Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-06-26

lCopyTlgnt lotS, Dy Onafleb Is. LeWlS.l
When took possession of the station Of
Elkton, on the Union Pacific road, the
track layers had advanced only five miles
beyond it, The hamlet of Elkton consisted
of a store, a mill and five or six shanties,
and was three-quarters of a mile from the
station. The depot was rough shed sixty
feet long and one story high. Twenty feet
OF the west end was partitioned off for a
waiting room, and in one corner of the
waiting room | had my private office II
was twelve feet long by six wide, inclosed
with unplaned boards aud lighted by an
outside window. In this room | had my
Geographic apparatus, IA small iron safe, a
table, ticket rack, etc. As was required
to be ION call' all night, | also used the
office as bedroom, and my meals were
sent to me from house in the hamlet.
Those were wild, rough times in the west.
and about the first piece of advice | re-
ceived from the division superintendent
was:
BE prepared for trouble at any hour of
the day or night, and remember that IL
you don't get the drop on the other fellow
you'll be q gonerl"
What made the situation far worse for
me was the fact that two or three of the
subcontractors insisted that take charge
Of considerable sums of money for them
The contractor who supplied provisions
to the force along the line placed 5000
In the safe on the second day of nv
taking possession and the division sutler
deposited about $1,000 more. In the course
Of fortnight at least a score of bosses"
had turned in from 500 to $500 apiece, and
my anxiety increased with every addition
al deposit. The fact that | was safe de-
posit company could not fail to be gen
orally known, and | regarded it AS only a
question Of time when robbery would be
attempted. For the first three weeks I
had plenty Of company both day and night,
as some Of the working trains were always
sidetracked at the station, but as the grad
ing and track laying progressed my posi-
tion became more isolated. All the freight
left at my station was for the contractors,
and consisted Of -four, meat, coffee, cloth
ing, tools and whatever else was needed
along the line. l had little or nothing to
do outside Of the telegraphng.
One morning, alter counting up the
money in the safe and finding that had
over 81 600 belonging to OF her people, it oc-
CURED to me to remove it to another place
On the day before had received Ave bar
rels of ground coffee for the "hotel man"
on that division. The head Of one Of the
barrels had been knocked out and about
one-half the contents wasted | took the
various envelopes containing the money,
made a bundle OF them and sunk It nearly
to the bottom Of the barrel. Unless in case
Of fire felt it would be safer almost
anywhere in the freighthouse than In the
safe, though up to that moment nothing
had occurred to alarm me- Strangers were
always hanging about the station-hunt-
srs, trappers, Indian fighters, teamsters
and tramps-but ID was to satisfy curiosity
and not to NEEDLE. II was about o'clock
in the forenoon when hid the money, and
half an hour later, as sat at the instru-
ment answering a call, l looked out Of the
window and raw man coming down the
north trail on a mule. He was dressed in
buckskin. as was the case with nearly all
border men Of that date, and had Win
chester across the pommel Of his saddle.
30 many like him had come that did not
give him second thought. Even when
heard him walking across the waiting
room toward my open door did not turn
my head.
"ThSew up yer hands, young fellerp'
II was the stranger speaking TO me, and
his wordswere accompanied by the ''cllckr'
"clickr which no human ear ever mis-.
understands. l elevated my arms and
turned my face toward him. He was not
an ugly looking man. Indeed I should
have picked him out Of a crowd as gentle
spirit. He was a blond, about thirty
years OF age, and he had a wonderfully
handsome blue eye. There was a smile on
his face as he stood with his rifle half
raised and regarded me, but it was one Of
those smiles which mean more than the
ugliest frown. wasn't ten seconds max
ing up my mind that 1t would be extreme
~ dangerous to trife with my visitor.
"Is that ar safe lockedt" he asked as he
looked straight into my eyes
ut is"
Then you unlock it,"
II shall have to drop my hands to do
that"
"Of course"
took the keys from my pocket and
turne,. around to the safe and opened the
door
Now pass out that money! said the
man.
. There is none to pass out"
WHAT Don't try no nonsense with mep
You can look for yourself. i had sew
eral thousand dollars yesterday, but it was
all taken out"
stand over thar and hold up yer handsi"
"Over thar" was at the end of the room
opposite the safe, and obeyed the COM
mand. He then stepped to the safe and
investigated for himself. II did not take
him over a minute to become satisfied that
IL contained nothing Of value He stepped
back and looked at me for n full minute
before speaking. Then he quietly said:
young Teller, you've trumped my ace
I've made ride Of over fifty miles to find
that safe empty"
"You should have come day earlier"
replied.
"Yes, see. This is your pistol hanging
up here, | SUPPOSED I guess I'll take It
along, You can drop your hands now, but
don't try any funny business. I smell a
powerful sight of coffee around here, and
think III take some along. Go on into the
freighthouse."
led the way and he followed There