Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1893-07-08

laQ q COQUrlYdQC6 WHICH ne dtOuS Hat
power over from Grand Crossing By
means Of a switch up there he could
spring the bolt of the trap door, and
the door worked on spring to close
the opening again. A staple in the
door and another in the frame per.
mitted the use Of a peg, so there
might be no tear of an accident dur
ing business hours. Il ne understand
ing we had was that Tom should droI
that door every hour between 8 O'Clock
at night and ! the next morning and
the scheme worked as easy as rolling
off a log. For the first few nights the
click Of the bolt woke me up as the
door fell, but after time it failed to
penetrate my drowsy senses.
had to run my bank to suit the
convenience Of the public, and it was
never closed before 6 o'clock in the
evening and was often open until l..
AS rule, all persons who wished to
use the safe over night came in be-
tween and I. l gave each one a
receipt for whatever he deposited,
but made no charge whatever.
Many and many a night that safe
held $25, 900 outside of bank money,
and on such occasions / felt bit
proud at the confidence reposed in
me.
Toms trap had been working for a
month or more when / received
strange caller one evening at $50.
A woman was by no means rare
sight in town, though they were none
too numerous, but this visitor OF mine
was young woman, Stylishly dressed,
and as pretty as a peach. I'll admit
here that l had jumping of the
heart at sight Of her, and that when
she smiled on me | was as badly
flustered as a boy caught stealing
eggs. She was from St. Louis, she
explained, and had come out in search
Of brother who was interested in
silver mine, but had mysteriously dis
appeared. She would be at the hotel
for week or two and wished me to
safe deposit 5000 in greenbackS She
gave me the name of Miss Nellie
HaiEes to insert in the receipt, and
you will Of course smile in contempt
when l admit that / had to count
that money three different times to
make it come out straight. / Of
course offered my assistance in the
search for information, and of course
she sweetly thanked me and said
she'd come in again. She did come,
and when 1 saw her by daylight 1
was clean gone. Regular case of love
at first sight on my part, and / have
no more excuses to offer: I wrote
several letters for her, and she wrote
several for herself, and the search
for the missing brother was we'll
begun.
For a week Miss Haines dropped in
to the bank daily in search of news,
and one evening during the interval
l paid her call at the hotel. Sat-
urday afternoon she sent me a note
saying she had news of her brother,
and that he would be down from the
mountains about s o'clock in the
evening. He would be very anxious
to go East by the 10 o'clock train,
and would l mind if the two came to
the bank at quarter past s. While
she had to draw out her money it
was more than likely that he would
have large deposit to make. II she
hadn't mentioned this latter cir
l should have taken her
money to the hotel, and perhaps de-
clared my love. Saturday evening
was always big evening with the
bank, as score or more of outsiders
wanted the use of the save over Sun
day. This Saturday evening l got
fully $50, 600 to take care of. got
rid of the last customer locked the
safe door just two minutes before
Tom sprang the trap door, and then
sat down to wait for Miss Haines and
her brother. Promptly on the quar-
ter hour there was a knock at the
door, and opened it and the pair
walked in. Miss Haines began say
ing how greatly obliged they were as
l turned to shut the door, and she
was still talking when her dear
'brother" fetched me clip over the
head with sandbag, and | knew no
more for fifteen minutes When l
opened my eyes again l had been
dragged around to the safe, was tied
hand and foot, and 'Mr. Haines"
and were alone in the bank. He
sat on a chair smoking away as cool
as you please, and evidently waiting
for me to come back to earth. He
was man about thirty years old.
rather good looking, but had a wicked
look in his eyes. Even before he
spoke I had figured it all out and
realized how had been played for
haYseed. 1t was just $50 by the
clock when my visitor said:
''Come to, have you? Well, that's
what l was waiting for. Iwant you
to open this safe"
'Tll see you in Halifax first"
''Going to get mad about it, are
you? I've got your keys, as you see.
but of course 1 don't know the COM
bination. You'll save me a heap Of
trouble by working the machinery.
I'll loosen your hands, hut don't at
tempt any foolishneSS I've come for
the Doodle in the safe and I'm going
to have it at any cost"
"BCt you'll get it without any help