BANKER OVERREACHED BY A THIEF.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXI, Issue 3141, 9 September 1878, Page 2

BANKER OVERREACHED BY A THIEF.

(CHICAGO TIMES.) The following is a story which is in circulation on the streets. If untrue, as it probably is, it is still worth the telling. About three {weeks ago, it is said, a carriage stopped at one of the prominent Chicago hotels, and out of it got Mr A., the junior partner of a banking firm. Mr A. , a well-known man of the world, was warmly received by the clerk of the hotel, and since it was dinner-time, ushered into the dining room. Mr A. appeared to be in a specially good humor, and chatted a while with the clerk. In the course of the conversation he. asked whether a gentleman by the name of Vis-; count Fleury, from Paris, had not arrived the previous day, and in order to aid the clerk in recognising him, he added that he had a very military air. The question was immediately answered in the affirmative. The banker said he wanted to make the acquaintance of the gentleman. The clerk told the head waiter to save for Mr A, a place at the Frenchman's table. The banker had hardly taken his seat when the person for whom he was inquiring, a tall, fine-look-ing, gentleman, stepped into the room. Without paying any attention to the banker, he sat down at the table near him. After soup was through with, Mr A. began with some incidental remarks. The Frenchman, who was alone, showed no disinclination to respond, and the two were Boon in a talk, in the course of which Mr A. found an opportunity to introduce himself to the Frenchman as Mr A., partner of the firui of A. Brothers. The banker was, as has already been stated, a man of the world j the Viscount was a Frenchman ; and the conversation naturally turned on the elephants of Chicago, a subject better calculated than any other to bring young men closely together. After dinner the two had a bottle of Mumm and a cigar. The Viscount then said, inadvertently — " By the way, my dear Mr A., can you tell me where I can get cash on drafts on the Bank of California for about 120,000d01s 1 I am going to leave to-morrow for France, and I should prefer to take my money with me in United States bonds." A, said that he would be very glad to accommodate him. "My carriage/ said he, "is in front of the door, and if you choose we will go right over to the bank. In half -an-hour you can have your bonds, and then I will be at your service to show you the elephants of Chicago." A quarter of an hour afterwards the carriage stopped before the bank, and the banker led his French friend through the front office, in which, besides the numerous clerks, there were several other persons, apparently customers, back into his private office. There he invited his guest to sit down, and he took a seat opposite to him. The Viscount drew a large pocketbook from his vest pocket and was about to open it when Mr A. snatched it from his hand. " What does this mean ?" said the Frenchman springing to his feet. A. stood up before him, eyed him from head to foot, and said to him quietly — "It means, my dear viscount, that I know peifectly well who you are. Tou are M., cashier of the firm of L., T., and Co., of San Francisco, and that these securities which you have here in your pocketbook represent money stolen from your firm." " You must be out of your senses," said the Frenchman. " Either give me back those papera which you have taken from me like a robber, or I will give an alarm." "Just as you please," said Mr A. ; " only I want to Bay that the people you see out there in my office are our best detectives. Just read this letter, if you please. Mr T., of .the house which you have robbed, is a schoolfriend of mine. Since he knew that you would keep out of the way of everyone with whom you had had business relations, he applied to me, sent me a description of you, and told me all which it was necessary for me to know. Early this morning one of the detectives in my employ told me of your arrival ; and now my dear Mr M., or if you prefer the other name, my dear Viscount, you are caught." The false Viscount had hardly cast a glance at the letter before he sank back on his seat, apparently overcome with consternation. In the meantime, Mr A. looked over the contents of the pocketbook, and found it all right. Then his eyes rested on the unhappy Frenchman. The sight touched him, and he said, with more warmth than the scamp deserved — "You see what crime leads to, but you must not be entirely discouraged. My friend T. says that you invested 10,000 dols. of you own money in his business. In view of the good service which you have previously rendered, and out of consideration for your family, he lets you have it. Here is the money. Take it, and try to earn your living honestly. I give you, in my own name, and that of my friend, your former employer, the assurance that nobody shall ever know anything concerning your misconduct." Tears flowed from the eyes of the unmasked swindler. He pressed Mr A.'s hand warmly, and, since he had apparently lost the desire to see the elephants of Chicago, he hurried from the spot. Mr A. was delighted at having performed his mission so well. He wrote at once to San Francisco about the good success which had attended him, and placed the securities which he htfd recovered at the disposition of the firm of L., T., & Co. But who can describe his astonishment when the house informed him by return mail that they knew nothing about M., and that the securities he had forwarded were worthless forgeries.