The Argosy — page 118: what you’re looking at

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

The Mystery of Allan Grale. 103 _ his, for he is head manager after the master—has rather a careless way of marking his dates. When he begins a fresh page, he always puts down the date and the day of the week, and he does not put another date down on the page at all; so that it sometimes happens the entries on one and the same page may comprise two days’ entries, if not three days’. See,” added the young man, again turning the ledger to Charles, ‘he has put down Tuesday, the twentieth of October, at the top here; and at the top of the next page Thursday, the twenty- second. So that it is impossible to say which of the two former even- ings it was.” ‘And you cannot recollect which ?” “Not with certainty. The impression on my mind is that it was the later one—Wednesday.” “Tt was on the Tuesday that Grale left home—early in the evening,” remarked Charles. ‘‘ And I donot know that anybody has seen him or heard of him from that hour to this.” Mark Acland stooped down and took something from under the counter. ‘The next morning, I was putting the shop to rights before Jones came, when I found this in the corner of the outer counter,” he remarked. ‘‘ Look at it, Charles.” It was a walking-stick ; a common, heavy black staff, its ferule torn and almost broken away from hard usage. *T think the man left this behind him,” he said. ‘*I could not call to mind anybody else who had been in the shop that was likely to do so.” ‘“‘T must say this stick is not much in Allan Grale’s style,” cried Charles. “No, indeed ; but the get up of the whole man was not in Grale’s style, or I think I should have known him at once. The very face was different; and yet, when once his name came into my mind, I felt half sure it was he. I might have felt more sure, only the idea seemed so very unlikely.” A customer came in at that juncture, and then another; young Acland became very busy, and had no further time to give to gossip. So Charles Carr wished him good-bye, and took his departure. He went back home by train. And upon reaching Dering station, the first person he saw was Dr. Palmer himself, who had gone there to see a patient off. Eagerly enough, Charles poured into his ear what he had heard from Mark Acland. ‘But it is all uncertain at the best, Charles,” remarked the Doctor, after Astening and musing: ‘‘as everything else seems to be that’s connected with the departure of Allan Grale. Your friend Acland is not able to decide whether it was Grale who went into the shop and demanded these poisons; or whether it was not. Neither can he give the precise date.” “rue ssiey fhe Suddenly Charles felt the Doctor give his arm a sharp stip, Ww bith CoOnniclooolks (C(O)