Litchfield enquirer., 1879-07-10

1
 the manipulation of locks Yet it would take
 a very clever locksmith indeed to open the | Central Banks safe unheard in the house, and
 to close it again without leaving traces of his work. The safe had a foundation of eight feet
 of stone. and was coated on the floor, wall and
 roof with two-inch plate of solid iron. The
 doors were of course, of iron, and each l there were four doOrs-had two keys and sep
 arate locks. Through the lock of the outer
 iron door an iron bolt was each evening shot l down from Mir. Duff's bedroom above, and
 while that bolt was down no key in the world
 could open the door. It was necessary to be l in Mir. Duff's bedroom before the bolt could
 be drawn or dropped. It was extremely im- probable that there were any in Tolfkirk who
 could even with the necessary keys in their hands, find their way into the strong room un- 1 aided. - +a ~ 4s No longer was Mir Duff able to leave the
 bauk with an, easy mind for two o'clock
 luncheon-with forty winks to follow-as had | been his custom these twenty years. He was
 closely on the watch. Yet there was no visi-
 ble cause for suspicion. Bankers and clerks 1 were fast becoming demoralized in militia
 ry sense-from sheer fright, accelerated by l mystery, and sense of utter helplessness in
 face of it. MT. Duff might far better be los | ing his fortune on the Stock exchange or throw
 ing hls money away on turf speculations in
 these there would be some remote chance of
 profit if not satisfaction in losing his property.
 His bark had up to this time sailed in smooth
 seas, had even hitherto f1oated in a sheltered
 bay, unexposed to financial tempests or break
 CTS: but now leak of dangerous sort had | sprung, as likely, he imagined, to ingulf him
 at his anchorage as any buffeting of waves in open sea.
 l Mir. Duff became changed man. He was
 thin and worn and ill with anxiety and watch i ing. They were all watching. Traill was
 watching Hamilton; Hamilton turned keen glance on the boys; the boys kept their eyes
 very wide open all round. Mir. Duff was un-
 willing to put the matter in the hands of the
 local Police, knowing that the first to be sus-
 pected would be his clerks, and that the affair
 would speedily become town gossip. Secret l ly Mir. Duff began to think the place was be-
 witched.
 His partner, George Traill, being called up-
 on to pay up half of the e500, resolved to get l to the bottom of the matter. He had bed
 fitted up in the bankers business room, and
 determined to spend his nights there until some
 solution of the problem presented itself. His
 transfer from the Aberdeen branch seemed
 just then to prove a bad bargain. The keys
 of the safe, it should be mentioned, number l ing eight, were placed every night after the locking up of the safe and the dropping of the l iron bolt from the bankers bedroom, in a strong box, the key of which was always car
 ried by MT. Duff. George Traill, armed with 1 a revolver, in spite of Mary's protests and Mir. Duf's jeers, occupied the room when the bed had been fitted there and he waited philosoph- icaly the course of events, He slept little for the first night or two; but no intruder came to l disturb his repose. The long, dull hours crept
 on without adventure or other result than to
 make Traill sleepy and cross during the follow ing days. The bankers were beginning to des-
 pair of discovering the thief Yet Traill- | despite MT. Dutf's perfectly reasonable argu-
 ment that if any man broke into the safe it
 would not be merely five hundred pounds that
 would satisfy him, nor would he likely risk
 second or third visit-continued to spend his nights in the bank. , .. -.......
 At daybreak, however on certain morn
 ing in the following week, Traill, who slept
 very lightly, was suddenly awakened and
 startled by hearing the bolt that passed through the lock of the outer door of the safe drawn
 sharply up. He could hardly believe the evil
 dence of his ea:s, thinking that perhaps he had dreamed. But the ''click" was still reverber-
 atlng exaggerated as all sounds are in the still
 ness of night. If the bolt was really lifted
 the person that drew it up must be in the room | where MT. Duff slept. Traill was courage
 ous man, but in spite of himself, he trembled as he felt for and examined his revolver. When the reverberation subsided there was a silence for few moments as of Death, Sleeps
 twin brother. Then he thought he heard afar off, door open, followed by step on the
 stairs. Then a light showed at the seam un- | der the door; presently the door opened and ! a man entered, carrying in one hand lighted candle, in the other a bunch of keys. The re-
 volver was firmly held in Traills grip, and before firing he was about to utter cry of | warning, when he noted that the figure paid no fo h,,tr iEg straight for the safe door. In the dim light, to his astonishment, he distinguished the | fixed, even rigid features of his friend and
 partner, Mr. Duff! His eyes were wide open,
 and he moved with his usual deliberation, but with an air of stern preoccupation quite for eign to his working habits. Traill saw at a glance that the banker was walking in his
 sleep. His first impulse was to seize him and wake
 him but moments reflection decided him
 to wait the natural issue of events. Mr. Duff,
 without hesitation or fumbling, chose the right
 keys to the outer door, and pushed it, as the
 lock sprang back, slowly open then the wick
 ct gate, the inner iron door, and so on until
 he disappeared silently in the vaultlike shades of the strong room. When he reached the in-
 ner safe, he took from the well packed store of
 pound notes-Traill eagerly watching him
 from the door-a bundle containing five hun
 dred; he then noiselessly shut and locked each
 door as he retreated. He passed within arms
 length of Traili, bearing the bundle of notes
 the keys, and his lighted candle; left the of tice-followed by his partner-walked slowly
 up stairs to his bedroom, where he deliberately
 dropped the bolt back in it's place, and finally laid the keys carefully, apparently counting them, in their usual place in the box fixed in
 the wall for that purpose. Traill expected he
 would then retire to bed but it was evident
 that the somnambulst had not finished his
 nights work. Having safely put away the
 keys he lifted his candle and again went down
 stairs, carrying the notes in his hand. Traill followed him through the kitchen and out into the courtyard behind. With the same pur- pose-like deliberation that he had shown at the safe, he now marched to-the unvarnshed truth, o romantic reader, must be reeorded-f to the pigsty! Arrived there, he lifted loose fold Of&hatch that rested on a slab of stone in the rickety roof, secreted the bundle of notes there, replaced the thatch carefully, and then turned with an air of relief and went in doors.
 Traill did not disturb him. did not even take the trouble to follow his partner to see if he reached his bed in safely, but sprang eagerly to the loose thatch, in which, snugly lying, he found the comfortable sum of one thousand nine hundred pounds in bank notes Hecould not help laughing as he stood there in the. dim gray morning, hardly half clad, for the pur- suit had not been without excitement. "An expensive roofing for Duff's pigs, :" he murmur- ed, gathering the various dusty bundles to- gether and retreating indoors from the cold morning air.
 "I think, Duff" said Traill seriously when they met in the office after breakfast--sI l think, to make certain that no thief, or witch, | or ghost has been tampering with the cash dur ing the night, we had better count the cash
 henceforth in the morning as well as at night I that will make certain whether the money dis appears by night or during the day." ...i MT. Duff assented.
 Suppose you begin this morning."
 Again MT. Duff assented and with reluct- l ant fingers at his partners suggestion, count
 ed the money Powers of Darkness!'' he ex- l claimed, '1 shall not stay another day in this
 house. The cash IS again five hundred pounds short :" Had Mir. Duff not been remarkably
 bald man, he would probably have torn his hair in agony.
 "How much do you reckon your pigs cost