BAD MONEY
Larry was in such a hurry to get to the office with the copy, for
he had been delayed some time, that he did not look at the card the
elderly gentleman had given him until some time later, when he had
explained the news to Mr. Emberg. The city editor sent a reporter to
get the story from the police station.
“Who was the man whose watch they took?” asked Mr. Emberg.
“I forgot to look,” replied Larry, pulling out the card and reading it.
“He--was Dr. James Carrolton,” he added.
“What?” cried Mr. Emberg.
Larry repeated his remark.
“Say, this is a big story!” exclaimed the city editor. “We must have a
display on this. Dr. Carrolton robbed the second day he is in New York.”
He hurried to the telephone, to call up the police station where he
had sent the reporter, and, getting him on the wire, held a hurried
conversation with him.
“You’re always stumbling on big stories,” said the city editor, coming
back to where Larry stood, wondering what it was all about.
“How do you mean?”
“Don’t you know who Dr. Carrolton is?”
Then a light dawned on Larry.
“Why--why,” the boy began, “he’s the great English surgeon on hip and
spine diseases that we’ve had so many stories about, and he came over
here to cure a millionaire’s daughter.”
“Of course,” said Mr. Emberg with a laugh. “I think it will be a good
thing for you, also.”
“How?”
“Well, Dr. Carrolton is not only noted for his skill as a surgeon, but
he is one of the most liberal men in the world. He appreciates whatever
is done for him. The way you saved his watch from being stolen----”
“I didn’t do that for pay!” exclaimed Larry.
“Of course not,” resumed the city editor. “He knows you didn’t. But
that need not stop him from rewarding you. You’re a lucky boy. He may
give you a hundred dollars.”
“I don’t want it,” spoke Larry suddenly.
“What’s that! Let me tell you, a hundred dollars is not to be sneezed
at.”
“I’d rather he’d cure my sister,” said the boy.
“Your sister?”
“Yes, she has a spine disease, just like some of those persons Dr.
Carrolton has cured.”
“Perhaps he will cure her,” said Mr. Emberg. “Only if he does it will
be worth several thousand dollars, for he charges big fees.”
“If I had the money no fee would be too big if my sister could be
cured,” said Larry, blinking to keep back the tears.
“If you get a chance, speak to him about it,” said Mr. Emberg. “Great
men are apt to overlook little things like a fee.”
“Shall I go to the police station now?” asked Larry, as he remembered
that the physician had told him to be present.
“Perhaps you had better,” said the city editor. “Don’t be afraid to
speak up, and tell what you know about the case.”
But there was no need of Larry’s testimony. The police magistrate,
after hearing the story of the officer and the physician, decided to
hold the prisoner for the grand jury. Larry, who was on hand, was told
to be at the courthouse when he was sent for. So he did not have to
give any testimony.
As he was passing out of the courtroom with a number of other persons,
Larry was spied by Dr. Carrolton.
“Hi, boy!” the physician exclaimed. “Don’t forget to come and see me.
That was a valuable watch you saved for me!”
“I’ll come,” promised Larry, anxious to escape from the gathering
crowd.
Larry watched the famous physician enter a big automobile and dart up
the street in the care of several friends who had come to court, as
soon as they heard the news of his plight. Then the boy left the police
station and made his way home, as there was no further need of his
services at the newspaper office that afternoon.
“I wonder if I could get him to doctor Lucy,” thought Larry. “If I
could, and she should be cured, I’d be the happiest boy in New York. If
I get a chance I’ll surely speak to Dr. Carrolton about it.”
When Larry got home that evening he found his mother in much distress.
She had just been out to the store to make a few purchases, and,
returning, still had her hat on.
“What’s the matter?” asked Larry, as he saw by his mother’s face that
something was wrong.
“The groceryman said I had tried to pass bad money on him!” exclaimed
Mrs. Dexter.
“What kind?” asked Larry.
“A half-dollar.”
“Tell me about it, mother.”
“I had considerable change in my pocketbook,” went on Mrs. Dexter. “I
went out to get a small steak for supper and, when I came to pay the
man where we deal, who sells meat as well as groceries, I thought I had
a bill to give him. Instead the largest piece of money I could find was
a half-dollar.
“I gave it to the clerk and he took it to the desk. In a little while
he came back and said the money was not good. I insisted that it was,
but he said he would call in a policeman to prove it. Then, rather than
have a scene, I said I would pay some other money, and I did so.”
“Where is the money he said was bad?” asked Larry.
“Here,” said his mother, taking a coin from her pocketbook and giving
it to Larry. The boy looked at the half-dollar. It seemed bright and
shiny, and had a good ring to it.
“That seems good,” said Larry. “Maybe the man in the store was too
particular.”
“He asked the advice of several other men before he said the money was
no good,” said Mrs. Dexter. “So I’m afraid he is right.”
“It’s too bad,” said Larry. “We work hard enough for our money and it
ought to be good when we get it.”
“The man said there had been a number of counterfeit pieces in
circulation of late,” went on Mrs. Dexter. “That’s why they have to be
so careful.”
“But this don’t look like a counterfeit,” spoke Larry. “I’ve seen
several of that kind which the reporters have, and all of them are
worse than this.”
“Well, the man wouldn’t take it, so I guess it’s no good,” said the
woman.
“Where did you get it?” asked Larry. “Perhaps that might give us a
clew.”
“I got it in a peculiar way,” replied Larry’s mother. “Yesterday one
of the men on the floor below us asked me for some change. He said he
had a large bill and wanted very much to get it broken. I had no spare
change and I told him so.
“Then the man asked me to give him what I had, and he gave me a
ten-dollar bill as security. He asked me to go out and get that
changed, which I did. When I came back he said he had got the change in
the meanwhile from someone else in the house. So there was no necessity
for me giving him any. He paid me what money was due me, and, among the
other pieces, was this half-dollar.”
“I’ll soon see if it’s good,” said Larry, taking the coin. “I’ll go
around with it to some big place, and they’ll soon let me know whether
it is counterfeit or not.”
Larry took the money and went to a near-by pawnshop, the proprietor of
which he had done a favor for some time since. The man was a German
Hebrew, and was well acquainted with gold and silver.
“Is that good?” asked Larry, laying the coin down on the counter.
“For why you vant to know?” asked the pawnbroker with a smile. He was
always careful what he said and nearly always asked a question before
he answered one.
“Someone gave it to my mother, and the storekeeper said it was a bad
piece,” replied Larry anxiously.
“Vich storekeeper?”
“Mr. Smith on the corner.”
“And he said it vas bad?”
“That’s what he did,” replied Larry. “But I’m in a hurry, Mr. Moses.
Can you tell me what I want to know?”
“For sure I can, mein frient. I only vant to know vat I’m talking
about.”
He took the half-dollar, bit it between his teeth, and rang it on the
counter. Then he took from a shelf a small bottle.
“I vill give it the acid test,” he said.
He dropped a small quantity of liquid on the coin. The metal seemed to
boil where the acid touched it.
“Well?” asked Larry, rather anxiously.
“I vouldn’t give you two cents on dis half-dollar,” said the pawnbroker.
“Then it’s bad?”
“Like a rotten egg!” exclaimed Mr. Moses. “Don’t let your mudder take
any more of ’em, mein frient.”
“All right,” replied Larry. “I’ll tell her to be more careful in the
future. I suppose we’ll have to lose this money.”
“Vere did you got it?” asked Mr. Moses with a cunning look.
“A man--” began Larry, and then he hesitated. He did not know what
might come from the affair, and he thought it might be better to keep
quiet about it for a while.
“Yes--yes!” exclaimed Mr. Moses eagerly.
“A man gave it to her,” replied Larry, and then he went out of the
pawnshop quickly to prevent the proprietor asking any more questions.