Wichita eagle., 1889-08-11
After few minutes Of surmise and specu.

After few minutes OF surmise and Specu-
lation, Mr.. Axtell stepped up to the hole and
shouted down the same proposition the sher-
if had made at the other end. There was
no response whatever. He then directed me
to open the safe and proceed with the bust
ness of the day as usual Two men were left
on guard In the vault, and the rest were sta
toned in the back room. All who knew of
the situation were cautioned to keep it to
themselves, and very few of our customers
that morning knew whtS was going on under
their feet.
At abont 0:30 one Of tho men in the rear
room came to the door and called in Mr.. Ak
tell There he heard as bold proposition as
ever man made One of the guards had vol
unteered to go down into the tunnell He was
a deputy sheriff, a Mexican named Jose
Charez, who, becoming impatient that the
robbers did not show themselves, determined
to stir them up in their own quarters.
He was a daring, reckless fellow, accustom-
ed all his life to deeds Of violence He lived
on excitement, and was ever restless when
not on the trail of some horse thief or muir
derer. He knew the risk of going into the
tunnel, but said he had as good chance as
the robbers-as a matter of fact, in such an
encounter every advantage was on their side
and that was all he wanted The rest of
the men, brave though they were, shrugged
their shoulders, and declined underground
warfare
Charez was to enter the tunnel through the
barrel. After locking the vault doors again,
those Of us who could leave work went to the
adobe house The guards there had nothing
to report. We took the fastenings off the
trap door and lifted it. The Mexican threw
the light of a lantern down the hole, re-
marked that no one was to be seen, made
ready his revolver, and quickly dropped
through into the darkness.
All of us trembled with excitement, and
listened with painful intensity. Before we
were aware what was taking place, we saw
the Mexican reappear suddenly at the mouth
of the hole, and heard four shots ring out in
quick succession. Then the Mexican bounded
up through the smoke, and pointing wildly
to the floor near the hole, shouted: 81 shot
one of 'em under there"
We waited for nothing further, but hur-
riedly pulled up the boards around the hole
The floor stood some distance above the
ground, and in this space was the body of
man lying motionless. We lifted him out,
and laid him carefully on the floor. He was
already dead.
Those Of us who were unaccustomed to
death in SO frightful form were entirely un-
nerved by this sight; but the sheriff and his
men did not forget even at such time the
business of the hour, and quickly searched
under the floor for other robbers. Finding
no signs of more Of them, they came up to
hear the Mexican's story.
He said that he had taken few steps for
ward into the tunnel, when the hole began to
grow smaller and smaller so that to proceed
he would have been compelled to go on hands
and knees Not bargaining for this style Of
attack he retreated, and was about to climb
out of the barrel, when he noticed how the
floor of the adobe was built above the ground
The light from above lighted up this space
for few feet al around, and there, crouch
ing in front Of him, he saw the robber, and
at once fired upon him.
The robber had evidently planned before
hand to crawl under this floor in case of dam
ger, and await chance Of escaping.
Thorough examination was made of the
adobe house under the flooring, but no sign
of any other robbers was found. Then the
trap was shut down again and guards placed
as before.
The time slipped on till 2 o'clock. Then we
heard another fearless proposal Four of the
az end to end. They made scarcely any
preparation for the expedition, simply taking
bulls eye lantern and making sure that
their revolvers were in working order.
One after another dropped through the
opening They crouched low down es they
crawled through, the head man holding the
lantern as high up as he could reach Thus,
if they were fired on, the lantern would prob
ably aimed for, and the bullet would fly over
them.
We waited for them in the vault through
several minutes of most intense anxiety
Then we gave a great shout as the head and
shoulders of the first man appeared under the
raised stone. We helped one after another Of
the bold four through the opening up to day
light again.
The men had met no one in the tunnel, and
had seen no branches or other means Of es-
cape. They were positive no one was con-
cealed inside. A further thorough examina-
ton Of the tunnel confirmed their statements,
and it became almost certain that only one
man had been at work.
The theory that the plan and the execution
of the crime were his only, was strengthened
the day he was buried, when startling dis
covery was made Some of the officers Of
the law, with Mr.. Axtell, had gone to take
look at the man to endeavor to identify him,
Mr.. Axtell had scarcely caught sight Of the
face before he exclaimed: why, that man
is one of the stone masons who built the
vault!'
And so he proved to be. We found that
the man had left widow, and hunted her
up. She was severely questioned, but pro-
fessed entire ignorance of her husbands
r,lenc and Seerned 10 ha TELLING the tr1,th
The officers and directors Of the bank saw
fit to reward me for my part in the occur
renee with splendid bicycle, which bore on
its handle bar small silver plate with an in
scription l modestly refrain from repeating.
Edward S. Raft in Youths Companion.