The Delta independent., 1899-12-08
$4,000 IN GOLD.

A perfect sta snger walked into the
Sidcup branch Of the London and Mis-
cellansous bank and asked to ses the
manager.
Excuse my troubling you" he eaid,
"but you may be interested to know
that there is u scheme on foot for the
buIgliug Of this bank. As happened
to be passing. shoughs Id look in and
tell yOu."
The manager. Mr.. Julian Foster. ex-
pressed his skspsicism with appropriate
pomposity.
"My dear sir, = burglary at the Lon
don and Miscellaneous bank! You r,ust
be dreamingr'
II hope l sm," replied the other.
"And, il 70. owe you An apology.
Anyhow, I'm not rounding ON any pals,
and I'm nos asking money for the infor-
nation. Fact is. Ioverhesrd converse
tion that wasn't meant for me In pub
lie hcuse-at least ! overheard Q raps
Of it-and I'm very much mistaken il
;he burglary Of your bank wasn't th.
iea..;ng idea of the dialogue.
NJ. Julian Foster, while expressing
his gratitude. poohpoohed the warn
ing "StilI, as l said. the manager
continued. I'm very much Obliged to
you, aud, supposing it should turn out
that yon have heen well informed. the
directors would naturally be very
glad"-
Never mind abont that. I'm MT on
the make. only came aud told you be-
cause l thought you'd like to know.
By by! Load mp the shotgun and look
outv'
Ho shook hands and hurried Oh With
out even troubling to mention his narno
and add,ess. aud Mr.. Julian Foster
leaned back in his chair aud tarned the
matter over in his mind.
"Humr' he soliloquized. II won
DER
The Sidcup branch was osftaiply
easier to rob than most. Il wss sisuaesd
In q new house, tbs leass Of which han
been bought cheap from . ssattGper
whose business had been unsuccessful
The safe. which stood IN the back par'
Ior. was Of . very simple and ordinary
kind
On the other hand. the branch was
not. rs q rule, worth robbipg. II did
very little business, existing mainly for
the purpose Of raking In deposits, and
very little III the way Of cash or utbsf
negotiable securities was ever kept
there.
On tho following Wednesday. how
ever. the bvanch would, for the firss
time in its history, be iD a position TO
repay any burglar for his trouble To
meet the views Of particular deposition
in the company promoting business,
who had given notice Of withdrawal.
there would be ESQ, 600 In the safe.
Mr.. Julian Foster. like most hank
managers. was good at arithmetic. and
he put two and two together.
"Buiglar ne reflected. like po-
licemen, usually act upon information
where they get it from! II there's any
iiea Of breaking into this bank, I think
We may take il that the attempt will
be n.aiie while that money is on the
premises.
That very afternoon he began his
preparations for giving the intrudsrs .
warm reception. As soon - banking
hours were over be went mp 20 town
snd bought . revolver. 1t was weapon
he was ussd =. and he practiced suiii.
s,eatly to satisfy himself that he retain.
Il n considerable skill with IL. Then,
BY degrees. his plan Of campaign d.
veloped itself.
THE simplest way, l suppose, ~
metitated, would je TO get the police
to keep nm extra lookout on "Wednesday,
or ! might ges . special plain clothes
officer down from Headquarters Bus
where shoald I come In: The bank
wouldn't give me = service Of plate,
with promotion to follow. for that. aud
I should look pretty fool IL it turned
out &c he . false alarm"
So he took no one into his confidence,
bat thought out a scheme.
Wrdnes lay came, and with IL came
the messenger from Lothbury with tho
goId-s5O. OOO-tied mp securely in ten
leather bags. He helped Mr.. Foster TO
lock them away IN the safe. on the in
adequacy Of which he commented ovss
. glass Of sherry and = cigarette.
I'm glad you noticed IL. the man
sser replied "You'll support my ap-
pIicatiou for . better one. In the mean
time. however, I've got this
He brought the six shooter ont Of The
drawer of the desk and show ed that is
was loaded
Mr. Foster meditated till dipoeg
/ time. He maditated over his chop sod
bread and caeese. He went On meditss-
ing ever his WHISKY and water sfsss-
ward
"Gold-yc.. there IL enough eojA
thero 90 stir any man's cupidi.y-tho
more especially rs gold csn't be traced.
II abv burglar kpoWs sbouf tho>s -.
seeigIe. that burglar will turn up ~
njght
"Asst6ssss viii happen. Busslass
sreor ovR sr~spulosA Sometimes stsy
work with stx shoosesA sometimes WITH