgers. Then, after a talk with Mr. Emberg, he left for Hackenford.
“See what you can pick up there, Larry,” suggested the city editor. “If you think it will spoil the case to write anything about it, don’t do it. What we want you to do is to find the thief and the million, and there won’t be any doubt but what you’ll get a ‘beat’ out of it.”
Arriving in Hackenford, Larry at once sought out the detective who had been sent to watch the boarding-house where Witherby had his room. ”

“ Because of the damage to his windows, and the fear of what might follow, the costumer could give Larry little information, that amounted to anything, about Witherby.
“I don’t know the man you speak of,” said the costumer to the reporter. “Many people come in here every day to buy false wigs, beards or moustaches for themselves. I do not ask their names. They may want them for theatricals, or for criminal disguises. I have no way of telling. A number were in here when the explosion blew out all my windows. Oh, it was terrible! I am all upset. I don’t know the young man you speak of. ”

“ Will you do it?” he asked. “I think we really need you. Will you act as a detective for us and try to earn that reward?”
“I’m a newspaper man,” said Larry simply, “and, though it is true that we often have to do detective work, I must act for my paper first.”
“But you could do that and help the bank, too,” suggested Mr. Potter. “Larry, I think this is just the chance for you. If you find the thief, and the [43] million, you will have a big ‘beat’ for your paper. Why don’t you do it?”
“I will!” cried Larry. “In fact, my city editor has assigned me to this case, and I’m to do nothing else. ”

“ For it is through friends and acquaintances that a reporter often gets his best news. “No, I can’t recall anybody down there,” Larry went on. “Hold on, though—why, yes! That’s the very thing! Mr. Hampton Potter is one of the biggest depositors there. His name ought to have some weight. If I can’t get at the president, or cashier, in any other way, Mr. Potter may help me. If the bank has been looted, he’ll know about it as soon as anybody. ”

“ Emberg, in giving him the source of the “tip,” had cautioned him to say nothing about it. In fact, a private detective agency, to which the bank had appealed, had informed, or “tipped off,” the city editor. As this was not supposed to be done, naturally the detective who gave the “tip” wanted to be protected, and a newspaper man always holds inviolate, if so requested, the source of his information.
“I’m afraid I have no news for you,” spoke the president calmly, yet Larry noted a nervous twitching of Mr. Bentfield’s hands. ”

“ The thief had taken away the bundles of bills.
“Are you sure that is the same valise in which [146] the million was originally packed?” asked Larry. “The one lined with the steel mesh?”
“It’s lined with steel, all right,” answered the banker, “and while I could not swear that this is the bank’s bag, I am morally certain it is. Some of the tellers can prove that. But that will be of little value in court. The fact that the money is gone is of more importance.
“My, my! But this mystery grows instead of solving itself,” he went on. “To think of finding the bag back of the old ledgers! ”

“ Naturally, President Bentfield was disappointed when Larry reported that the valise clew had amounted to nothing.
“Well, keep on,” he advised the young reporter.
“I will,” promised Larry. “Something may turn up later. Have you heard anything?”
“Not a thing. The police seem completely baffled. We have every employee under strict watch, but it has resulted in nothing. None of them has gone away, or shown any inclination to leave. Their records are perfect as far as we can learn. It is a great mystery.”
“Well, I’ll see what clew the bricks give me,” spoke Larry. ”

“ Very frequently a newspaper will begin a “crusade,” or take up some special line, and the reporter assigned to it has to turn in so much “copy” a day, no matter whether there is any news or not.
No sooner had the young reporter heard, from the bank president, that the suspected clerk had disappeared, than he arranged to go to Hackenford.
“There’s where the main news is now,” thought Larry. “There must be some reason why Witherby did not come back. He must suspect something. Maybe he’s skipped out with the million, [152] and doesn’t miss the thousand-dollar bill he left behind. ”

“ Larry, however, was used to taking slim chances, as indeed most reporters are, and so he was not going to get discouraged before he had even started on the new trail. There were many things to think of, and he began on some new lines.
“I wonder why that fellow Witherby comes across my path so often?” mused Larry. “I don’t like him. Not because he acted so toward Miss Mason, in the subway, but because there is something suspicious about him. He always acts as though he was afraid of me. ”