Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-03-03
NAP"
"Lie down. lie down, SIR"


deal Of minding."
Nonsense" said Alick, laughing 1 tell
you the dog will not touch you but II you
will not believe me, wait moment and
will 60 with you."
Icertainly was afraid to 60 into the room
alone, and think you, my reader, would
have thought discretion the better part had
you been in my place.
Alick was talking with his agent as
came to the hall door, and had walked
toward his library 70 await his pleasure !:
but when opened ihe door large black
dog that had evidently been lying on the
door, started to his fleet with q srowl, and
exhibited row Of leeth that would have
made good stock IN trade for first.class
dentist. He was villainous looking brute,
and declined trusting myself to his mercy,
as told above.
Alick finished lbs business; then took me
By the arm and LED me into the room the
dog slowly dropped In bis haunches when
he saw his master, and paid no more A.
tention to him until / had finished the bust.
ness had in hand
What in the world do yo1 want of such
> vicious dog7n Ienquired, as lit my
cigar my friend gaFe me.
II don't think riuoh Of your judgment ii
you call him vicious looking dog" was
The answer.
sWhat breed is Iiel"
HE is a cross Of several breeds"
eyes, should think from the way he
showed me his teeth that be was all cross. -
"Come, come, you must rot run down
my Map He has been too good friend
Tor me to listen TO anything but praise for
him."
"What did he ever do that was particu-
arly friendly?" Inquired.
snap? I'll tell you what he did; he
saved me $50, 900 during the war times"
l was about to giYean unbelleving chuckle,
but glance of Alexis lace told me he
was in earnest, 80 begged for the story.
at was about the middle Of the war"
'aid Alick, "whed was Treasurer of the
Grafton Drilling Company. Our office was
unsafe as Pine box would have been. and
disliked to leAvta dollar in it. There
were .everal burglAries about the place, all
Of which were skillfully planned and exc
cuted.
"Une night our Office wss visited, the
,afe pried open with wedges aud the con-
ents carried OF. The burglars found but
! few hundred dollars, but the worst fea-
;ure oft was that they hit upon a nigh:
when there ought to have been large
amount Of money there. We had received
large cash payment the day before. but
instead Of trusting it to our old safe had
aiken it home with me. Il
"We wondered IL the burglars had any
'HnseSTltffaSe 'HseS tfs .Ses st silmeyns.e - Ms.Asy had,
If gaining intelligence, and would know
whenever We received any large amounts
again, and would thsy not come at once to
ny house now that they had seen did not
rust the safe? The question was very
one, and I had an angry debate
,ver it with some Of our directors. Twas
n favor Of getting reliable safe and en-
,loying night. watchman, butI was out
'oted.
sold Evans, indeed, went SO far as to say
hat lightning never struck twice in the
anne place, neither did burglars visit old
afes the second time. And he was in.
'lined to think our money would be safer
t left in the office than if carried to my
esidence. And he talked SO many of the
'thers into his way Of thinking that re-
olutiou was passed declaring it against
heir wishes to have any of the company's
unds kept anywhere except in tho Office
afe!
"Of course the effect Of this was that if
carried the money home and lost it, the
oss would fall heavily on me individually.
md MT on the company.
81 was angry enough to have resigned
ny place, but my interest in the concern
vas too large to be trifled with, though I
determined there would be . change in the
board ofdirectors another year.
"About week after this our Secretary
eturned from Boston on the evening train,
md brought with him $50, 600 and all in
the proceeds Of our monthly
bills receivable. He brought the money
n bills because the following day was our
,ay-day.
II was in the most perplexing state of
mind when he handed me the money. I
lnew the office safe was no protection
whatever, and yet i'll carried the money
,ome l was assuming great responsibility.
Without saying word to any one, |
not to keep the money in the
,ffice, and carried it home in that ottoman.
"You may he assured that I did not feel
7ery comfortable that evening. I.thouRht
If every nook and corner in the house, and
where would be the safest. At
ast determined upon dividing il, leaving
half here and the rest in my room. did
aot mention the matter at home, not even 70
ny wife, but plead headache when remind.
ID of my pre.occupied air.
~ came in here and placed twenty. Eve
dollars in that ottoman at your
eet. See! the top is on hinges and is fast.
med by the hook on the side. This ottoman
pushed near Nap The balance carried
% my own room aud put in the stove, think.
ng it to be the last place where any one
would look forit. Iwent to bed, but II was
nearly midnight before / fell asleep.
81 was awakened by mans hand on nv
mouth, aud to be informed that he did not
intend to harm me if I kept quiet. NV
hands where then tied behind me, q towel
fastened to my mouth and the muzzle of a
pistol placed against my head. Another
nan Yves treating my wife In similar
manner. They had . dark lantern and
we're masked.
"Aftcr securing us tLey began to search
he room. First my clothes, then the bureau
drawers, under the bed-everywhere but
where the money was. Ibegan to think
them, when one said to the other,
Hows that stovel' Another minute and
hey were pulling out the money.
'sImagine my feelings II you can. Even
Il they left with this amount, il was no
small sum to lose. could almost have
cried then ard there One ran over the
amount and said to the other, Only hall
here.' My heart grew colder than before.
They went to the easy chair and cut open
the stuffed seat; they picked up the ottoman,
examined ii, aud went out Of the room.
"Iwas trying to get up, when one came
hack--the other had the money-he pushed
me back into the bed, saying had better b.
quiet. / heard the other man walk down
stairs, and l knew my money was gone
They evidently knew how much uonsy