Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1893-06-23

room in the night, secure the keys and
then slip through the back yard, enter
the bank and open the safe. When 1
learned that the dog was a great favor
tie Of hers this belief WINS n certainty. 1
couldn't. for reasons already given, say
a word to Mitchell about this. He want
cd to suspect his two employees, but
when no had cauvassed the matter he
was made to see that it wal altogether
unlikely hat either Of them was guilty.
Indeed he was alone in the bank when
the bonds and money came in, and he
alone knew where the deposit was
placed.
What did | do? ! turned to Mrs. Gray
again, and in about a week something
happened to prove that ! was on the
right trail. One Of the street car lines
Of the town ran down to the riilroad
depot. It was Mrs. Gray's habit Of an
afternoon to ride on this lin5 with the
little girl as far down as a certain park,
ard to sit near the fountain and read
while the girl romped about with other
children. / had closely watched her
while in this park, - no one had ever
come near her and her demeanor had
been perfection.
On the third afternoon after the rob
berry she occupied her usual seat for an
hour without anything happening. |
sat on a bench in the rear OF her and
about thirty feet away, and by and by
| noticed that she was writing a note
with pencil. She did it so deity that
one sitting in front of her could not have
told what she was at. Beside her was a
large shade tree, and as near as | could
make out she disposed of the note, when
folded mp. somewhere about the tree.
When she left | followed her for a short
distance, and looking back 1 saw C.
young and well dressed man occupying
tho place vacated by her. An hour
later, when | could examine the tree, |
found a hollow in the trunk just about
on a line with her shoulders as she sat
on the bench. One not looking for it
would have sat there fifty times and dis
covered nothing.
My theory was that she had an ac-
complice-the young man whom | had
seen. The hollow in the tree was their
p~ostof1ice. Next day ! was at the park
nuAA an AOuA UN4OAb nIl hoA4A NAAAIg anu
behold the young man was occupying
that bench. AS she appeared he got up
and took q seat a hundred feet away, and
by watching closely l saw that she took a
note from the tree. Before leaving she
wrote and "posted" one in reply, and
after she had gone ] saw him get it. /
was now certain that l was on the right
trail, and | went to Mitchell to secure
some particulars l wished to know. |
told him ] had a clew, but would not re-
veal which way it led. | learned from
him that the combination of the vault
door had four numbers, and he alone
knew it. 1t had been changed about a
month after Mrs. Gray's arrival, and he
hesitatingly admitted that the word was
"Aime," which was her Christian name
He would not, however, admit that this
fact was known to her.
For two weeks after receiving this in
formation | hardly got sight of Mrs
Gray. For some reason she remained
very closely at home. l found out from
Mitchell in a roundabout way that the
money needed to pay the men at the
coal mine and also at a large factory
was deposited with him on the nth OF
every month. It was simply passed il
to him to be locked in the vault over
night, as it came up from Pittsburg by
messenger. reasoned that Mrs. Gray
would work this information out of hin
in some way, or that her accomplish
would discover it, and that if she had
the combination of the vault she would
make her strike on the night of the 18th
On Aug. ~ she exchanged notes at the
bank, also on the 18th. On this lattel
date ] Swallowed the young man fol
three hours and became satisfied that ht
was from Pittsburg and a "slick un.
Among the things he did was to go t,
the depot and inquire about variou.
night trains, and particularly one whicl
passed over the road half an hour afte.
midnight.
/ promised Mitchell that a china,
would soon be reached, and then staket
my all on what might happen on tn
night of the 18th. At 8 o'clock on tina
evening | threw a piece of "dosed' inca
to his dog from n neighboring yard, an
at 10 l softly climbed the fence to fin.
the canine in his kennel and sick enoug'
to remain there. ! lay down within te,
feet Of him, hidden behind a bush, an.
it was an hour and a half before any
thing happened. Everybody in tn
n~eighborhood was in bed and asleep b
that time, and l was not greatly SUI
prised when a female figure, which
knew to be that of Mrs. Gray, suddenl.
appeared and passed me five feet ava,
, going toward Che bank.
: She stopped at the kennel to speak
{ the dog, and then opened the rear doc
and entered. did not move from m
: hiding place until she reappeared abou
twenty minutes later. She CAREFUL
locked the bank, and as she passed m
on the way TO the house | followe
quickly behind. The keys she laid o
I the bank steps, softly opened the sid
7 gate, and | let her reach the street b.
; fore / brought matters to a climax. Sh
! was only out of the gate when she wa
Joined by a man, but when / rushed {
. seize them he got the alarm and was o.
d before / could grab him. / got hei
y however, and she had a bundle undo
It her arm which ] took charge OLA bun
die containing about $4,000 in greer
backs.
What a nervy woman she wasl ISL