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CARA; THE STENOGRAPHER.

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CHAPTER I.

      Young John Jones, Jr., was popularly considered a "hard ticket." From his earliest boyhood he had been looked upon as the terror of the inhabitants of Chester Square and vicinity. Not that he was thoroughly bad; he had a good heart, as was shown by his attacking a street urchin twice his size, and getting rather the best of it, too, when the said street urchin was fiendishly torturing a poor little kitten, while sundry smaller boys looked upon him as a veritable paladan for defending them against the tyrrany and cruelty of the embryo despots that are found among children everywhere. But, notwithstanding these pleasant traits in John Jr.'s nature, it was unanimously decided by the older portion of his acquaintances that he was not a credit to John Jones, Sr., whose dingy old office on State Street had displayed the same weather-beaten old sign, "John Jones, E. & W. I. Goods," during the proprietorship of three successive generations of John Jones's.

      Ever since John Jr. was a red-faced motherless babe, his mother having died when he was but two months old, he had been the cause of anxiety and worriment on the part of everyone who had charge of him. He was in a state of continual rebellion against the nurse long before he was out of long clothes; when he became older he was the terror of all the servants; the schoolmaster could do nothing with him; he would play truant from day-school and Sunday-school alike; smoked cigaretts at six; called his father "governor" at ten; and defied all parental or official authority at fifteen. And when, at last, John, at the age of twenty, was expelled from college for certain very remarkable misdemeanors, and capped the climax by marrying a shop girl, old John, Sr., fairly boiled with wrath, and washed his hands (in the style commonly alluded to in popular novels) of his ne'er-do-so-well son.

      Yet there were those who said that John Jr.'s choice was not so bad after all. The new Mrs. Jones was a pretty little thing, with pink cheeks and blonde, fluffy hair, and the knack of dressing well on next to nothing a week. Add to this a voice like a lark, and an invalid mother, of not over and above angelic disposition, and you have the sum total of John's latest acquisition. To be sure, the paternal blessing was missing, but as John had never been in the habit of getting it except in the shape of a stout leather strap, used on other occasions to put an edge on John Sr.'s razor, he did not mind that much.

      Now that John had become a family man, and his father's coffers were closed against him, it behooved him to find something to do. John had never done much in the way of earning money, but rather prided himself upon his ability to spend it. His father had, often reluctantly enough, heretofore footed all his bills, and consequently, as in the old song about never missing the water till the well runs dry, he had never had a thought but that his pecuniary fountain would go on flowing forever, and obeyed literally the Scriptural injunction, "Take no heed for the morrow, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink."

      John's chief ability lay in pulling an oar, in the college eight, and in pitching a most remarkable combination of a drop and in-shoot, which had materially assisted in winning the college championship for his nine. He was also a handy man on a football team, the acknowledged heavy-weight champion sparrer of his class, and a general favorite with all the "boys." But these accomplishments, varied and comprehensive though they were, could scarcely earn bread and butter for a family of three; for, of course, John had to look out for the invalid mother-in-law. He had a little money in his own right which had come to him from his mother, and that lasted them for awhile, in fact until the old lady had got over her complaints in a fairer country than this, and John and his wife had only themselves to provide for.

      John heard that the West was a good country to grow up with, and started accordingly for St. Louis. After he had been there a few months a baby girl came to help diminish the family exchequer, and her arrival was shortly followed by the death of John's little wife. John was now in a pretty fix. Only twenty-two years old, without money or any apparent means of earning money, and with a baby daughter, to say nothing of a stern and unrelenting parent with the paternal purse strings tightly and unrelentingly drawn. As John, however, was too proud to ask assistance of his father, it made no special difference. In some way or another John managed to get along until the child was ten years old. He was by turns porter in a store, where his strength and agility stood him in good stead; driver of a horse car; and, at last, through the influence of a ward politician, for whom John had done some little electioneering, he was placed on the police force. One unlucky morning, however, as John was pacing his beat, he got into a quarrel with a drunken coal heaver, which ended in John getting the worst of it, in fact, very much the worst of it, as will be readily conceded, since, when his brother officer came that way to relieve him, he found that John's struggles and trials were over, and the coal heaver's knife still plunged to the hilt in John's breast.

      John was quite a favorite with the people who lived along his beat, on account of his good nature and willingness to oblige, and a subscription was at once started, from which sufficient was realized to defray the expenses of the funeral and support little Cara, his ten year old daughter, for a few months. A friendly neighbor, already laboring with difficulty to support eight children, touched by the child's beauty and distress, thought that one small mouth more would not greatly increase the burden of family expenses, and took her in, and for five years treated the girl as one of his own; sending her to school and feeding and clothing her, without hope or expectation of remuneration.

      When Cara was fifteen the family moved to Boston, and then poverty and misfortune commenced again. Her friend and benefactor was unable to obtain work; one by one, the older children died of diphtheria, aided by insufficient food and clothing, until at last there were left only Mr. Sollter and his wife, Cara, and two of the younger children, who alone escaped the ravages of the dread disease.

      Then it was that Cara showed her true nature. She soon found a place to work in a store, where her beauty and eagerness to do her work well soon enabled her to earn six dollars a week, which she gladly turned over to the general fund, now, alas, sadly depreciated by sickness and enforced idleness. But she was not content with this niggardly stipend and began soon to look about her for some more lucrative employment. While looking over the columns of a newspaper one day, the following advertisement attracted her attention:

[To be continued.]

CARA; THE STENOGRAPHER.

Continued.

      WANTED. — Pupils to learn shorthand and typewriting. Expenses moderate; instruction thorough. Call or address —— ——.

      At once the idea flashed through her mind that here was the opportunity to learn something which should be more profitable and pleasant than standing behind a counter all day long, to be bullied by a never-ending stream of impatient shoppers. To think was to act with Cara, and that very evening she went to the shorthand school to make inquiries. The teacher, a pleasant-faced young man, assured her that a bright young lady could learn enough in six months, at an expense of only about $25.00, to take a situation at $10.00 to $15.00 per week. Inspired by his kindness and courtesy, she told him her circumstances, and he, touched by her story, told her that she might learn and pay him after obtaining a situation, the terms to be kept confidential by both pupil and teacher. Cara gladly assented, and that very night saw her initiated into the mysteries of dots, dashes, hooks, and circles. She proved an apt scholar, and her enthusiasm and faithful study created a desire on the part of the teacher to assist her in every way, so that long before the six months were ended Cara had become quite proficient in both stenography and typewriting. As all her study was done evenings, in order not to interfere with her daily work, she had good reason to feel well pleased.
 

CHAPTER II.

      For various reasons John Jones, Jr., had not imparted the full particulars of his early history to his daughter, and she was thus ignorant of the fact that her grandfather lived in Boston, or even that she had a grandfather at all.

      She had become so thoroughly a member of the Sollter family, endeared to them by sharing in common their hardships of sickness and poverty, that she was considered as a daughter by the worthy couple, and was known by their name.

      The only memento of her father that was left her was his picture, taken at the time of his marriage, and the badge of his college society, which she had preserved as sacred relics of the father, who, wild and reckless as he had been in his youth, had, nevertheless, been all that a kind parent could be to his motherless girl. Of her mother she knew nothing, except that she was poor and almost friendless when John Jones, Jr., had married her.

      Soon after completing her course at the shorthand school, she was informed by her teacher that there was a vacancy in a large importing house on State Street. Thither she went at once, and upon inquiring for the head of the firm was ushered into a dingy little office, and presented to a sharp eyed, keen old man, who, nevertheless, spoke to her in a kindly tone, and seemed to look at her very earnestly as if he had seen her before. Pleased by her bright appearance and sensible answers, the old merchant soon engaged her at a good salary, and the next morning saw her installed as a full fledged stenographer in the office of — as our readers have doubtless already surmised — John Jones, East and West India Goods.

      We may pass quickly over the events of the next few months. Suffice it to say, that Cara, by her painstaking and faithful service, so well pleased the old merchant that he voluntarily raised her salary twice, and often complimented her highly upon the satisfaction her work gave him. The old man was, for some reason almost unaccountable to himself, growing very fond of his pretty stenographer. He often found himself, in the middle of a dictation, stopping short, his mind occupied more by the girl before him than by his correspondence. His clerks even noticed it, and said laughingly to themselves, that Miss Sollter — for such was the name by which she was known by the employees in the old warehouse — "was twisting the old man round her finger." He inaugurated great changes on her account: the dingy old office gave way to a nicely finished one, with a corner especially fitted up for Cara; and many conveniences were added which did not heretofore exist. She often found him gazing curiously at her, as though she reminded him of some one he knew; but neither the old man nor the girl even dreamed that the strange freaks of fortune had brought Cara to her grandfather.

      As time wore on, the sharp old business-man grew strangely tender to Cara, and she often wondered at his apparently causeless kindnesses to her; but as it smoothed her path and lightened her tasks to a very perceptible degree, she had no reason for anything but pleasure in the strange liking of the old man. But things were not destined to move along so smoothly continuously. There is always the calm before the storm, the lull before the tempest, and in Cara's case it held true, as the events narrated by the following chapter will plainly show.

(To be continued.)

CARA; THE STENOGRAPHER.

CHAPTER III.

      Some eight months and a half after Cara's installation as stenographer for John Jones & Co., she was preparing to go home and went into a small closet or wardrobe that had been constructed for her convenience, and, having put on her out-door garments, was about to leave it, when the sound of a whispered conversation attracted her attention, and the words, "Henry Trent," were plainly audible.

      A word of explanation may not be out of place here. Henry Trent was a young man who worked in the office of John Jones & Co., and who, by his courtesy and manly bearing, had soon succeeded in making friendship with Cara, and as his boarding-place was in the same part of the city as the home of Cara's adopted parents, he soon fell into the habit of walking home with her, and occasionally calling upon her, on a Sunday evening, and on one occasion had taken her to the theatre. And Cara was much more interested in the young man than she would have been willing to acknowledge. Hence, when the whispered name of her friend drew her attention, instead of passing away carelessly, as she would have done under ordinary circumstances, she paused a moment, and listened closely.

      Not that Cara was a girl who would have stooped to eavesdropping, out of mere curiosity, but the fact of a whispered conversation at the time and place convinced her that all was not right, and as it evidently concerned her friend, whom she esteemed highly, she thought it suspicious, and thought it her duty to ascertain farther, if possible, the nature of the conversation. The voices evidently proceeded from the other side of the rear partition of the wardrobe, which she remembered was a dark corner of the outer store, filled with barrels and bales of merchandise of every description, and thus affording a safe and quiet place for a confidential conversation. Cara's quiet movements on the other side had not disturbed the persons who were carrying on the conversation, and they proceeded in a low, whispered tone, but occasionally lifting their voices slightly, so that Cara could now and then distinguish a word or part of a sentence, such as "to-morrow night," "about two o'clock," "meet at," "lay it to Henry," and then they went away; and Cara, greatly excited, and not knowing what to think of the matter, turned away to go home.

      Henry Trent had gone home early that evening, on account of a slight indisposition, and Mr. Jones always left the store at four o'clock, so that there was no one for Cara to confide in; and even if there had been, what was there to confide? It might have been merely a casual conversation, and of no special hearing. But, although these thoughts occurred to the girl, she nevertheless resolved to keep her eyes open and notice closely what went on in the next few days, and if anything was wrong, she could, of course, make the facts known to Mr. Jones or Henry.

      The next day nothing happened, apparently, out of the common; but on the second day when she arrived at the store in the morning, and passed as usual through the counting room to the private office, she noticed at once that something unusual had occurred. The clerks were standing in little groups, talking excitedly, while all the room was in a state of great confusion. Books, papers, and documents of all descriptions were scattered over the floor, and as she glanced at the great safe in the corner she saw that the doors were open, something which was never known before at that time of day, as the combination was known only to Mr. Jones and a clerk whom he implicitly trusted, Henry Trent, who had orders never to open it before Mr. Jones' arrival in the morning, and to close it before his departure at night.

      Mr. Jones, although a shrewd man of business, had some curious ideas, one of which was that a man ought to be his own banker. He considered his money safer in his own care than in a bank, and cared more for the legitimate profits of his business than for investments or banking operations outside of it. Consequently it was his custom to have very large amounts of money at one time in the massive safe, especially after some of his ships had made successful voyages; and if the safe had been rifled, as was apparently the case, it meant a great if not overwhelming loss to the old and respected firm of John Jones & Co.

      Mr. Jones soon appeared on the scene, having been sent for in haste by the head clerk, and with faces pale with apprehension they proceeded to investigate affairs and inspect the condition of the safe. After carefully reckoning the amounts which had been placed in the safe the night before, together with the amount usually on hand, the startling fact was clearly demonstrated that John Jones was poorer by over $350,000 than he was the day before.

      The old man appeared crushed and stupefied by this overwhelming misfortune, and Cara pitied him greatly, but did not know what to say to comfort him. The destitution was indeed serious to him. If the money, or a portion of it, at least, was not recovered, beggary stared him in the face.

      The head clerk, a man of great intelligence, who had been in the employ of the firm for almost thirty years, although almost as dumfounded as his employer, — as well he might be, his savings for many years having also been deposited for safe keeping in the safe, — had, nevertheless, presence of mind enough to order the doors closed and the proper authorities notified at once, and very soon one of the keenest detectives on the force arrived on the scene.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

CARA; THE STENOGRAPHER.

CHAPTER IV.

      The detective remained for a long time closeted with Mr. Jones, having first given orders that nothing was to be disturbed, and no one was to be allowed to leave the store. The merchant could tell him but little, however, except the important fact that Henry Trent was the only person in his employ who possessed the secret of the combination of the safe. Henry was summoned to the presence of Mr. }ones and the detective, but of course stoutly maintained his ignorance of the crime, although allowing that the facts were apparently somewhat against him. The detective, favorably impressed by his bright and honest appearance and straight-forward story, was disposed to consider him innocent, but deemed it his duty to search him, as well as everyone in Mr. Jones' employ. Nothing was found on his person, but in his overcoat pocket was found a small package which proved to contain over $20,000 in government bonds. Confronted with these he still protested his innocence; but the detective, convinced almost against his will that he was at least one of the guilty parties, was compelled to take him into custody.

      The rest of the clerks were searched but nothing was found on any of them which gave any further clue to the perpetrators of the robbery. In accordance with the detective's wishes, nothing was said to the rest of the clerks about the discovery of the bonds, and, consequently, Cara did not know, until she read of it in the papers the next day, that Henry was even suspected of complicity in the crime.

      Immediately the thought flashed through her mind that this was the subject of the whispered conversation she had overheard, the night before the robbery, and she at once proceeded to Mr. Jones' residence to acquaint him of the particulars.

      On being ushered into the parlor she was requested to wait a short time, as Mr. Jones had not yet arisen, although it was late in the forenoon. Overcome by the need of sleep — the old man had not closed his eyes all night, ruin and poverty staring him in the face having rendered him almost insane, — he was sleeping heavily.

      On glancing around the room, which was furnished with rich, though ancient furniture, she was startled and surprised to see looking down upon her from the wall the likeness of her own father. She looked closely to assure herself there was no mistake, and then, unclasping her locket, compared the portrait of her father contained therein with the one on the wall. They were identical, with the exception of the size, both having apparently been taken when the subject was about twenty years of age.

      Cara was greatly astonished at this surprising circumstance, but the entrance of the old man recalled to her the subject of her visit. As clearly as possible she explained to him the facts in relation to the conversation which she had overheard. The old man was greatly interested, and brightened up perceptibly. He was very fond of Henry Trent, and the apparent ingratitude of his trusted clerk, in robbing him, had hurt him deeply. He requested Cara to accompany him to the police headquarters, and explain the facts to the authorities as she had done to him, and she eagerly obeyed.

(To be continued.)

Gaslight note: with this issue, the editor commits the cardinal sin of serials by breaking the continuity of its publication, just when the plot is at a crisis point! The fifth installment of Cara would not appear until the next month. Muddying the problem, the table of contents still lists it as though it was actually included in this number. By coincidence, a letter in the correspondence column says: The Volapuk lessons are of great value to me, and who would not get "mashed" on "Cara?" This shows that the little drama had followers.

CARA; THE STENOGRAPHER.

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CHAPTER V.

      Upon making known to the authorities what she had heard, it was seen that there was no cause for detaining Henry Trent, and he was at once set free. The detectives closely questioned Cara in regard to the conversation she had overheard, and whether she had any idea of the identity of the conspirators; but as the conversation had been carried on in whispers she could not decide who they were, and Cara and Mr. Jones were allowed to depart, accompanied by Henry Trent.

      The detectives were soon successful in discovering the guilty parties. A strict watch had been set over the movements of every employee of the firm, and it was soon ascertained that one of the clerks had been very free with his money during the past two days, which was rather surprising, from the fact that his salary was small and hardly more than adequate to meet his ordinary expenses. He was taken into custody, and upon his room being searched a large amount of the plunder was discovered. Upon being confronted with this proof of his guilt, he broke down, and confessed that he, in company with another clerk, had robbed the safe, having accidentally found the secret of the combination of the safe, written on a piece of paper in Henry Trent's desk, while searching for an invoice.

      It seems that the combination had recently been changed, and that Henry had written it down in order to aid his memory until he should become more familiar with it when he intended to destroy it. Having a grudge against him for the reason that owing to his faithful work he had been advanced more rapidly than they, they decided, after robbing the safe, to place a considerable portion of the booty in Henry's pocket, which, together with the fact that he was the only clerk trusted with the combination, would, they thought, surely implicate him, and divert suspicion from themselves, at least until they had an opportunity to leave the country. But they had not taken into consideration the sharp ears and ready brain of Cara, and little thought that while they were laying their plans, only a few inches separated them from one of Henry's truest friends. It had been an easy matter to execute the robbery. They concealed themselves as soon as their work was done, the night before in the same dark corner in which they had done their plotting, and where they had previously concealed the necessary implements. Having secured their booty, it was an easy matter to depart from the store, the door of which was fastened by a ponderous spring lock, guarding only against those on the outside, and yielding to a simple turn of the handle from the inside.

      Had they displayed more shrewdness, and not displayed the evidences of their ill gotten gains so quickly, they might have escaped; but, thinking that suspicion attached only to Henry Trent, and their heads turned by their easily-secured wealth, they soon ran into the trap set for them.

      The stolen property was recovered with the exception of about one hundred dollars, which was all that the thieves had managed to spend. By the request of Mr. Jones they received very light sentences, on account of their youth and previous good character. Henry Trent received a substantial increase in his salary as part compensation for the natural though unjust suspicions entertained against him, although the old merchant strongly reproved him for his carelessness in leaving the secret of the combination where it was likely to fall into the hands or come under the observation of others.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

CARA; THE STENOGRAPHER.

CHAPTER VI.

      The events connected with the robbery, and the excitement attendant upon it, had at first driven from Cara's mind all thoughts of the picture of her father, which she had seen in Mr. Jones' parlor. But after quiet was once more restored, she began to think seriously of the strangeness of it. She hardly dared to speak to Mr. Jones about it, as she thought an accidental likeness might have deceived her, but at last she determined to make the venture, and one day she told the old man about her discovery.

      He listened in increasing astonishment, and when she told of the similarity of the picture on the wall to that which she carried in her locket, he quickly and excitedly demanded to see it. Upon her producing it, he gave a sudden start, and asked in a husky tone. "What was your father's name, my child?" Upon her informing him that it was John Jones, he sprang to his feet, and clasped her in his arms, while tears of joy ran down his cheeks, and strong emotion completely stopped his utterance.

      When at last he had gained his self control. he eagerly questioned her about her early life and misfortunes, and at last ended the conversation by declaring that they must go home at once, and soon Cara entered for the second time, the mansion which had been the birthplace of her father.

      There is little more to add. Old Mr. Jones, in gratitude for the kindness of the Sollter family to his granddaughter in her afflictions, started Mr. Sollter in business, and the next Christmas presented them in Cara's name with a substantial house in a respectable portion of the city.

      The friendship of Cara and Henry soon ripened into love, and the old merchant, well pleased at the way affairs were progressing, gladly gave his consent to the marriage, with the rather remarkable proviso, that Henry Trent should change his name to John Jones, Jr., to which, to please the old man, and at the earnest solicitation of Cara, he acquiesced, and as soon as they were married, John Jones, Jr., no longer Henry Trent, was taken into full partnership, and although the old man is rapidly nearing his eternal home, yet he is most happy, and it is hard to decide which affords him the most delight, his two-year-old great grandson, John Jones 3d, or the fact, that although he has retired from active business, the old firm, which for four generations has been presided over by a John Jones, is in no danger of changing hands, and that the firm name is likely to remain the same for many years to come.

      Cara is no longer a stenographer, but occasionally likes to take the cover from an elegant machine of special manufacture, which she always keeps in her room, "to remind her of old times," as she says, and to sit down and rattle the keys, and think to herself what strange events have happened since, and because of her first visit, to the shorthand school.

THE END.