the trouble, dupes for the most part pocketing their losses in
silence.

After an interval of two or three hours Mr. Sapp plucked up courage
to return. Having mounted the stairs, he entered the room warily.
His late partner was not there. A stalwart gentleman, who seemed
to be the proprietor, 1ooked up inquiringly, and was not a little
puzzled when the visitor supplemented the performance of wiping the
right corner of his mouth by three deliberate nods. "What can I do
for you to-day?" inquired the gentleman, rising.

"You are, I presume, a partner of Mr. Ragem," answered Sapp. "I
see he is out. Our business this morning was unfortunately
interrupted by the police, and I have returned to complete it."

"What business?" asked the proprietor, in undisguised astonishment.

Now the preacher made the very natural mistake of supposing that
the surprise manifested by his interlocutor was a mere matter of
policy and caution. Hence he proceeded to explain. "Ragem must
have told you. I am the gentleman who gave him the five hundred
dollars, and he said that my twenty-five thousand were locked up in
the safe."

The proprietor did not wait to hear more, but seizing the
affrighted creature by the collar, thundered forth, "I have heard
of you before. You are the villain, are you, who has been turning
my office into a den of thieves? I have caught you at last!"

Awaking to a partial comprehension of the situation, the poor