Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-08-18

HE'LL never see piece of it againr' he
chuckled. He may count himself lucky
to get off with his life. What an old fool
he is to keep fortune in his house. ex-
pect I'd have been forced to kill him if he
had been home
IF he had been home you wouldn't have
got in" I replied.
Maybe not Pretty cute old chap, they
say. Bring me the rest of that whisky"
l handed il to him and he drank il all.
1t was good liquor, and the quantity and
quality had the effect to soften him up.
Few boys of my age are heroic. / was very
much frightened at first, but as he grew
good natured | gradually recovered my
nerve, and by and by found myself won
dering how could save Uncle Bens money
1 had forgotten 70 tell You that the man
had a knife and a revolver. When he sat
down TO the table he placed both on the
board, calculating that the sight would
have its due effect. When he arose he put
both away again, having n scabbard for the
knife and holster for the pistol. He had
no cause to worry about me, knowing that
he could break my bones in his grip. won
dered greatly how he could take matters SC
cOOlly, having no suspicion of what had hap
pened to the old man, and l can truthfully
say that | began to make plans. IS the
liquor affected his brain he grew jolly and
began TO sing | could now have made NV
escape by way of the back door had | so
wished, but | was thinking beyond that
There was reason to believe that the liquor
would finally overcome him, and l would
wait for that period and tie him hand and
foot.
For the space of half an hour the robber
was Jolly tight. Then he began 10 sober
up and resume his former demeanor He
ordered me to pull the straw ticks OFF the
beds and empty them, and then to divide
the gold into two portions and tie each
portion in a tick. He sat looking AT me
while l worked. When the bundles were
made up to his satisfaction he ordered me
10 drag them TO the front door. Drag is
the proper word, as il was all / could do 10
move one along the floor As l was re
turning for the second portion the man
rose up and looked into the barrel and
shook it. \ single coin had been left in
there, and as IL ratified about he bent over
to feel for it. As told you before, it was
a new barrel, stout and thick. / no sooner
caught sight of him with head and shout
ders and both arms in the barrel, and his
left foot off the floor, than my line of action
came to me with the swiftness of lightning.
l sprang forward and seized his right leg
and exerted all my strength, and it was
sufficient to land him in the barrel. His
head went to the bottom, while his feet
stuck up in the air, and no robber was ever
in a worse box. His struggles would have
upset the barrel had | not been there TO
prevent. He kicked furiously, but his feet
had only limited play and had no trou
BILE in avoiding them. I own that was
badly ratified, knowing that he would muir
der me if he got loose, but still had no
thoughts of giving up. In our struggles
we moved the barrel all over the room, but
managed TO keep it on end all the time.
What I feared for the first five minutes
was that the robber would get hold of his
pistol and fire at my legs through the bar
rel. but as we struggled around | saw that
the weapon was jammed fast against the
side of the barrel with the butt toward me.
1t couldn't have been over ten minutes be
fore the man became perfectly quiet, over
come by the rush of blood to his head. 1
slowed the barrel against the foot Of uncle's
bedstead, got down the clothesline from
its peg and five minutes later l had man
and barrel and bedstead so firmly dashed
together that l no longer felt any fear. The
work had only been accomplished when
heard Uncle Ben's signal at the door. |
had learned caution. as You may suppose,
and / called to know who was there. As
no answer was made / refused to open. The
signal was repeated again and again, and
when l kept silence the parties finally be-
trayed themselves. They were the two
men with the horse and wagon
joint John! Are you in there?" shout
ed one as he pounded on the door.
He must be- heard the other observe.
Then why doesn't he hear and open
the door2 If he didn't succeed in fooling
the boy and getting in he'd be around here
of course. Let's try him again"
He pounded on the door with a stone and
made noise enough to awaken the dead,
but | still remained quiet
l. L l..
ceased his efforts, John has played US a
scurvy trick. He's got the gold and lit
OUT
IF he has Wen hunt him to his death. |
If he got in, how happens the door to be
locked?"
Dunno, but there's something wrong
Let's bust the cussed thing
off its hinges"
The two flung themselves against the
door with full force but it was too strong
for them. Then they hunted around for a
log to use as battering ram, but could
find nothing in the darkness. Finally,
puzzled what to make of the situation, |
they called out to me:
boy, boy, Open the door If you do, !
we promise not to hurt you. If we have |
to blow it down with a torpedo, we'll kill
you for sure.''
l felt that silence was my strongest
weapon, and so it proved. After awhile |
they became alarmed and made off and l |
heard nothing more from them. All this |
time / had kept an eye on the man in the |
barrel, but be had not moved or cried out. |
1t was about midnight when the two men |
left. They went back to the shanty, he'd |
q whispered consultation with the sentry |
and after a few minutes the trio rode off |
toward town. Uncle Ben was bound and |
gagged, and as soon as he was alone he be- |
gan the work of freeing himself. This he |
after awhile, and believing |
that he had been robbed he also made for |
town to report his loss. Three officers |
started for home with him. and it was day |