Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-09-11
PhiI7p Msysden Hears 81 The Pct


eyes, of course-The HoIiies. 10 Win
stanton crescent
''well known, sir. That will be suf-
ficient, thank you"
And the officer jotted it down quickly
in his pocketbook.
After pointing out ponderous iron
safe which he hoped the villains would
not turn their attention to. Philip
Marsden bade them good evening, re-
questing them to let him know the in
slant he might be wanted.
He departed in feverish state of
anxiety, wondering, naturally, what
the night would bring forth.
Now, directly the old gentleman had
left the real character of the pseudo
police officers was apparent. 1t was
quite true that a notorious little"
gang of bank robbers contemplated an
attack on the bank that night, and
those scoundrels were actually none
others than themselves! Their war
| rants were forgeries, and the SER
geant's uniform the perfection of imi-
tation to the last button. No time was
to be lost. From the coattail pockets
of the sergeant came some of the finest
tempered steel drills and other imple-
| ments for forcing and boring iron safes
as ever graved the person of the most
experienced crib cracker. Deity man
ufactured skeleton keys for picking the
best and mos complicated locks were
] brought forth; in short, everything
| needed for a thorough daring and sue
| cessful burglary.
We've got a long nights work,
Charlie, I'm afraid" said one. TITS
| now o'clock and if we get through
| this safe under 10 hours we're lucky.
| We must set to work with will
| Accordingly the sergeant" speedily
! turned his attention to the back prem
| ises with a view to a hurried escape
| should they be disturbed, while the two
others directed theirs to the huge iron
safe spoken of by the banker. Drills
were quickly applied behind the hinges
of the door, and boring began in real
earnest, for these gentlemen burg
lars knew pretty well everything worth
knowing as to the construction Of most
| safes in use.
Progress was slow at first. but the
men never ceased. Drill, drill, drill, on
went the work almost in silence. Now
and then just a short spell for a
| VI CotiiCis hlNllSAi dlIlNCuJ anu q
little better progress, for they labored
harder than ever. One, two, three
o'clock, and now the huge iron door be-
gan to yield and crack little.
Tough work, Jim. But it'll pay US
in the end, old fellow. Keep it up.
We must finish it by 6oclock. for per-
haps some blessed office cleaner may
be here, or people be moving outside"
Four o'clock and a good aperture
was made. Five o'clock, and they
were perspiring like blacksmiths at a
forge in July, and they worked like
demons with their drills and levers
Presently, with a united AND terrific
| effort, the outer door was Soosened
from it's sockets.
"Goodr' muttered one. as they grad
ually, yet laboriously, lowered the
mighty piece of metal to the ground.
1.-THE inner compartment is short
work, chummie."
And so it proved for with the ut
most dexterity one pried the lock as
the other, with thin chissel as hard
as adament, started forcing the door.
Zone more wrench, Jim, and then
for the spoil!" And he rubbed his hands
with glee.
Clang! And open flew the door. But
what?
Fooled! Frustrated! Baffied! The
safe was empty.
The scoundrels, who had Instantly
dived their hands into the interior,
shrank back aghast, swearing and
pouring curses upon the old bankers
| head
Bah! the old blackguard! He has
done us, Jim! And who'd have dream
ed it?"
There's no time to lose,' blurted
his confederate, smashing anything he
could lay his hands on, in sheer wan
tonness. TITS striking six o'clock, and
work people are about"
Tools were hurriedly collected and
pocketed again, and the sergeant
with a disappointed growl, suggested
that they should go out by the door
they came in, as nobody was stirring
much, and the back way meant scaling
walls and roofs. This they did, but i'm
mediately on emerging into the street
they were met by Mr.. Marsden in
company with three constables. The
old banker had experienced a sleepless
night and risen early, calling at the
| pOlASS 0lotioiAs ~ASNoA'' ~
his way to ascertain the news, if any
and he was there astonished to learr
that they believed it to be bogus af
fair; as they knew nothing of it,
There was a desperate effort on the
part of the burglars to escape, but one
or two passing workmen at the cry o.
Help rendered assistance and the
"police officers were strongly secured
Philip Marsden on stepping in to thu
bank, although greatly unnerved ant
aitgated at the state of affairs, could
scarcely suppress his laughter on find
ing that his ''decoy' as he called 1t
had given so much trouble, and thor
oughly done them, although he wa
quite ignorant OF the plot he had un
Intentionally laid for them.
The "decoy," an old, insecure safe
which was always purposely kept emp
ty, was one of Mr. Marsden's ingeniou
ideas for throwing burglars off tn
scent, being fixed in a prominent pc
sition to attract notice, while othe
safes containing the valuables were ia
away from the rooms in ordinary use
The pseudo-detective officers are i
safe custody now. They have thei
regular drills" and instead OF pickin
Z locks, pick okum.-Liverpool Mercury
-