Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1874-11-19

passed declaring II against tnell
wishes to have any of the COM
pany's funds kept anywhere ex-
cept in the Office safe!
"Of course, the effect of this
was that if I carried the mon
ey home and lost it, the loss
would fall on me individually,
and not upon the company.
Il was angry enough to have
resigned my place, but my in-
terest in the concern was too
large to be trifled with, though
/ determined there would be a
change in that board of direc-
tors another year.
"About a week after this our
secretary returned from Boston
on the evening train and brought
with him fifty thousand dollars,
and ali in greenbacks, the pro-
ceeds of our monthly bills re-
ceivable. He brought the mon
ey in bills because the day fol-
lowing was our payday.
81 was in u most perplexing
state of mind when he handed
me that money. II knew the
Office safe was no protection
whatever, and yet if I carried
the money home with me l was
assuming a great responsibility.
Without saying q word to any
one I determined to keep the
money with me. found a bas-
ket i'll the office and I carried
it home in that. faai aat'
"You may be assured that /
did not feel very comfortable
that evening. l thought of ev-
cry nook and corner in the
house, and wondered where
would be the safest. At last. /
determined upon dividing it,
leaving half here and the rest
in my room. l. had not nell
toned the matter at home, not
even to my wife, but plead
headache when reminded of my
preoccupied air.
i II came in here and placed
twenty-five thousand dollars in
that ottoman at your feet. See!
the top is on hinges, and is fas-
tened by this hook on the side.
The ottoman I pushed near
Nap The balance l carried
to my room and put it in the
stove, thinking it would be the
last place where any one would
louk for it. l went TO bed, but
it was nearly midnight before ]
fell a-leep. HoA fH i'}i}E 81
"I was awaken to find a mans
hand on my mouth, and to be
informed that he did not intend
to harm me if I kept quiet
Ny hands were then tied behind
me, and a towel fastend in my
mouth, and the nuzzel of pis-
tol placed against my head
Another man treated my wife
in a similar manner. They had |
e.sch a dark-lantern and wore |
masks.
. eAIser securing us :hey be- |
pan to search the room. First |
nv clothes, then the bureau
drawers, under the bed-every-
where but where the money was. +
| began to think | had o'rtwit- |
ted them, when one said to the
other allow is that stoye?" An
other minute and they were
pulling out the money. /
"Imagiillc my feelihgsaif you
can. Even il they, had left
with this amount ii was no
small amount to, lose. / could
almost have cried right then and
there. One ran over the a
mount and said to the other.
'Onlys half here" Ny. heart
grew colder than before. They
went to the casy-chair and cut
open the stuffed seat; they
picked up the ottoman, exam-
med it, and went out Of the
ROOM gfFFIl8 Fiilsffi.
81 was trying to get up when
one came back-the other had
the money; he pushed me back
intothe bed, saying ] hadbetter be
quiet. I heard the other man
walk down stairs and | knew
my money! was gone. They
evidently knew how much mon
sy ] had, and from the way they
had ripped open the chairs and
cushionsin my room, they would
lot be long searching for that
which was down stairs. ~
The fellow must have come
straight to this door. / heard |,
i'm turn the latch, and then--a
most uaearthly screami / knew
Nap was doing his duty. In
. fash / jumped, to the floor,
md in doing SO gave a wrench
to tho, band about my wrists
L-oI-o "a o,.I fhen lYofora |