The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-14
HIDDEN IN A BIRD CAGE.
THE DRUMMER sHREWDLY CAP
TURED ROBBERS TREASURE.

THE DRUMMER sHREWDLY CAP
TURED ROBBERS TREASURE.
A Stranger Had Made Him Drunk at
the Theater, But the Drummer Re-
covered COnsciOusness in Time to
Hear the scheme for Obtaining
His Money! Strange BedfeIIOv
Rihed His Pockets, But Was Badly
Tricked in the Morning.
From the Kansas City Times.
Ten years ago found me. not with the
snug business now possess, but employ
ed as a commercial traveller in the gro
Gerry line. My duties frequently took me
to Birmingham, and. if l am to tell my
story truthfully, I must say / was at that
period Of my history, TO put it mildly, no
better than ! ought 10 have been. The
life of a drummer is one fraught with
very great temptation, and I was not al
ways strong enough to keep my feet out
of the midst of the briers which beset my
path, with which statement my readers
will readily agree when they read the
strange incident l am now going 10 re-
late.
1t was 8 o'clock on an autumn evening.
The streets of Birmingham We're swept
with rain. l had a tolerably successful
day, and there reposed in my pocket the
sum of 500 which I had collected from
my firms customers. Having nothing abb
solutely prohibiting all open air enjoyment
/ went to the hotel i was staying at, and
although 1 had already drank during the
afternoon more than 1 ought and much
more than 1 needed. 1 called for further
supply Of brandy, and while slipping it was
joined by a stranger who seemed eager to
enter into conversation with me.
Nothing backward, and with tongue
fairly set a-wagging, 1 talked, too, and 1
believe that before many moments he had
ascertained that I had $10O belonging to
my employers in my possession.
The brandy finished, nothing would sat
isfy my new-foupd friend but that he
should take me to the theater, where the
welfi-known play OF Drln NIX, was Delhg
tipsy as 1 was. 1 shuddered at the realis-
tic portraiture by one of the artists of
victim to delirium tremens. remember
and was sane enough to remark 10 my
companion:
Certainly" he replied, they are over
drawing it. But it's only a play. There
are drinking bars here They are a real
ity. Come let's go and get something.
So we went and got something, and,
to cut a long story short, when l left the
theater leaning on the arm of my friend,
was helplessly intoxicated.
The next thing / new was this: The
rain clouds had rolled away, and fitful
CLEANS of moonlight revealed to me the
fact that | was in strange room, lying
on a strange bed. Two o'clock chimed
out from neighboring steeple. Sobered
with fright, | raised myself and then,
quick as a lightning flash, came the
thOught-my money! My clothes were
thrown across the bottom of the bed. 1
searched the trousers pocket; the gold
was there.
Then / heard voices in soft conversa-
ton coming up from below Noiselessly 1
opened the bedroom door and listened.
Sure he's all serene?" queried one
voice, to which another responded: He
won't wake till 6, at the earliest"
VERY good, said the first voice. Mind,
If he wakes while you're doing IT." the
sentence was punctuated by the unmis-
taxable click of a pistol, and l shivered-
"And at 6 or whenever he does awake
continued the voice, tell him you picked
him up drunk in the street and carried
him in here out of compassion for safety,
and you will easily convince him that he
was robbed out of doors. But mind, / have
done my part in plying him with drink
and in decoying him in here see that you
do yours in gracefully relieving the poor
fool of his hundred dollars"
Here a step on the stairs warned me to
close the door and | got back in bed. Hear
ing the knob of the door turn, l began to
breathe heavily, after the fashion of a
drunken man, and the next instant, shad-
ing the candle with his hand, there APP
peared the form of a strange man, who
Satisfied apparently with his eXamina-
ton, my visitor searched my pockets,
bounced upon the gold. of course, and
quickly transferred it from its erstWhile
resting place to-where do you guess? He
went to a bird cage. which, now, for the
first time, I observed hanging up, drew
out its slide, and--undressed and lay down
beside me. He was soon asleep, and hope
sprang up within me; but, alas! of all the
light sleepers. he was the lightest l ever
knew. Whenever ! moved he appeared to
be on the alert it was impossible to crawl
out of bed without his being conscious of
the fact Besides, under his pillow, I
knew, was the pistol, and in despair l had
reluctantly. to rest on as calm and uncon-
eerned as 1 possibly could.
"An wakeful, I passed that horrible
night, and the slow hours dragged on
Unfortunately. But at length a project
presented itself to my now sharpened
senses, which project 1 put into exc
cution when O'Clock struck.
Failure said / to myself, means SIM
ply death, success means a saved repu-
strictest sobrety."
Everything being perfectly quiet I SIM
ulated a gradual waking up and my first
yawn opened the eyes of my bedfellow.
The second had the effect of raising him
from his recumbent position in the bed
and when l slowly and painfully awoke
he was bending over me, all solicit
tude.
Daylight was now stealing into the
NY poor fellow" exclaimed the as
siduous one, how do you feel now? You
will wonder, no doubt, at being in my
bed, but the fact is you were i'll last
mp" I said. mp and put my hand
mechanically to my head well. / think
I must have been; my head does ache
So"
He smiled and replied: '"wen, my dear