The Natchitoches enterprise., 1899-02-23

ere;:,ns, that burglar will tarn up to-
night.
"Accidents will happen. Burglars
aren't over scrupuloas. Sometimes they
work with SIX shooters sometimes with
ohloroform pads. They might happen
to overpower me. a@t 80 s..v v,ail
not have much di;roGity ivi,a tue saC2.
Perhaps for the moneut iha safe i>a't
really the best place to kee2 those bags
of gold in
He thought that matter out. The
problem was delicate nhe Supposing
the gold to be stolen, then, if Ey any
accident it could lie proved that it hsd
been stolen from any place except the
safe, clearly it woald be very serious
matter for him.
So midnight arrived before Mr.. Fos-
ter, who had in tho meantime been to
his bedroom to put on his dressing gown
and slippers, made Ap>hls mind what
to DO. ~ .a.s-
"By JoveI 1 have It'll" he exclaimed
at last Hanged if these beautiful
jerry builders haven t left a plank loose
in the floor The very thiu2!'
Working as quietly as if he had been
a burglar himself, he stripped back
bit Of the felting, lifted the loose plank
and slipped the ten bags underneath it,
one after the othsr; then by judicious-
ly driving in little wedges which he
cut from the frew0od he made the
plank tighter than it had been before
and once more fastened the felting neat
ly over it.
"Now, Mr.. Burglar" be said, "eT-
erything's ready. I'll retire to my hid
ing place and wait for yon.
as the front of the bank faced the
street, there was 10 probability of bur
glars entering that way. They would
come, if they came, over the garden
wall and through the kitchen. So Mr..
Foster withdrew into the bank Itself
and watched developments in the bank
parIor through peephole which he had
bored in the door with gimiet
The hours dragged On, trying his pa
tience soroly. 1t must have been be-
tween 8 and i'll the morning when
slight noise, which obviously was nei-
ther the rattlirg Of a window nor the
snoring of the housekeeper, arrested bis
attention. The door By which the bank
parlor communicated with the private
part of the house was being tried.
In minute or two the lock was foro-
ed and two men entered. Both OF them
were masked, and one Of them carried
a little bag Of tools.
1t was too dark for him to observe
their methods with exactitude. So far
as he could judge, they forced tho lock
gradually by driving in filmy plates or
steel to act as wedges Cntil at last tie
Jimmy could be inserted and the proper
leverage brought to bear.
The process took about 40 minutes.
At the end of that time the door of the
strong box was open, and the thieves
STere pulling all sorts-of papers ont OF
il in their eager quest for bags OF gold.
The psychological moment had arrived.
"What in thunder!" Mr., Foster ex-
claimed aud burst II upon them, firing
as he came.
One of the men fired back at him,
and for ten seconds or SO there was
quick exchange Of shots in the half light
When it had ceased aud Mary's screams
from the top windows had brought the
constables, one Of the burglars lay
stretched out with a broken leg before
the violated safe. The other had escap-
ed over the garden wall, leaving trail
of blood behind him, while the bank
manager himself had a grazed cheek
and q nasty flesh wound in the shoulder.
A doctor, following hard on the heels
of the policeman, dressed his wounds
and assured him that they were not
serious. He pulled himself together and
gave his version of the story.
II was too late-too late; the other
chap got away. He's carried off $50,
900. It's all the banks fault for haV
ing zach a silly safe. "
"Ah, WE'LL" said the doctor philo-
sophically, $3.50, 000 won't break the
London and Miscellaneous! In fact,
speaking as a shareholder, / shouldn t
wonder if the directors found they d
got bit over to do something for you.
They ought to, anyhow"
And they did. They paid Mr. Fos-
ter's Doctors bill, and they gave him
the service Of plate which he had prom
ised himself, and then expressed the
greatest regret when, few months aft
erward, he announced his intention OF
retiring from their employment on the
ground that "a fortunate speculation
had released him from the necessity of
working for his living. London An
sWers.