The herald., 1893-08-24

q crank, but when | asked him to allow
clerk to accompany me home he seemed
to be satisfied was in earnest. He con-
pented to my proposal, but after a mo-
ment's thought he said an escort was un-
necessary, thinking doubtless that the
handsome reward would be sufficient
inducement to insure the safe delivery
of the precious valise.
As left the bank and turned up the
street in tho direction of home I was
Joined by a young man who game run
ming out of the bank after me, hat Tin hand.
He said s.the old man" had reconsidered
the matter and sent him to accompany
me back with the money This seemed
to me to be quite satisfactory. and as the
fellow was very genial young man we
Immediately fell to discussing the rob-
berry of his bank. He congratulated me
on my good fortune and knowingly hint
ed that "the old gentleman" would treat
me cleverly in the way Of reward.
. I said this young man was very
genial fellow, but somehow / soon be-
gan to feel an instructive distrust in him.
l piled him with questions concerning
the habits and business methods Of the
missing teller, but he returned evasive
answers. In one or two little things he
contradicted himself, and finally, when
/ unexpectedly asked him how long he
had been employed in the bank, he re-
piled, after looking at me in dazed sort
Of way, "Oh, about year or two.y At
once the thought came to me: What if
my "escort" was one Of the young menI
had seen outside the presidents Office.
Perhaps he had overheard our converse.
ton and had planned this neat little
scheme Of playing the role of clerk of
the bank sent me for protection" as he
insinuatingly put It, If so, I readily saw
that he intended to make an effort toget
his hands on the valise and then seize
the first opportunity to bid me goodby.
s. This theory was strengthened when ]
noted that my protector" seemed grad
ually to become very uncommunicative,
and the conversation during the rest Of
the journey referred to passing objects
and sights Try as hard'as could failed
to get anything satisfactory out Of him
concerning the robbery.
When ! reached home, politely asked
the young man to take seat in the hall
while / stepped up stairs to get a glimpse
of the treasure. found my wife at the'
head Of the stairs, very excited. In an
adjoining room we examined the valise,
and at q rough estimate we placed the
amount at about the figure the newspa-
pers said Swope had carried off with
him-sometvhere about $90, 900.
did not tell my wife of my suspicious
Of the young man down stairs, but re-
solved at once to arm myself in order to
known fact that In Kentucky the sixth
commandment has long ago been de-
clared unconstitutional, and quickly
made up my mind that if my bodyguard
showed any signs of playing me false
would let him have dose of cold lead.
Contrary to my expectations the young
fellow made no offer to carry the valise
as we started on our journey back to the
bank. At the end of the short street on
which lived we stopped to take car.
My friend had again become very affa-
BILE, and as we stood on thecorner he Of
fered me cigar. took it, thanked
him, and placing myvalise carefully on
the ground between my feet struck
match to light 1t. Just as was in the
act Of doing 90 received q blow from
the left that sent me staggering into the
middle Of the street. At the same mo-
a%s & sSl Iazls ~ " aksasi sin the
otner qHfPct2p. si yIad bna sfti
Look here, young bad, IrHaidya gruH
voiced fellew inuaiform at my side as he
shook me kiblS6tiy, III thought you told
me you were going to take the train west
tonight. 1tha4 jsst pulled OUT aha you're
left, 8e
Opening my eyes I looked around the
waiting room In confused way and
reached for my valise.
It was nowhere to be- foundl
My brusque arouser instantly took in
the situation, and with look Of intense
disgust on his face said as he turned
away:
~ guess that studentlike sport who
was sitting beside you has taken care of
your baggage. He passed me q few
moments ago on his way to the train
with a couple Of valises. Next time you
go travelling, young man, you had better
take some one along with you to care
for you while you sleep. st. Louis
Post Dispatch.