Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-03-11

| hliO etlil ouSpcCllnS Da'Io VI h"NiHS
hand in the job, and securing the ser.
vices of local officer to watch him, l
began a hunt for the others. l got track
of Steve Pratt after few days and To-
Gated him in Cincinnati. He was too
quick for me, and | followed him to Chi
cGgo. He got the start of me again, and
led the way to Buffalo, and there seemed
to sink into the earth. For two long
weeks l was engaged, with the local Of
fcers, searching for him, but our efforts
met with no success. One day / took
run down to the falls with friend, and
we went to the International Hotel on
the Canadian side for dinner. We were
seated in the office when there was a sud-
den outcry from the clerk behind the
railing. A man had coolly walked IN
behind him and taken all the money
from the till and was walking out with
it. We had 4 pretty hot time to secure
him, as he was in a desperate mood, but
when we had him fast l recognized the
chap we had been hunting for. He was
Steve Pratt, and no mistake. He denied
it, of course, but inside Of three days l
produced such proofs that he finally
knocked under. was never more as
founded in my life than when l came to
interview him about the Raxterville
Bank affair. He verified the story of the
janitor in every perticular.
81 shall get soaked for this hotel
job, anyhow" he said, "and 50 l might
as well tell you about the other. There
are three of US. We threatened to kill
Davis and overawed him. We got the
safe door open, to find we had been
fooled. I'm a convict and all that, but
I'm talking straight when | say that we
did not find a dollar. Here is what we
did find and all we brought away. l
took it for luck-a Spanish piece with
hole in it."
"But Carter put ST, 900 in that safe
at 80 o'clock"
"Then he or someone else took it out
before we 90 there. Bankers sometimes
rob Themselves"
explained to him that it was not so
in this case, and he was as much mysti-
fed over the case as l had been. On
leaving the bank they had locked the
door from without and had carried the
key mile before throwing it away.
They had gone away empty handed and
mad enough to kill Davis. l don't 90
much on the declaration Of convicts
caught again red.handed, but in this
case it did seem as if the truth was be-
ing spoken. Had Steve got his $1,000
out Of that Doodle he would not have
been dead broke 50 quick, for unlike
nearly all others of his llk he was a
miser and never gambled. returned
to Raxtervillc with my news and asked
Mr.. Carter if it was not possible that he
had placed the money somewhere else.
at is not, sir" he replied, with more
acidity in his voice thaa the occasion
seemed to demand. "That safe was here
to put my money in. l put it there.
stacked up the packages with my own
hand. 1 locked the door myself. 1
alone knew the combination. My book
keeper never handles a dolla9 of the
money"
"But you have searched elsewhere-
in these cupboards and drawers" l
asked.
"No, sir; but you seem to wish it, we
] Will 90 so low.
For a long hour we searched desks and
drawers aud cupboards, but we made no
discovery. He was as sure that he put
the money in the safe as ne was that he
was living man, and the book-keeper
was sure that he saw him carrying some
of the packages back there. What hal
become of that money! Ii it was there,
why didn't Steve Pratt and his gang get
ltl That they didn't was now pretty
well convinced. The only way that l
could reason 1t out was that someone had
robbed the safe before the Pratt gang
got there. If SO, however, it was doae
by opening the door in the regular way.
The banker had said that he alone knew
the combination. l led up to the matter
again. and he admitted that his sister
also had it, as safeguard against acci.
dent.
now began work on an entirely new
theory. felt that the key Of the mys-
terry was in the hands OF the sister,
though l was far from limiting any such
thing to living soul. took my quar-.
tiers in the town and began on the new
theory. l soon found that Anna Carter
was a spinister of thirty-fve, AMI was
generally regarded as strong-minded
woman. She had money of her own,
and she knew how to invest it to make
profit. She now and then, so it was
said, gave her brother hints which be
found to be valuable in a business way.
Coming down to the burglary, l found
that she was under the care Of the doctor
off and on for a month previous with
some nervous trouble.
For some reason which she did not
explain Miss Carter refused to even see
me while l was consulting with her