Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-07-02

&c HE 0A -
it along. You can drop your hands now,
but don't try any funny business.
smell a powerful sight of coffee around
here, and | think I'll take some along.
Go on into the freight house"
l led the way and he followed. There
was a lot of flour IN tifty-pouud cloth
sacks, and he ordered me to empty one
of them and partly fill it with coffee.
Had he done it for himself he would have
stood a good chance of finding the
money, but he sat down on a box and
watched me. When l had the sack
about two-thirds full, he said &c would
do. While | carried it out on tn. plat
form for him, he followed with a side OF
bacon, and helped him to make them
fast to his saddle. He was in no hurry,
though some one might come along any
time. When ready to go he slipped the
cartridges out of my revolver and handed
it back with the remark
"You seem to want t. do the squar
thing and | won't rob you. Next time
show up l hope you'll be heeled with
cash."
"or may get the drop on you,"
replied.
"You may, but l doubt it. No human
critter has ever held up my hands fur me
yet, and it's purity late in the day to be
. gin. Wall, young Teller, SO long"
He was hardly out of sight before g
construction train going to the front
drew up at the station, but l made nc
report of the robbery. In the first place
| knew that [ would be ridiculei all
along the line for having been held up,
and in the next the man had not taken
anything worth making a fuss about.
decided to hold my tongue and be
warned by the adventure to keep the
money anywhere bat in the safe. A
month later regular passenger and freight
trains were be ginning to run over the
road, and l got a man to help the about
the freight house. | did not have the
handling of so much outside money nov,
but once in a while what [ took in and
what was left in my keeping amounted
to a tidy SUN.
l keep a few dollars in the safe for ap-
pearance and convenience sake, but the
bulk was hid len in the freight house. |
took an empty spike key, partly fllel it
with sand, and then deposited the pack
age of money on the sand and covered
it with loose spikes. 1t had the look of
a full key of spikes, and my assistant had
no reason to NEEDLE with it. While he
went home ut night | continued to sleep
in the office. | was no longer afraid of
a daylight hold u, bu: [ worried a
good deal nights. The building had been
put up hastily, and any one determined
to effect an entrance could find half a
dozen vulnerable points to operate on.
One afternoon my assistant called at
tention to two men who were hanging
about in a suspicious manner, but [ was
so busy at the m that | only got IA
glimpse OF them. As to suspicious char
a%cters, there were so many of then along
the line that one would have been in a
continual state Of alarm had he set out
to spot them off. When | was through
with my rush my man informed me that
the two strangers had been proving
around the freight house, both inside and
out, and he was firmly convinced they
were up to mischief of some sort. The
length of the building was east and
west. TIE boards on the east end were
badly warped and sprung, aad could be
easily pried Oft. The door between the
freight department and the waiting
room was a tlimsy affair, and the door to
my room was only half length. Ii any
one wanted to get at me, the best way
was to break into the freight depart
ment. Among the freight we had five
big steel bear traps for a man living
about twenty miles away. Before going
home for the night, and entirely uu-
beknown to me, my man set one of
these traps in front OF the door connect
ing with the waiting room.
The passenger train gong east was due
at Elkton at 1913. A freight followed
at 5 A. NJ, and sidetracked for a freight
from the east to pass. The w~e3t-boun1
trains all passed by daylight or earlier in
tne evening. On this night l was in
bed and asleep by II O'CLOCK, 1t was a
dark and rainy night, aud though |
worried a little over the two suspicious
men | went to sleep trusting to luck. 1t
Was exactly midnight whea [ was awdk-
ened by a yell which fairly role | me off
my cot. The one cutlery wa followed
by half a dozen Others and u clan ling of
chains, and for u couple of minutes |
was too frightened aud upset to make a
guess of what had happened. AS soon as
| struck a light, however, | heard the
voices Of men in the freight depart
ment cursing in the most horrible nun
ner, and directly some one called out:
"Say, young fellow, we want you
here"
"Who are yol2' | dem mded.
"Never you mind vac we are, bu.
come along"
"WDere are you2"
"ln the freight house"
"What are you doing therc2'
"Comc and see, and be quick about it
tool"
| knew they were at the door opening
into the sitting room, ami | knew they
could see my light through the cracks.
Why they didn't burst the door in was a
puzzle to me. They could have but one
object in breasiug IN, and that vas ROB
berry. | was badly ratified, as | am per-
fectly willing to admit, but nevertheless
| had some sand left. l blew out the
the light and opened fire in their direc-
ton in hopes to frighten them off. |
sent six bullets at them as fast as | could
fire, and was reloading when l heard a
groan and a fall, and Il minute later they
began firing at me. had the advantage
of two partitions, and though twor or
three bullets came through they were
harmless. Presently the firing was sus-
pended, and a voice called out:
"Young Teller, are you a%live2"
every much sol'
"Then listen to me. Ny pard aud me
broke in to rob you. Here at the door
we stepped into an Internal bear trap.
One of your shots has finished him, and
now | want you to help me cut and let
me GO"
l of course refused, and then he threat
cned me with all sorts Of things and
finally began shooting again. | sat down
on the floor, tipped the table up for a
breastwork, and counted the shots. He
had four revolvers aud a large supply OF
cartridges, aud be fired over 100 shots
in all. Perhaps he finally con
cluded he had finished me, for