Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1876-01-19
Saved by Neglect.

For over twenty years / was
night watchman in the vast whole
sale grocery establishment of An
derson & Wallingford, situated on
the corner Of Pearl and River
streets, in New York city. l was
obliged to present myself at the
store at the time of closing, 9
o'clock p. NJ, and remain there
during the night. Every two hours
it was my duty to examine every
part of the building, and make
sure that no fires had broken out
or no burglars were breaking in.
1t required about half an hour to
go the rounds, and the remaining
hour and half slept.
A faithful alarm clock warned
me when my half hour of duty ar
rived, and so accustomed did ! be-
come to my business that, whether
the alarih was set or not, / would
wake up at precisely the right
moment, and in ten years had
never failed in a single instance to
make the required examination.
The six hours sleep which l Oh
tained during the night was all
that l required, and during the
day | worked in a machine shop,
thus earning double WAGES.
My wife had died two years af-
ter she became my bride, leaving
me a precious legacy in the form
of n dainty, helpless babe, scarcely
two weeks old. Had it not been
for this tender charge, / believe j
should have sunk under my heavy
affection, SO intense was my grief;
but the thought that the tiny babe
which lay 50 quiet in its little
cradle, staring about with its great
blue eyes. looked to me for sup
port. nerved me up TO my duty.
and l threw off the lethargy of
grief and resumed work. The
babe, under the best Influences
which / could procure for her, de-
veloped into n gay, healthy. romp-
ing schoolgirl, who loved me de-
votedly, and amply repaid me by
that love for all the sacrifices which
| had made for her.
Two years previous to the event
which is to characterize my story,
/ had placed her in one of those
excellent young ladies' seminaries
found on the Hudson, and the weekly
letters which / received from her,
together with an occasional one
from the Principal of the school,
assured me that she was making
excellent progress in her studies.
One summer evening, as / enter
ed the store Mt the usual time, i
was met by the junior partner, Mr..
Willingford, who drew me into the
private Office, and locking the door,
said:
"Mr. Bancroft, ] wish you to ex-
ercise more than your usual care
tonight, for there are two million
dollars in the cellar. 1t arrived
from California this morning, and
is contained in six boxes marked
hardware II is to be taken away
tomorrow morning. and / was of
fered two thousand dollars IL l
would take charge of 1t for tonight.
If / find it all safe tomorrow morn
| ing, i will make you present Of a
check for one hundred dollars. ]
would provide you with assistants,
but that would only increase the
chances of robbery by creating
suspicion"
"IIas any beside yourself any
knowledge Of the treasurer" ]
inquired, for ! felt somewhat ncr-
vons over the great responsibility
which was to rest upon my should.
ers that night, although the men
ton OF the bundred-dollar check
which should be mine II all wa'
well in tho morning, caused me t.
rejoice that such was the state o
Affairs.
81 do not know he answered
eThe gentleman who called upo: