Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-12-21
THE BARK FORTUNA.

Al u Dam rOh UNA.
Cant Montague Beresford PierpoEt wa 8
hardly the sor5 of a man you would have ex-
uected to find behind the counter of g small
shauty bank at Ay,mer's Pike, Colo. There
vSs: an engaging English ,frankness, and OBJ
vinua honesty and refinement OF manner about
hun which suited very oddly with the rough
habits and roughar Western speech Of the
mining population in whose midst he lived.
Tndec4 tusaT 81 much is rather to underrate the
ruiurcne,s Of lis position; 70" it might per-
haps be ruer to say that Capt. Pierpoint was
the only Inau III the place IN whom any one be-
loved at ali il any way.
Capt Plerpoiut walked very straight aud
erect, As becomes man Of conspicuous up
rightuess, AM there way o certain tnge of
military bearing in his manner which seemed
o. first sight sufficiently to justify his popular
title But he himself made no false pretenses
upon that head; he freely acknowledged that
he ha acquitted the position Of captain, not in
Her Britannia; Majesty's Guards, as the gossip
Of Aymers Pike sometimes asserted, but in
the courso Of his early professional engage
mems as skipper Of 6. Lake Superior grain
vessel, The one thing he really understood,
be would tell bis mining friends, WAS the grain
trade on the upper lakes; for finance he had
Duta SluSlo EeCOmuloUuatIOu, dlu tnat was lnaG
il the peopl: trusted him he could never de-
ceivs them. Capt Pierpoint hal not como TO
Aylmsr's Fil;e at first with any settled idea
of making himself the tinaucier of the rough
little community; he intended to dig on his
own account, aud the role of banker was
only slowly thrust upon him by the unanimous
voice Of the whole digglDgs. Gradually the
diggeTs cot into the habit Of regarding this as
Capt. Pierpoints natural function, and Capt.
Pierpoin4, being himself but an Indifferent
digger acqulesc.d SO readily that at last, yield
ing to the persuasion Of his clients he put up
woodo!: counter, and painted over his rough
door III" magnificent notice, "Aylmers Pike
Bank: Montague Pjerpoint, Manager." He
got o Large iron safe from Carson City. aud in
that safe, which stood By his own bedside, all
the silver and other securities Of the whole
village were duly deposited. "Any of the boys
could easily shoot ne and open that safe any
might" Capt Pierpolnt used to say pleasantly;
''but If lie did, by George! he'd have to reckon
afterwards with every man on the Pike. and
should be sorry to stand in his shoes--that
would, any tine"
b. However, even at Aylmer's Pike there we're
degrees and stages Of comparative unscrupu-
lonsnsss. Two mon, newcomers to the pike, by
namo Hiram Coffin and Pete Morris, at last wick
eddy and falOnlOuslv cOnspired together to rob
Captain pie"1oin.s bank Their plan was SIM
plicity itself They would so at midnight, very
quietly, to the ptA;u house, cut his throat as
he slept rob the precious safe. and ride OFF
straight for che East, thus getting clear nights
start Of any possible pursuer. 1t was al easy
enough thing to do; and they were really sur
prisal in ther own minds that nobody else had
aver been cute enough to seize upon such an
obyions and excellent path to wealth and &C.
curly
The day before the night tho two burglars
had h1-d upon for their enterprise, Capt. Pier
point himself appeared to be in unusual spirits.
Pete Morris called in at tie bank during ths
course Of the morning to reconnoitre the
premises, under pretouse of paying in g few
dollars worth of SILVER, and he found tho Cap
tain very lively indeed. When Pete handed
him the silver across the counter the Captain
weighed it with u smile, gave receipt for the
AmouOt-he always gava receipts matter
Of fornl--and actually invited Pete into the
little back room, which was at once kitchen,
bedroom and parior, to have drink. Then,
before Pete's very eyes, he opened the safes
bursting with papers, and placed the silver in
q bag on a Shelf by itself. sticking the key into
his waiscoa1 pocket. :'Hs is delivering him
self up into our hands," thought Pete to him
self, as the Captain poured out two glasses of
old Bourbon and handed one to the miner
opposlte 'SFcres success to all our enter
prises!' cried the Captain gaii5: "Here sue
cess, pa.l!' Pete answered, with sinister
look, which even the Captain could not help
noting in a sidelong fashion.
That night, about o'clock. when all Avlnl-
er's Pike was quietly dreaming it's own sor-
did, drunken dreams, two sober men rose up
wooden bank house. Two horses were ready,
sadoiled with Mexican saddlebags. and tied to a
tree outside the digging, aud in half al hour
Pete and Hiram hoped to find themselves IN
full possession Of all Capt Perpont's securi-
ties, and well on their road toward the nearest
stat on Of TIE Pacific railway. They CROPPED
along to the door Of the bank shanty and began
fum1iins with their wire picks at the rough
locE. After r, moments exploration Of the
wards Pete Morris drew back in surprise.
''Pard," he murmured in a low whisper,
''hero's suthlu' rather extraordinary; this 'ere
lock not fasLe ned
They turned the handle gently and found
that lie door opened without an effort Both
men looked at ono another in the dim light in
credulou-Iy. He actually slept in the bank
shauty with his outer door unfastened!
. The two robbers passed through the outer
room and into the little back bedroom parlor.
To their lmmense astonishment they found il
empty
Their first impulse was to suppose that the
captain hal somehow anticipated their coming
and had gone out to rouse the boys For Q
moment they almost contemplated running
away without the money. But a good glance
treasured ho1a; the bed had not been sent in
lhe CAPTAIN was q man Of very regular habits
Hiram held the lantern, carefully shaded by
his hand. toward the door of the safe. Pete
looked cautiously at the lock, and began push
ing it about with his wire pick; he had hoped
to get the key ous of Capt Pierpont's pocket
but as that easy scheme so unexpectedly
epoiASu, Ae tuseSu W nla SKILL IN picking &c
force the lock open. Once more fresh sur
prise awaited him. The door opened almost OF
its own accord! Pete looked at Hiram and
Hiram looked at Pete. There was no rnistak-
ipg the strange fact that met their eaze---the
safe was empty.
What on airth do you suppose is the mean
ing OF this, Pese?' Hiram whispered hoarsely.
But feSo did not whisper; the whole truth
flashed upon him in a moment and he an
swered aloud, with o string of oaths, ''The
Cap'n has gone and made tracks hsself for
MadFon depot. And he's taken every red
centssn the safe along with him. too! the dirty
sco1lisirel! He's taken even my silver that he
give me receipt for this very morningp'
Hiram stared at Pete in blank amazement.
perhaps he's got wind of this and took of the
plate to somebody else's hut IF the boys was
TO come and catch rs here, it 'ud be derned
awkward for you an me, Pete" But Pete an
awsred gruffly and loudly, <'Never you mind
about the plate, pard The cap'n's gone, and
the plates gone with him; and what we've got
&, to do now is to rouse the boys and ride after
him like creased lightnin'. The mean swim
dler, 10 &C and swindle me out OF the silver that
I've been aud dug out OF that there claim yon-
s der with my own pick!''4 For the senss of per-
sonal injustice to oneself rises perennially in
the human breast however depraved, and the
:Ea man who would murder another without a
scruple is always genuinely aghast with just
ss indignation when he finds the counsel for the
prosecution pressing q point against him with
what seems to him unfair perslstency
Pete flung his lock pick out among the agave
scrub that faced the bank shanty, aud ran out
wildly into the midst OF the dusty white road
that led down the row of huts which the people
OF AylIner's pike euphamist ically described az
the Main street There he raised 8 UGH an nm
5sg earthly whoop as reused the sleepers IN the
nearest huss 10 turn over in their beds and
AsIen In wonder. with q vague idea that .'the