PETERSON’S MAGAZINE.
THE TWENTY - DOLLAR NOTE.
BY HELEN R. THORNTON.
"My dear, what do you think?" said the wife of the Rev. Mr. Vivian, almost in tears. "Jane, whom we thought so much of, is a thief."
"Impossible, my love," was the answer.
"Jane, our chambermaid! Whom we have known so long! Whose probity we have seen tried so often!"
"It seems incredible, I know," replied Mrs. Vivian, excitedly. "But there is no doubt of it——"
"No doubt of it?"
"Yes! You remember giving me, as usual, the marriage fee, after pretty Miss Howard's wedding -don't you?" Her husband nodded. "Well, my dear, I was tired and sleepy, for we came home very late, and instead of locking up the money, as I ought to have done, I pinned it, by one corner, to the pin-cushion on my dressing- table. Yesterday morning, when I came to look for it, it was gone. I have searched everywhere, but cannot find it. Now, nobody had been in the room but ourselves and Jane."
By this time, Mr. Vivian himself began to look almost as serious as his wife.
"You are sure," he said, "that nobody else has been in the chamber?"
"Why, my dear, you know we always keep it locked, and that Jane is the only servant who has a pass-key. No burglar could get in."
"You have looked everywhere?"
"Everywhere. Through all my drawers, in the pocket of the dress I wore, on the floor, under the bed, in every possible place. But it was really not worth while looking, for I am positive I pinned the note to the pin-cushion. When I went to look for it, after breakfast, it was gone. Jane had been doing her chamberwork, as usual, while we were at breakfast, and is the only person who could have stolen it."
"Have you spoken to Jane, yet?"
"No. I thought I would consult you first. Hadn't we better have her trunk searched, secretly ? If we let her know she is suspected, she will find some way to hide the note away."
"I am glad you have not spoken to her. It is no little matter to take away a girl's character."
"But the proof, my dear?"
"The proof looks strong, but is not conclusive. Suppose, just suppose, that, after discharging Jane, and so destroying her character, you should discover, some day, that she was innocent. I think I will take a look at the room myself."
"It's really a waste of time, my dear. I have looked everywhere. Still," hesitatingly, "it is but right to give the poor girl every chance."
"I should know the note, if I saw it, anywhere," said Mr. Vivian. "It was a peculiarly marked twenty-dollar greenback, not a national note, but a legal-tender, and stained with ink at one end. The stain attracted my attention particularly. It was as if a thumb, wet with ink, had been laid on the note. The impression was very distinct."
An hour's search, however, only confirmed Mrs. Vivian's story. The note was nowhere to be found . Mr. Vivian had been so thorough in his examination, that he even looked under the lining of his wife's dress. "Sometimes," he had said, "money slips out of a pocket, and gets between the lining and the silk: I knew of a case where a diamond ring was lost, in that way, for weeks." But no note was concealed beneath the lining.
Mr. Vivian desisted at last.
"I cannot believe it," he said. "I will not give up my faith in Jane."
"But who else could have done it? I would not have believed it either. Let us go upstairs and search her room. She is busy in the kitchen and will not know it."
"No, my dear. If we search her room, it is
