Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-09-30
TWO ON A STRING.
A Story Told by a New York Drummer
from Mexico.


"Last April l was down in Mexico
said New York travelling salesman to
a Star reporter. ION Il business trio, and
one night my partner and | had to re-
main over in n small place about fifty
miles out of Mexico City. 1t wasn't such
a bad place, either but the landlord OF
the hotel told us that thieves were plen-
ty, and if they were cornered they might
stick their knives into people. Our
room in the little tavern was KIND Oh
a summer house affair, out in the yard,
with a door on each of two sides. and
was only q few feet up from the ground
on a kind of a platform veranda. we
had several hundred dollars which we
had collected. and the safest place we
could put it was in our satchels III our
room.
For 4 wonder the doors had locks on
them, but the upper part of the door was
made in Venetian shutter style, and
man with a long arm could by stretching
probably reach the lock. We weren't
very much afraid. and merely locked the
doors without noticing the shutter part
at all. Besides it was dark when we
went to bed, as we didn't want hgnt
to attract the insects. We slept with
out disturbance until the first gray
streaks of dawn, and then we We're
awakened by a queer noise at the doors.
1--WE suspected thieves at once. and as
quiet as mice we slipped out of bed and
began to reconnoiter. When got to my
door. if kind of gave me the creeDS to
see dirty yellow hand thrust through
the shutter and stretching itself down
ward toward the lock. and | was tempt
cd TO yell and scare the marauder away
However, | Kept my nerve, ana IN sec
ond or two il was strangely fascinating
to watch the efforts of that hand to
reach the lock. My partner was having
the same kind of an experience, and the
thieves were evidently intending to take
us 'a-comin' an a-gWine.
I'VE stood irresolute for minute, ana
then my partner made a sign TO me TO
hand him an old Iariat hanging on the
wall. This in a second he had Topped at
each end AMI | saw the trick. The next
minute we had hand apiece looped at
each end of the rope. and had pulled 1t
tight inside. Everything had been per
fectly still up TO this time, and now 1t
was stiller than ever. | do not know
what the thieves thought had happened to
them. but they were caught, and as soon
as we got the rope knotted we let go
and they discovered that they were tied
together and there wasn't any way for
them to get away unless one of them
pulled the other through the knot hole,
so TO speak.
Then it became funny, and we sat
there nearly splitting, but never making
Il sound. In minute CT two more we
could see another hand coming through
with a long. ugly knife in it. trying TO cut
the rope holding the first hand but we
had drawn them far through. and the
other hand could not reach. OF course,
we expected now to hear yell, and have
some kicking and other disturbances. but
the stoicism Of the Indian was in Them
and they never made 4 sound until the
landlord himself spoke to them, when he
came to wake us up.
That was two hours or more later
and we had in the meantime gone back
to bed to finish our morning nap, trusting
to luck that they wouldn't get away. The
landlord when he discovered them made
more noise Iii Il minute than all four of us
had made since the act began, and when
we got up it was To find our garden
house surrounded by half the population
of the town. and the two thieves sticking
to our doors as if they had been nailed
there and nobody able to get them loose