Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-07-28
tramp who had several hours the start of

=
the tramp to dig down in that corner o.
the haymow has always been a mystery 70
me have sometimes believed he must
have been the robbers confederate and that
he tracked me 10 the barn from the woods
He took the highway for Jasper in a
southwest direction and by getting 4 lift
with teamster he made about twenty
five miles that first day While he was
dressed like a tramp the teamster was sat
isfied that he was not one Perhaps the
questions he asked frightened the man
into doing what he did After leaving the
teamster he entered a country school
house and hid the money in the garnet. 1t
was a one story structure, with low gar
ret reached by a scuttle in the ceiling He
was afterward seen on the highway sew
eral miles distant and then disappeared
for good. At least no further trace of him
was ever had About three weeks after
the money had been placed in the garnet
the chimney Of the school house was struck
by lightning and tumbled . the ground
\ farmer who was also a bricklayer was
employed 20 rebuild the chimney. In so
doing he found the satchel and not one
dollar of the money was missing. While
do not give YOU his name, / overhauled
Kim in my search for the tramp and the
treasure. and he gave me the particulars
and give them to You
The farmer was also an honest man He
had the respect and confidence of every
one who knew him. Yet he had no sooner
realized the value of his find than he de-
termined TO keep every dollar of it for
t ..--- :el,, HE w., subscriber TO weekly
b;sleT, and he had e9en Nothing concerning
the robbery Of the paymaster. He knew
very well, though, that IL was robbery of
some sort, and he moved carefully. He de
cided not to let his wife know of the find,
an Z hsar af~ do
the g-anary in his barn. He had a lot OF
oats in one of the bins. and he hid the
satchel under them. The possession OF
that treasure had made me almost i'll. His
possession OF IL made him quite so. AL
though in perfect health the day he found
f. he had a chill and fever the next day
and was obliged TO go TO bed. He goa
little more nerve next day, but acted so
queer that his wife wondered If he was not
losing his mind He didn't propose using
a dollar OF the money for several months.
but once day for the next week he went
to the granary 70 see If il was safe.
He had in his employ a hired man named
Oscar Davis. He was a rough and unedu-
Gated fellow about twenJy-four years old.
Davis must have had his curiosity aroused,
and played the spy on the farmer in one OF
his excursions to the granary. On the
eighth night OF the farmers possession OF
the treasure Davis left his bed at midnight,
went TO the barn and pried the lock off the
granary door. and he soon had his hands
on the satchel. / cannot say whether he
was an honest man or not. II 80. he no
no doubt argued as the farmer and l
had done. He knew that his employer
was a poor man. and II was easy for him to
conclude that the treasure was "A find He
picked up the satchel aud walked off In
the morning when the farmer discovered
Nd so11 D. he lar ha
trail through the town of Jasper and for
five miles beyond. Then Davis seemed to
have dropped suddenly out of sight.
As l told you before, the hired man was
considered a stupid fellow. but he had n
vein of cunning in his make up. 1t was
dangerous for him to he carrying that
large sum OF money around the country.
The farmer would he sure to follow him.
and he would have TO open the satchel at
the order of any peace officer who might
look upon him as suspicious character.
Five miles south of Jasper he turned to
the west, Travelled three miles and then
turned TO the north. thus doubling on his
trail. That was how the pursuing farmer
lost him. Davis wanted hiding place
for the satchel and he found 1t where II
had been hidden twice before-in n barn.
1t was an old tumble down affair, how
ever. in which even a tramp would not
have sought shelter. Having put away
the money he applied for work on the farm
and secured il. There he remained for two
months. and the money was never removed
from the place he first hid II in. Davis
now argued that he would bc safe in max
ing his way out OF the country. He had
formed his plans to 90 west. He bought a
trunk in which to carry the money and his
clothes and the farmer for whom he had
worked started TO drive him TO a small sta
tior on the railroad running from Mitchell
TO NiEceuucs.
Now occurred another change in the
proprietor~hip Of the money. They reach
ed the station with only two or three min
utes to spare. The trunk was checked all
right, but in the hurry was not put aboard.
This was at O'Clock in the afternoon.
The next train did not pass until about
midnight That evening while the depot
agent was busy TWO trarups who had been
hanging about stole the trunk and had
been gone for two hours before he missed
it TIE fellows had no idea that it con
tanned anything more valuable than a
suit Of clothes a. ii was a small and cheap
looking affair. They followed the rail
road east and about two miles from the
station turned off into the woods to break
open the trunk and possess themselves OF
its contents In the darkness they could
find nothing with which to break the lock,
and as it was a warm night they agreed to
sleep on the spot and get at the contents in
the morning In the night one of the pair,
who gave the name of Short, got up. lifted
the trunk ON his shoulder, and took the
railroad track and FASTENED away, deter
mined to possess the whole Doodle.
When morning came he was within
couple of miles of Salem and within four
miles of my uncIe's farm. He turned aside
into a thicket and hid the trunk, and was
about to enter a farmhouse to ask for food
when a constable who was hunting for a
tramp wiro had stolen something at Salem
the night before arrested him. j was at