The Portland daily press., 1898-05-06

down and befole he could get onto his faet
the man with the sling shot struck the
boy over the head knocking him onto the
floor again. Eddie got onto his feet, how.
ever, and ran for the elevator. Jumping
into the car he pulled the cord and flew
to the top of the building making the
upper stories of the hotel ring wi h his
cries of "Robbers, y Robbers -
Meanwhile the men who were sitting in
the chairs about the Office were simply
paralyzed and held up their hands as they
had been commanded to do. While his
pal was welding tho sling shot the man
with two revolvers continued to cover the
people in tie office and IN ada every man
in sight stick his hands up above his
head.
NO, ne did not make every man do this,
for George NJ. Perry either didn't know
what the fobber wanted him tc do or
wouldn't Go it. Mr.. Perry had Just
reached the top step of the stairs leading
down into the basement, when the two
robbers appeared at the ladies' entran CO.
he started to walk across the room when
one OF the robbers commanded in loud
voice:
HOLD up your hands,
To hell with you,'' replied Mr. Perry,
continuing to walk towards the man with
tho two revolyers. Perry is a big man.
weighing about $50 or somewhere in that
neighborhood, and having seen the real
thing in Arizona he didn't propose to be
taken into camp by any amateurs down
here in Maine. Accordingly he continued
to advance towards the man with the two
guns.
cd d--n you," yelled the robber,
don't you know what mean when 1
tell you to hold upyour hands"
But Perry didn't know or rather5 he
didn't want to know. By this time he
had nearly reached the man with the
guns when the robber' pal with the sling
shot who had been engaged laying out the
two boys turned his attention to Perry
Before the big travelling man knew what
was about to happen the man with the
sling shot had got around behind him
and gave him q crack over the head,
Fortunately for Perry he had Derby on
and this broke the force of the blow and
also broke the hat, but the blow was
strong enough to turn the big man
around and bring him to his knees with
an ugly cash over his left ear.
Perry, when he was struck, began to
shout ''police,' police" the men with
their hands up, some twenty five or more
took up the shout and yelled 'robbars,''
'sthieyes,' = 'stire'' and in moment the
room was In an uproar.
Some daring individ ual made break
for the street door. Others tumbled over
chairs and ran for all they were worth to-
wards the basement stairs, into the read
ing room ,eand some of them haven't Leen
seen since the hold-up and may be they
are running yet.
But they had no need to hurry. Perry's
unwillingness to stick his hands up in
the air at the robbers commands had
simply knocked the sand out of the
desperadoes. They did not wait to settle
with Perry for his breech of etiquette, nor
to enjoy the stampede they had caused by
their sudden appearance. They simply
few for the door, through which they had
entered, pursued by Walter astner, the
night clerk, who had been playing a
llCtl0 DstrG III UulS tlTttlIlh Oh MS own NOOK
all the time.
Walter Castner is a popular and expert
enced clerk, but he will never keep his
revolver in draw again unlonded. When
the robbers appeared at the Office door and
commanded "hands up,'' Walter saw at
once that they were after him While they
were settling with the boys and Perry,
Castner opened the draw in which his re-
volver was placed and tried to get some
cartridges into it. The revolver Is OF
thirty eight calibre and in the cartridge
box were some thirty-eight caiibre car
tridges and some of thirty-two. His
fingers of course seemed to be all thumbs,
butshe did manage TO get two or three
shells in his gun, When he saw Perry go
over on the floor beneath the sling shot
Castner started for the door which opens
from the enclosure behind the counter to
the office floor but when he got outside
the robbers oere gone. iurrying to the
door the clerk saw the two ner running
across Railroad square toward the Union
station. 1t was nearly time for the ar,