"WATCH THAT PACKAGE."

CHAPTER XIII.

Edwards Taken to Geneva--The Arrest of Eugene Pearson--His
Confession--More Money Recovered--Dr. Johnson Arrested.

As may be imagined, our detective labors were now but fairly commenced.
We had, it is true, succeeded in capturing one of the active
participants in the robbery, and in securing nearly four thousand
dollars of the money that had been taken. We had also obtained
information which would enable us to arrest two more of the parties who
were connected with the affair, and perhaps secure an additional sum of
money. The information which Edwards had given, however, was of vast
importance to us, and enabled us to pursue our further search with a
more intelligent knowledge of the parties interested, and with a more
reasonable hope of eventual success.

Our suspicions regarding Eugene Pearson had been fully sustained, and
while it was a source of regret to us that we would thus prove beyond
question the deep guilt of a trusted and respected employe of the bank,
and would be compelled to shatter the false foundations of an honorable
name, our duty in the premises was clear. Indeed, I have no hesitation
in asserting that of all the parties connected with this burglary I had
far less regard or sympathy with this deceitful and base-minded young
scamp than for any of the others. If Edwards' story was reliable, Eugene
Pearson was the arch conspirator of the entire affair, and no possible
excuse could be offered for his dastardly conduct. His position in the
bank was a lucrative one, and his standing in society of the highest.
His family connections were of the most honorable character, while the
affection of his employers for him, would certainly have appealed to his
sense of honor, if he possessed any, so strongly that guilt ought to
have been impossible. For Eugene Pearson there was no consideration of
regard in my mind. He had deliberately, and without the slightest cause,
violated the most sacred pledges of affection and duty, and had proven
recreant to trusts, the very nature of which should have prevented a
thought of wrong-doing. He was not dissipated. He did not drink to
excess, and his part in the gambling operations of his friends had
always resulted profitably to himself. He was a regular attendant at
church, conducted himself in the face of all men as one incapable of
wrong, and against whom no taint of suspicion could possibly attach. A
veritable "wolf in she