The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-08-08

farther deficiency could be made goou, anu
referring the bank agents to their recent leE
ter to that effect OF such and suca ua'e.
Mr.. Duff began 10 think the place was
haunted. Wherever the money was sone s
had to be paid up; raising tue to.aa 10
made In this mysterious way 10 .ne LIS IN
fable sum Of fourteen huaofeu poun's ~
hess than tErcc months. fae mystery W.. ,ho
~, sno ~, I'm Trailps casl it had happened
,hnra had NAT been a single cash payment
mounting to five hundred POUNDS Inen
thare rurn< vague Tumors-such as tHe
nol;cc ;hasI the matter passed INTO tneif
hands ,rouId certainly have maefe use OIL
.na4 thore was an stfnerant hcksmltn, a!
oyrsr. IN the neiyhborhood to whom popa-
H., ,,znor attributed almost naracuioas
noroer in the manipulation OF locks. Yet
1p,,or,id take very clever lockeinith, Indeea,
y, 'rsran the Central Banks safe unheard IN
,I,o norse. and to close il again WitHotI
tnTyin o the traces of his work. The safe baa
= sonndotion OF eight feet OF stone, and was
coated on the floor, wall; and ROOF wien
t1yo-inch plate OF solid iron. Thc ooo!s
yyere, OF course, OF iron, ana each-tnele
we're four doors-had two Keys and separate
locks. Through the lock OF the outer rTen
door an iron bolt was each evening snot
down from Mr. Duf's bedroom above; aad
while hat bolt was down no key ia the
world could open the door. Twas neoes-
cory 70 he in MIR. Duff7s bedroom before the
holt could be drawn or dropped. 1t was
extremely improbable that there were any IN
TolIkirk who could, even with the neces-
cary KEYS IA their hands, find their way into
the strong room unaided.
. No longer was Mr.. Duff able to leave the
bank with an easy mind for O'Clock luneh-
con-with forty winks TO fo!ow-as bad
been his custom these twenty years. lie
was closely on the watch. Yet there was
no visible cause for suspicion. Bankers
and clerks were fast becoming dcmoral'
izcd-in the military sense-from sheer
fright, accelerated by mystery and a sense
of utter hclpessne>s in face OF 1t. MT.
Duff might far better be losing his fortune
on the Stock Exchange, or throwing his
money away in turf speculations; In these
there would be some remote chance OF
nrotit. X not satisfaction in losing his prop
erty. His bark had up TO this time sailed
in smooth seas, had even hitherto floated in
a sheltered bay, uneXpoSed to financial tenn
pests or breakers; but now leak OF dam
ccrous sort had sprung, as likely. he imag-
ined. to cngulf him at his anchorage as any
buffctting Of waves in open sea,
Mr.. Duff became changed man. He
was thin and worn and i'll with anxiety and
watching. They were all watching. Trail
was watching Hamilton; Hamilton turned
q keen glance on the BOYS; the boys kept
their eyes very widely open all round. Mr..
Duff was unwilling to put the matter in the
hands Of the local police, knowing that the
first to be suspected would be his clerks,
and that the affair would speedily become
town gossip. Secretly Mr.. Duff began to
think the place was bcwitched.
His partner, George Trail. being called
,lpon TO pay up half Of the $500, resolved
a bed fitted up in the bankers business.
room. and determined to spend bis nights
there until some solution of the problem
presented itself. His transfer from
the Aberdeen branch seemed just
then to prove bad bargain. The
KEYS of the safe, it should be men
toned, numbering eight, were placed every
night, after the locking up OF the safe
and tie dropping OF the iron bolt from the
bankers bedroom, in L strong box, the
key Of which was always Carried by Mr..
Duff. George Trail. armed with a rcvo-
YER. in spite of Mary's protests and Mr..
Dutf's jeers, occupied the room when the
bed had been fitted there, and waited phio-
sophicaly the course OF events. lie slept
little for the first night or two, but no in
truder came to disturb his repose. The
long, dull hours crept on without advcn-
ture or other result than TO make Trail
sleepy and cross during the following days.
The bankers were beginning to despair OF
discovering the thief. Yet Trail, despite
Mr.. Duh's perfectly reasonable argument
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 dayhreak, however, on q certain MORN
ing III the following week, Trail, 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 evidence OF bis cars, thinking
| that perhaps he had dreamed. But the
"cick' was still reverbcrating, eXagge-
rated as all sounds are in the stiffness Of
night. If the bolt was really lifted, the
person who drew it up must be in the room
where Mr. Duff slept. Trail was cour-
ageous man; but in spite OF bimSelf he
trembled as he felt for and examined ms
revolver. When the reverberation subsidized
there was 4 silence for few moments rs OF
death, sleeps twin brother. Ihen nc
thought he heard, afar off. door open; lol-
lowed bv step on the stairs. lhch iisnl
showed at the. seam under the door, pre-
sentlv the door opened, and man cntereu'
carving in one hand 4 lighted cand'e, III
tbo other n bunch OF keys. TIE revolver
was firmly held in Trpil's grip, ana before
trincr he was about to utter cry OF warm
inc. when he noted that the figure paid no
Need ia his presence, but passed him,
n,n1:in~ straight for the safc-door. In the
dim LIGHT, TO his establishment. he diStin-
eemishcd the fixed, even rigid features of his
friend and partner, MIR. Duff! His eyes
we're wide open, and lie moved with his
usual dciberation, but with an air Of stern
pre0ccupation quite foreign to bis working
habits. Trail 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 de-
cidcd him to wait the natural issue of
events. Mr.. Duff, without hesitation or
iumblinS, chose the right keys for the outer
door, and pushed it, as the locks sprang
back, slowly open; then the wickel-gate,
the inner iron-door, and so on, until he dis
appeared silently in the vauIt-like shades OF
the strong-room. When he reached the in
ner safe he took from the wel-packed store
Of pound-notes-Traille eagerly watching him
from the door-a bundle containing five
hundred; he then noiseeSsly shut and lock-
ed each door as he rctreated. He passed
within arms length OF Trail. bearing the
candle; left the office followed By his
his bedroom, where he deliberately
2rn bn hnlt hor in