Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1899-02-02

there 70 stir any mans cupidity--th,
more especially as gold can't b,
traced. If any burglar knows abou
those sovereigns that burglar will
turn up tonight"
Accidents will happen; burglars
aren't over scrupulous. Sometimes
they work with six-shooters, some
times with chloroform pads. They
might happen to overpower me, and
then they wouldn't have much diff
Guilty with the safe. Perhaps for the
moment the safe isn't really the best
place to keep those bags of gold In"
He thought that matter out. The
problem WIS a delicate one. Sup
posing the gold to be stolen--then IL
by any accident 1t could be proved that
1t had been stolen from any place ex-
cept the safe-then clearly 1t would be
a very serious matter for him.
So midnight arrived before Mr..
Foster, who had in the meantime been
to his bedroom to put on his dress
ing gown and slippers. made up his
mind what to do.
by Jovei l have it," he exclaimed
at last. Hanged If those beautiful
jerry builders haven't left plank
loose in the floor! The very thing!"
Working as quietly as IL he had
been a burglar himself, he stripped
back bit of the felting, lifted the
loose plank, and slipped the fifty bags
underneath it, one after the other;
then. by judiciously driving In lite
wedges which he cut from the fire.
wood, he made the plank tighter
than 1t had been before, and once
more fastened the telling neatly over
it.
Now Mr. Burglar" he said,
"everything's ready. I'll retire to my
hiding place and wait for you.'
As the front of the bank faced the
street, there was no probability of
burglars entering that way. They
would come, IL they came, over the
garden wall and through the kitchen.
So Mr.. Foster withdrew into the bank
itself and watched developments in the
bank parlor through peephole which
he had bored In the door with glm-
; let.
The hours dragged on, trying his
patience sorely. 1t must have been
between and in the morning, when
a slight noise, which obviously was
neither the rafting of window nor
the snoring of the housekeeper, arrest
ed his attention. The door by which
the bank parlor communicated with
the private part of the house was be-
ing tried.
In a minute or two the lock was
forced 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 the
lock gradually by driving in flmy
plates of steel to act as wedges, until
at least the 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 were pulling all sorts of papers
out of it in their eager quest for bags
of gold. The psychological moment
had arrived.
what in thunder!" Mr.. Foster
exclaimed, ald burst In upon them
firing as he came.
One of the men fired back at him,
and for ten seconds or so there was a
quick exchange OF shots In the half
light. When 1t had ceased and
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 escaped over the garden
wall, leaving trail of blood behind
him while the bank manager himself
had grazed cheek and nasty flesh
wound In the shoulder.
A doctor, followed hard on the heels
OF the policemen, dressed his wounds
and assured hIm that they were not
serious. He pulled himself to-
gether, and gave his version Of the
story.
II was too late-too late; the other
chap got away. He's carried off
$4,000. It's all the banks fault for
having such a silly safe"
"Ah, WE'LL" said the doctor, philo-
sophically, $4,000 won't break .-e
London and Miscellaneous! In fact,
speaking as a shareholder, / shouldn't
wonder IL 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 doctor bill, and they gave him
the service OF plate which he had
promised himself and then expressed
the greatest regret, when, a few
months afterward he announced his
intention of retiring from their en-
ployment on the grounds that "a for
tunate speculation had released him
from the necessity OF working for his
living.-London Answers.