Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-02-04

Barnett, the mail guard, who occasionally
opened the window and pushed his head out
to inform himself of the trains whereabouts,
bringing it back always with puff, and a
snort, and an exclamation that the frost was
a ''reg'lar black un tonight, and no mis-
take" Close upon Exeter now, all Of old
Barnett's sacks for delivery are ready on the
floor close by the door, handy for the porter
to seize, old Barnett himself sitting on the
pile, clapping his hands, stamping his feet,
and whistling to himself softly, the while
With protracted grind, bump and shrek,
the train ran alongside the Exeter platform,
and old Barnett pushed back the sliding door
of the traveling-ofice and handed the sacks
to the expectant porter. But ere the man
| touched them, he said, while his face was
CHASTITY white and his voice trembled,
Lord Mr.. Barnett such a smash to-
night !"
Smash !" said old Barnett; "what, an ac-
cident ?"
pooh :" said the porter, mo, that would
be nOthing-no-they' robbed the up
mail?"
Robbed the up-mailI'
"Ah, tender broke open bags all cut and
hacked and letters all strewn about the
floor. You never see such like"
The deuce they have" said Barnett, after
d moments pause; ''well, Simon my boy, FL
take deyilish good care they don't rob my
mail. Here, clear these bags out, and let's
pass"
He jumped down on to the platform, ran
to the next carriage, which was the post
Office tender" second class carriage fitted
up for the reception of mail-bags, unlocked
the door with key, saw all secure, relocked
the door, and returned to the travelling post
office just as the train began to move.
| Old Tom Barnett had been in the Postotfice
service in one capacity or other for nearly
forty wears, during the whole Of which time
no word OF complaint had ever been uttered
against him, and, a strict disciplinarian him-
self, he naturally felt that there must have
been some dereliction of duty on the part OF
his brother-guard Of the up-mail, of which
the robbers had taken advantage. Conse-
quently, as the train flew through the black
darkness at forty-mile-an-hOur speed, Barnett,
at five-minute Intervals lowered the window
| of the travelling office and peered out in the
direction of his " tender" He could not dis
tnguish much all he could make out (and
this principally from the shadows on the en-
bankments) was that the train was, as usual
IA short one that Immediately after the en-
CINE came two second-class carriages, then
the traveling-Ofiice III which he was, then his
tender, then a trst-class carriage, and then
a luggaSe-van. Nothing particular to be
seen, nothing at all (saye the invariable ramp
ing, roaring, and rattle) was to be heard; on
they sped through the darkness, and never
stopped until they came to Bridgewater,
where old Barnett descended, took his key
from his pocket, unlocked the tender, and
fell back calling at the top of his voice,
"Help!-thieyes! damme, they've done me p
At his cry, two of the train-guards came run
ming up, and turned their bulPs-eye lanterns
on to the tender, into which Barnett at once
climbed. The mail-bags, ordinarily so neatly
| arranged, lay scattered in pell-melI disorder
on the floor, the Plymouth bag had been
shifted from the hook on which it had been
hung, and, on examining it, Barnett found it
had been opened, and re-tied but not sealed
short bits of string, splOtches of sealing wax,
and drifting pieces of tindered paper covered
the floor OF the tender, and the window on
the further side-which had been carefully
closed when they left BriStol-was OPEN
"They've done me !" roared old Barnett again,
" but they shan't escape! they're somewhere
i'll this train, and I'll have them out n'
At this juncture, two gentlemen, one OF
whom was recognised as Mr.. NARROW, one OF
the directors Of the company, the other as
Mr.. Joyce, the great contractor, to whom the
safe keeping of a great portion of the per
|
quired what was the matter. On the affair
being explained to them, they agreed with
Barnett as to the necessity for closely search
ing the train, and all proceeded at once tc
the first-class carriage which was immediately
| next to the pOst-office tender. This, as is
usual, was divided into three double com
partmcnts. The first was that from which
McSsrs NARROW and Joyce had just emerged
and was, OF course, empty; twas the second
in the nearest division of the third compart
mcnt was an old gentleman named Parker
well known on the line as a solicitor of Mod
bury, whose business frequently took him tC
: London. The door between the divisions il
this carriage was closed and the blind draw
/ down. On being recognized Mr. Parker al
once answered to his name and stated thai
f the further division was occupied bv two meI
who had entered the carriage at Bristol anC
had at once closed the door and drawn down
f the blind. Had he noticed anything further
about them? No, he had not. Yes? as the,
| got in he noticed something dragging after
} them; unpreceived by them, he put dowr
a his hand and found it to be piece of string
t He cut off what remained on his side wher
: they shut the door, and here it was Barnett
4 looked at it, and exclaimed, bag string, off
t cial bag string without Doubt" One of the
/ railway guards then opened the door anC
: looked into the other division. In it were
: two men; one of them with Jim Grow hal
= pulled owes his eyes, and envelopedi in large
: cloak, was lying with his legs upon the seat
: and was apparently suffering from the tooth
e ache, us he held his pocket -handkerchief VI
to his face; the other tall man in dari
/ Chesterfield great-coat, was screwed int
e his corner of the carriage, and was apparent
" asleep. "Ticket, please !" called out ole
4 Barnett, and as the reclining man raised him
I self to get at his ticket the handkerchief fel
from his face, and the railway guard, recog
, niZing him at once, called out, Halo, Pond
5 is that you? What are you doing down the
line ?" Instead of answering this question
Pond told the guard to so to the DEVIL bu
/ Mr. NARROW had heard the exclamation, anC
asked the guard whether the man in the car
/ riagc was Pond, formerly guard in thei
| service, who had been dismissed some 81,
/ months before on suspicion Of robbery. The
5 guard replying in the affirmative, old Bar
e | netts previous suspicious were fully confirm
r ed, and he insisted on having both the mel
0 (who, of course, declared they were strangers
n to each other) thoroughly searched. Nothing
d at all extraordinary was found on either o
d them, but from the pocket of the carriage il
e which they had been travelling were taken
Grape mask, pair of false moustachios. ;
:, bit OF waN-candle, and some sealing-waxeC
= string. As the time for the starting of the
t tram had now arrived, old Barnett and Mr.
b Parker travelled IN one compartment will
e Fond, while the two railway guards took
d charge OF his anonymous friend, and tim,
e they journeyed to Plymouth, where on thai,
Q arrival at the station, the prisoners were j,
;, once taken into one of the waitinc-rooms nm
It der Barnett's custody, while the others nro
e ceeded to search the carriages for furthe,
Il