The Portland daily press., 1890-12-13

thumb and forefnger of the other hand
carefully along the leather surface, as if
considering the proper point for the
blade to penetrate. had seen butchers
do the same thing before cutting up
side of beef, and the similarity of move
ment now was very suggestive.
"Here goesp he said finally, pushing
the knife point firmly into the leather;
then, with strong, dexterous sweep, he
drew the blade down lengthwise of the
| bag, and laid it open nearly from top to
| bottom.
"Give the candle to the boy, Bill" he
said, land you help me sort this stuff
over. Here, YOU" he added, addressing
me, 'hold it here, here where 1 can see.
If you move it an inch Tll-I1l excom-
municate your
With trembling hand, teeth chatter
ing in my head and too greatly overcome
with establishment and fear to speak,
sat and held the faring candle while he
spread wide the gap in the ruined mail
bag and poured the contents of it to the
ground. The packages of papers were
quickly cast aside and the bundle of let
tiers taken up.
In those days each separate bunch of
letters was carefully folded in brown
paper, and the postoffice address placed
on the outside before intrusting it TO the
mail bag. These wrappers were pulled
hastily off by the robbers, and the letters
inclosed in them were looked over rapid
ly, many of them being torn open before
they were thrown down. Nearly the en-
tire contents of the mail bag were gone
over in this way before any money was
| found, and both men began to look dis
| appointed and angry. At last Andy
came upon thick envelope of brown
| manila paper, with n seal in red wax on
| the back.
Here it ISL he said, holding it up
triumphantly for Bill to see. 81 knew l
couldn't be mistaken about its being
here. Bob told me, you know, and Bob
always tells the truth
He had risen to his feet in the mean
time, scattering the remainder of the
letters from him disdainfully, had
| opened his coat, and was about to put
the package into an inner breast pocket
"Hold on!" exclaimed his companion,
rising also. ''Open it up, Andy; let's
see how much they is in it, anyway"
"Oh, that's all rightp was the reply.
81 know how much there is in it. Well
open it when we get to a safer place
| Come, let's fix the boy and get out O
| this"
/ trembled till the candle nearly
dropped from my hand. What did he
mean by fixing the boy? presume l
should have begun to cry and beg again
had not Bill spoken up somewhat threat
eningly:
Look here, Andyl That's the trick
you played the last time. You pockete1
the swag an held off an spent it, till it
turned out didn't get more'n half my
fair share. That's played out. ! want
divvy on this, and want it now"
Andy looked at him coolly minute
before replying.
"You had your fair share of every
| thing that wasn't spent in common" he
replied at last. 'sNow, don't be fool,
Bill. I'll keep the money, an when we
| get to safe place you'll get what be-
longs to you" He made again as if to
put the package In his pocket, but be-
fore he could do so Bill had seized his
arm. "Divider' he exclaimed grufiy.
II say divide, an do it now"
Even by the dim light of the faring
candle I could see the red and white
passion glowing in Andy's face
Hands off, you dogl" he cried, ''hands
off, or rll hurt your
But the other only frightened his grip
| and muttered the one word:
"Divider'
| For moment there was silence. The
two men stood there glazing into each
| others eyes, and l, with the candle tip
ping in my hand and the melted tallow
burning my fingers, stared at them in
| stupid fright. Suddenly there was a
whirling fist, the sound of a sharp blow,
and the next instant the two men were
writing in each others arms.
The package over which they fought
was hurled from Andy's grasp, struck
| the candle in my hand, and both pack
age and candle fell at my feet. Invol-
unfairly stopped and picked the treas
ure up, and even as did SO the candle
spluttered on the damp ground and
went out. The darkness was intense.
But the fight went on. Curses, blows,
the tearing of garments, all sounds of
hand-to-hand contest told that the men
were still fiercely engaged.
In that moment l gathered my wits
together long enough to plan my escape.
Starting out along the path, crawling on
my hands and knees, feeling my way,
moved rapidly down the hill.
After little l gained sufficient cour-
age to rise and walk, and presently
found myself at the bank of the stream.
Here / dropped again upon my hands
and crept across the log that spanned
the brook. On the other side I stopped
for a moment and listened. The fight
was still in progress. / could hear the
curses, the thrashing of the leaves, the
cries of rage and pain, then the sharp re-
port of a pistol, and after that silence.
But in a minute some one appeared to
be coming down the path as had come.
thought they were giving chase to me,
and 1 turned and scrambled up the hill
The way was long and steep, but the
woods on this side of the brook were not
so heavy, and my eyes, accustomed again
to the darkness, were of much service to
me. But l imagined that the robbers
were still following me. thought !
heard the crashing of the underbrush,
and once was sure they called out to
me to stop.
Familiar with every foot of the path,
and clambering rapidly as was up the
steep hillside, it still seemed to me that
! was going at snairs pace. had had
the presence of mind to cling TO the
package, and L now thrust it into the
pocket Of my coat that might use both
hands in climbing, grasping roots, twigs,
sod, anything to accelerate my progress.
Finally reached the top of the hill,
and soon afterward the end of the path
where it met the highway. FROM here
on the road was level. and l ran. Behind
me 1 heard shouting, calling, confu-
sion of noises, but never turned. Down
through tho village street | sped, past
the light in the houses, in at the open
door Of the postofice, and stumbling at
the door sill, fell headlong upon the
floor.
They've robbed tine mailt' cried to
the astonished assemblage. They've
- robbed tho mail-they're after mel
saved the money" And drawing the
packaSc'trom my pocket I placed it in
the hands Of the clerk and sank exhaust.
ed in chair. For q few moments the
excitement ran high. Everybody cues
toned me at tho same time, but | man
aoed to make eno11ph of my story ,,,, do,.