The morning call., 1892-07-21
THE BANK ROBBERY.

lage, divided into two square little offices, in
one of which, behind the railing, stood the
huge, square iron safe. Everything about
the bank was square, in fact. including the
president and directors, who were all solid
men and never known to lose anything or
give anything away. In this respect they
were model officials,
was the cashier and lived at the hotel.
the Grassboro House, whereof the proprie-
tor was the jolliest fisherman and the best
story teller in the county. / soon grew into
the ways OF the country. becoming media
tive and deliberatjye like most of the Grass
koreans ana fond of saunterng along
Main street with a straw between my
teeth. My duties were not laborious, and
although my salary was small, board at the
GTassboTO House was cheap. My one clerk
was an excellent young fellow, faithful and
honest, with r taste for theology.
One warm afternoon, stranger came into
my Office to inquire about negotiating some
bonds lately issued by neighboring town
ship. He called my attention TO the form
of the document, and being anxious that /
should examine il in every particular we
buried our heads in the large outspread
sheet. with its elaborate engraving and tiers
of coupons. Everything seemed to be in reg
uIar form. and l proceeded to fold up and
hand back the paper, when, to my astonish-
ment the man was gone.
Something else was gone, as well. Joe
never could tell exactly how 1t happened,
having turned his back ID his window for a
moment. But during that moment man
had climbed over the counter, seized a
package containing $4,000 in bank notes.
with which he was just now disappearing
through the front door. he was a rather
stout man with a black beard entirely COW
ering his face. and the Gentlemanly stranger,
now also Invisible. was undoubtedly the
confederate.
Where and how they vanished so quickly
will always remain a mystery. Ii Main
street had opened and swallowed them up
they could not have disappeared mOrs COM
pietely. Strangely enough, nobody 10 the
town ever discovered that anything eXtraOr-
binary had happened, aud the bank very
wisely decided not TO publish its mishap.
Although the loss was quite q serious one,
II would In no way cripple the concern. But
Joe and had a very bad day OF il, indeed.
We recounted every circumstance con-
necled with the robbery. the confederate
covering my face, IS II were, with the blan-
ket-sheet Of the bond; the black whiskered
man appearing al the window with the re-
quest for certain denominations of money.
which he knew would Oblge the teller TO
turn his back upon him and 20 10 the safe
IL was all plain enough now, after the thing
was done.
BY and by I,diseovered something. TWAS
only piece of blOttlng- paper. but it was a
clew; for upon 1t was semi-circie OF little
dents, and, what was OF still more import
ance, there were two blank spaces in the
semi-circe. 1t WAS the print of a hOOt-heel
from which two of the nails were missing.
Then Joe had no difficulty in remembering
hat when the thief went over the counter
with the money his heel had been planted
upon this Identical piece of blotter, which,
upon further examination. showed the out
line Of a boot-heel distinctly imprinted upon
its soft, yielding surface.
Now, had heard u a case where the i'm
print of a bOOt-heel on a bank counter un-
der similar circumstances, had led to the
detection Of the thief, who incautousy re-
ciined at ease on a hotel yeranda with the
tell-tale heels projecting over the railing
Boots hOlsted upon chairs and banisters
from thencefOrth became my study In bar
rooms and hotel pOrches, or wherever men
did cOngTegate, l studied every size and
shape Of pedal covering, but without avail.
That particular boot, with two missing
nails In the heel, must have kept pretty
close to the ground. At any rate, never
got sight Of it. i kept the blotter and my
own counsel, and cautioned Joe to do til Q
same.
Don't breathe it to anybody" said /,
mot even to Doctor Wynkoop," aud Joe
promised he wouldn't
Doctor Wynkoop boarded at our hotel,
where he had the room next TO mine, and
although he appeared to be a Peeksniffian
sort Of parsonage, Joe set great store by
him. be APPEARED TO be a species of
preacher, and came out strong on the doe
trines OF grace. l thought ! detected the
edor OF gin beneath the grace, but Joe's
faith was immovahle.
One of Packerton's detectives was en-
ployed TO work up the case, but without re-
suit, beyond presenting a bill of $3.50
One night | had an odd dream; a woman
seemed TO be bending over me, singing a
song, the refrain of which ran. Not far
but near! Not far, but DearP' / awoke
with start. repeating the words. When l
left my room in the morning | stopped In
front OF Doctor Wynk0op's door. Before
u stood pair OF boots, neatly BACKED
From this latter circumstance | opined he
was going on journey. Moved by some
impulse, l took uD the boots and turned
them over What! could it be possibel
Two oil the nails Ia the heel of the right
boot were missing. | took the botting-
paper from my breast pocket, where |
always carried il, and compared the i'm
preston thereon with the booth eel. They
we're identical. Then laid the boot down
and thought over The matter.
Naturally, my first impulse was to have
this Doctor WynkOOp, or whoever he might
De, put into custody. Still | could not but
realize that my blotting- pad, after all, was
rather slender piece of evidence. Better
have the room searched before his susni
ciOns were aroused. What we wanted most
was the money. | went downstairs and
confded my discovery to the landlord, who
readily agreed to my conjectures. he, too.
had MS suspicious. IN spite of his lOdper's
promptly paid board bill
Wynkoop was going over to East Grass
boro to attend Sunday-schnol conyention
from which he would probably return in
the evening. la the meantime his room
could be searched. Soon after breakfast.
our suspected exnorter' with his smooth,
sahctIihoniOus Visage, departed. His
features, like his shirt front, seemed al
ways done up III proper, pious fashion. He
took no baggage with him. evidently ex-
pecting 10 return early, so we had need to
be expeditions if we hoped to make thoroueh
search.
A skeleton key made quick work of his
door, Out beyond an empty valise a pair of
trousers or two, and few books, the room
was empty save Of the ordinary scant hotel
furniture. Not trace of the money. or
anything suspicious, could be found either
In the bureau drawers or under the carpet
nor yet behind the plaster which wac
sounded for any breaks"
NotI lar, put near" kept running through
10y MIND. / sat down in The cane-bpttoned
chair beside the bureau, and, in an absent
minded fashion, ran a lOug pin Into a eushion
that stood before the glass. The cushion
py the way, was quite an elaborate struc.
tuIe OF rosewood and raw silk, evidently the
"ork OF some OF the doctors female ad
mlrers. Something seemed to retard the
progress OF the pin, and then an idea struck
me. Taxing penknife from nv pocket /
nDped the silk across. 1t bled profusaIv of
muuot, anu Wnen the cover was entirely
collapsed, package of bank notes was
found snugy packed away in the interior.
Inc paper band, with the name of the ban
upon It, had been taken off, but the bills
we're all there, ten of them, OF $1,000 each.
ihey were readily identified by Joe, who
had taken the numbers of them,
Poor Joel Happy as he was to get the
mercy DacK, the exposure of DIR. Wynkoop's
vlilainy was great blow to him. and nero
manently interrupted his theological
studies. All that survived of his ministerial
ambitions after be became cashier were his
clerical tie and whiskers and a grave air.
nPbKoop, alias Slippery Jim, alias Wynk
the Skipper, etc, was never again seen in
Grassboro. How he got wind Of our doings
IL nlf n,Irh l..