Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1873-05-03

scending to the vaults. will be with
Won in minute or two" and the old
gentleman disappeared within his private
office.
"The old hunks y | heard some one
exclaim. Devilish careful of himself,
amt he q And then a smoker ran
around the room.
| Judged from this that the cold
hunks " in question was something of Il
| bugbear to the gentleman who had just
| delivered himself but | had no time for
reflection, for the old gentleman made
| his appearance at this instant and con-
| Quoted me to the vault below. The
heavy iron door of the large vault in
which the banks funds were stored stood
wide open, atfording a view of the in
terror, which presented scene of confu-
sion not unfamiliar to my eyes. Books
and papers lay upon the floor i'll every
direction, where they had been thrown
after having gratifed the curiosity of the
! burglars.
l stopped to pick up a crumpled docu-
ment that lay at my feet, and as | did so,
the sparkle of a gem, heretofore con-
cealed by the paper, caught my eye.
With a quick motion of the hand, l
picked the stone from the floor and held
it concealed in the palm of my hand
while | peruscd the document, more for
the purpose of conccaling the exultation
| felt at having gained so important a
/ clue, than for any other reason.
Having glanced at several other pa
pers similar to the one l had first picked
up, l began thorough search of the
vault, which proved fruitless but the
diamond in my possession was sutli-
| cient foundation on which to weave
network of circumstantial evidence.
Well, sir" qucried the President, as
[ signtied my intention of returning
above, "have you discovered anything
that would be likely to aid you in bring
ing the Williams to grief?'
nodded.
"Ah Then you will have no difficulty
in bringing the authors of this deed to
| justice %
None whatever"
"Good l am glad to hear you say
! that Only catch the perpetrators and
they shall be prosecuted to the full ex-
tent of the law - And he brought his
cane down as if to give force to the utter
ance
You may possibly have occasion to
retract that assertion / mentally added,
as [ made a few notes in my diary.
/ Having no further business at the bank
| took my departure and went direct to
a celebrated jewelers. establishment in
! Somers street. The proprietor of the
store knew me, and intuitively guessing
my business, conducted me to his private
office.
"Well, Tracy, what's up?" he in
| quired, when we had been seated
Nothing unusual" l replied. You
have heard of the Clifton Bank robbery,
presume %
1.-The Clifton Bank All yes, I did
hear some one remarkingabout it. There
was no account Of it in the morning pa
pers.'
"No, | believe not The affair Was
not discovered in time for the reporters
to get hold of it. Well, sir, the bank
has been robbed to the tune of thirty
thousand dollars, and l am engaged on
the case.
"Hum. indeed! Hope you'll catch
the rascals, old boy. rfeadful state of
things to exist in Il small city like this, :"
and the little man twisted uneasily in
his chair.
"Not so bad as you may imagine. Be
calm, my friend; the parties that robbed
the Clifton Bank will not be likely to pay
you VISIT
"Ah! hope your surmises are correct;
but pray tell me your reasons for think
ing as you do.
"Certainly. In the first place, the
bank robbery is the work of one man,
and he is not a professional burglar in
the second place, that man cares more
for greenbacks than he does for gold
ornaments, and would not plunder your
place for all there is in it in fact, this
very same party owned a diamond, but
threw it away rather than carry it
around with him. 1t is very pretty, is it
not 2"
And | held the stone up to him.
The jeweler took it, examined it
closely, and returned it to me with the
remark:
cit is, as you remark, very pretty
stone, and, | might add, very valuable
for gem of its size. That is your clue,
/ presume %
"Yes; the only clue | happen to pos
sess. Now, then, | am anxious to find
the ring to which this stone belongs, and
you will please allow me to see the rings
that have been left here for resetting
since the robbery"
"With pleasure. Excuse me one mo-
ment."
And my friend disappeared, returning
minute later with number of rings