The Argosy, Vol. 61, No. 4 — page 101: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

HIS sat near enough to see the fat man refuse to accept the note. The situation was so inexplicable that the young fellow could scarcely answer _the voluble old gentleman courteously. He hurried to the rear of the car where he could be alone. It is not true that Alfred Dexter was tempted at this point to convert the thousand - dollar bank-note to his own use. He was too greatly puzzled and confused to contemplate that phase of the situation. He had surely made no mistake in the identity of the man who had given him the note. The fellow had flatly denied being its owner. Now, some very strong reason must be found for such a denial. Philanthropists are not riding about the country handing out big bank-notes to needy and— more or less — deserv- ing young men. Dexter was practical enough; his imagination would never run away with his common sense. But so mysterious was the occurrence that at first no practical explanation offered it- self to his mind. It couldn’t be a joke that some of his mates had put up on him. He drew out the bank-note and examined it as care- fully as had the conductor. If he knew anything about it at all, the bill was good. At least, if it was a counterfeit, it was a high-class one; and where would the boys get such a work of art? That idea:he put aside as without the least foundation. 7 Nor was it a trick to try his honesty. Who would care to do that? And to risk a thousand-dollar bill in the trans- action ? These and similar thoughts Dexter brushed away instantly. He admitted that the bank-note might be a counter- feit, though a most excellent one. But, if so, the fat man had not been in a joking mood when he handed it to him. It is a serious matter to try to pass false money, and in that very fact was the first reasonable explanation which knocked at the door of Dexter’s mind. In his haste and confusion the fat man might have passed him a bad note with- out meaning to do so. That whole roll of bills Dexter had seen in his possession might have been counterfeit money. After the flagman had gone on, the TEMPTATION. 659 passenger discovered what he had done, and feared disclosure—accusation—per- haps arrest. ‘That was why he had re- fused to accept the bank-note when the young man tried to return it to him. This explanation possessed some savor of reasonableness. And yet it did not fully satisfy Dexter by any manner of means. His eye was keen, and he could see nothing out of the way on the face or the back of the thousand - dollar note.. Naturally, he was not used to handling bills of such large denomfnation; but Harry Connors had been confident that the note was good, and so had the ex- press messenger and the baggageman. The three were better qualified to judge than was the flagman, and they had pro- nounced the note O. K. Accepting its genuineness, then, this first reasonable explanation must be cast aside. If the money was good, for what cause would a man deny the ownership of it? Dexter mentally reviewed every word the fat fellow had said to him when he had first demanded his ticket, and how he had acted. Dexter remembered that the passenger had seemed annoyed at his insistence in collecting the fare imme- diately. He had pulled the big roll of bills from his pocket, and, without a glance at them, had peeled off the outside note and thrust it into Dexter’s hand. The young man recalled that most clearly. His giving the trainman the thousand- dollar bill might easily have been a mis- take. But, then, to explain his reason for refusing the bill when it was brought back to him? Thousand-dollar bills are not usually carried by ordinary business men—especially as the “wrapper” for a bank roll. Many business houses and most banks file the numbers of notes of such large denomination that come into their pos- session. A thousand-dollar bill can in most cases always be correctly traced if stolen. Ah, that was the key to the puzzling circumstance! Dexter's mind finally grasped it, and so reasonable did the explanation appear that he discarded every other answer to the puzzle. EO JOO (©