The herald., 1893-08-24
A VALUABLE VALISE.

Returning from New York city by the
} F. railroad few years ago, ! bought
Of the train boy copy Of Cincinnati
rs. paper, in which read long account OF
asU the robbery of the City National bank
,r q L., KY, and the sudden disappear
ance Of its teller. Harry w. Swope. As
= usual in such cases, he had been trusted
!. employee, q member Of the church and a
society young man. The robbery was
particularly cool one, the gentleman
having quietly slipped 100000 in notes
into valise on the previous Saturday
afternoon after bank hours and walked
out into the cold world.
19 That was th0 last seen of him. and it
was not until after the bank opened on
Monday morning that any one suspected
anything wrong The affair created an
=. immense sensation. "Society" was shock.
s ed, the church scandalized and the bank
III directors furious The newspapers print
y ed long stories Of tie DIR. Jekyll and Mr..
7 Hyde sort of existence the young man
had led for a number of years, and
numerous friends Of the, "lately depart
~ e. edv knowingly shock their heads as they
ss.s told the reporters that they knew some
\. thing like that was sure to happen soon.
x This sensation so interested me that
n when / reached Cincinnati I scarcely
ai realized the express was, as usual, an
stn hour behind time and had failed to make
sd' connection with the train to L---.
should therefore be compelled to take
0@ the last train going west that night,
ascrwhich would cause me to stop over night
=. os In ono horse town in Indiana that did
spa not contain comfortable hotel.
I knew Mr.. Swope by sight. having
come IN contact with him on number
Of occasions While doing b1siness with
= the bank Of which heswas teller. The
I par srs + ! bought in the Union de-
"a . pot gave further details of the affair
: And contained also the announce nent
that the bank directors had offered a re-
ward Of 81, 600 for Swope's capture and
10 per cent OF the cash returned, which
would make total Of el0, 900 If the ras-
cal was caught before be got rid of his
Sa1 booty.
~ After eating an unsatisfactory lunchI
took seat in the general waiting room
Of the depot and ruefully awaited my
train. As did 90: l noticed ayoung man
approach my seat, and placing his va
lise on the floor alongEide my own, to
4 which it bore asstropg resemblance, sit
= down while he4looked caufiously around
at the clock on the wall and then at the
officials moving about.
How long he sat beside. me don't re-
member, but after o time he slowly arose
snnd walked over. to the telegraph Office
' ut the farther end Of the room. Before
he came back astrong lunged individual
in uniform stepped up to me and bawled
out the names Of the towns which the
: train about to start was bound for. Hur-
..s riedly picking up my vahse, made
straight for the gate and was soon aboard
my train for the west
The journey was made with the usual
q discomfort and monotony. The depot
s.. at NJ y, Ind, where I had to
stop over from 10 p. m. till the next
sN moving, had been rebuilt since my last
Il visit to that town, and remembering too
well my hotels experience there year
before resolved to spend one night in
the depot waiting room with few
other passengers who shared my mis-
a fortune.
's4'' All that night the face Of the stranger
'es n who had occupied q seat beside me in the
Cincinnati depot haunted me- There
!, was something about him that reminded
me Of Teller Swope. He was just his size
4 and build. His mustache, to be sure,
was wanting, but that he should shave
i5s of this appendage was to be considered
Ids matter of course. The gold spectacles
no R6 wore very much resembled those l
'es had associated with the face of the intel
~ lactnal looking teller, and had observed
~ on his fingers number of rings, jewelry
,.Is that Mr.. Swope was said to be very par
stial to- As turned the matter over in
,1iS. my mind tho more convinced Ifelt that /
ISs had lost q splendid chance Of capturing
fa the thief and securing SO 900 reward.
When O'clock at last came round, !
boarded the train for L., not in the
best of humor, and two hours later ar
rived at home feeling very blue. After
taking slight breakfast, went down
to the Office, where the big robbery was
j still the talk of the clerks Each Of
= them had theory of his own as to
u where the thief had gone, and when.they
y appealed to me for my opinion dole
fully recounted my experiences of the
previous evening. OF course they unani-
I, mously agreed with me that had very
G fOOlishly allowed the fugitive teller to
. slip out of my fingers.
7 Just before going out to lunch q mes
r senger boy languidly entered the Office
Z and handed me a note from my wife.
Z, Thinking it was the usual commission to
- get yard or two Of goods like thesam-
tt pie inclosed," !" / thrust it into my pocket
ia and started ont to dinner. had not
gone far before suddenly stopped and
took out the envelope the boy had given
me, opened it and read It, Atfrst Icculd
4. not understand what it all meant; then
!, ! turned it over and went through it
b again. 1t ran as follows:
DEAR GEoRdE--Come home at once. In open
n Ing your valiee to get your soilcd linen to send
IL 1t to The laundry discovered 1t packed with
y bank notes! What does It meanf Il anything
"a wrong7 Come hsme at once
= My first Thought was to hasten home,
but upon reelection resolved to step
ii around to the bank and acQuaint tho
sssofdcials there Of my discovery. ! found
the president Of the bank in his private
office engaged with several lynx eyed in
dividuaIs whom ax1anartad from their