The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-08-24


peated Briggs. all alarmed. Why.
yes said old Bill, coolly. family man,
Presbyterian deacon and payin teller
/ in the Oldtinle bank. They know all
about you here, and, say. when they
think you've been pumped dry. it's ten
to one if they don't give you away I'M
less you consent to blow in the capital,
surplus and deposits
We'll. kunnel. your teller trembled
like leaf. and looked fifty different
ways except into Bits bold, black
eyes. I've meant no HARM he said.
and done no harm. except 10 my own
/ pocket. 1 like excitement, and 1 like
| GAIN
Exactly. said Bill. and so do I.
but you won't find that combination
here, unless you sit around at the other
side of the table and roll the ball.
1 may have a change of luck,
/ though said Briggs. and that's what
I'm trying for. I've spent nearly every
cent / ever saved
You're a poor. plucked pigeon
i said Bill. with considerable scorn. and
before you know it you'll be pullin' at
| the till to square yourself. and then I
see your finish behind the bars. Why
| don't you have some gumptiOn. man
some sand. Look al II live on 9TH
| er people. as gentleman should, but I
don't take no chances
"'Oh, tell me how you do it, said the
teller, pieadin' like a schoolboy. for all
/ the world.
Briggs Becomes a Green Goods Man.
We'll, kunnel, it hadn't taken old
Bill long TO size up your teller's estim-
able character. He saw that he was
mean and avaricious and cOwardly;
that, while he would shrink back from
bold jobs like lootin' the hull concern,
he'd go in for any snap that he thought
was safe. And so old Bill told him all
about green goods. He explained to
him Just how it was worked: how there
We're two satchels, exactly alike, and in
one was real money and in the other
was dummy money; how the real
money was shown TO the come-On, and
thus he was satisfied with what he
bought and how the bags were changed
and hetwent on his honeward way re-
joicin' with the dummy money Well,
Briggs listened with sparklin' eyes.
II like it, he said. It's safe, and
there's money in it: but why should
you tell all this to me? What service
could 1 be TO you? You know how to
do it. and don't. You have plenty OF
nerve, and l haven't. Why should you
suggest my goin' in with you?' You see
he was suspicious for all his eagerness,
kunnel.
That's very simple" replied old Bill.
I like you, it's true. but like doesn't
cut any ice in our business. See here;
lock at these letters I've been havin'
from a cattle dealer out west He'll
give $780, 600 in good money for $50, in
counterfeits He'll come on in two
days if l telegraph him. and he's as
good as gold. Say, shall l send him a
message? Think of it-there's $4,000
apiece And then he went on TO say
that he knew this raDehInan so well
that he was sure il would be useless to
\, n he
was actually shown $4,000 in good
money, and then he'd swallow hook.
bob, sdnker and ali. You must supply
this money. ne said; it's only for over
night. and there's no possible risk IN
it. You can do it. know; there's noth-
in to prevent you from takin' the pack
ages out of your box when you leave
in the afternoon. and putin them back
the next mornin'. You will be with
me all the while, and need never take
your eyes from il. I'll do all the talkln
and all the manipulation. Come. now,
VIII YOU ever get a better chance TO
make $4,000 without the slightest risk?
dozen times. Frankly. 1 want YOU, be-
cause can do nOthin' without you, and
you can do nothin' without me-
The Plucking of Pigeon Briggs.
There isn't much more to tell, kun
Ilcl vi c0uAStf Ol1 Dill ldu llO pa biON-
lar ranchman in his mind He could
have hunted up a hundred, if nsces-
sary, but Briggs was all the sucker he
was lOokin for just then, and he played
him TO the queens taste. The two men
met in that hotel by agreement. Briggs
all keyed up and hdng1n onto his prec-
iouS satchel for dear life, suspicious,
nervous, startin' at every sound, and
never takin' his eyes off old Bill. But,
Lord, he didn't have an earthly show.
Old Bill opened his satchel and showed
the dummy packages. Briggs opened
his and showed the three $4,000 wads.
Let's put them in the closet. said Bill.
for fear some one might come. 1 don't
have to go for two hours yet and in
the closet thev placed them side by
side, Briggs fairly feelin of the walls
TO see that there were no trap doors.
Then drinks were in order, and if one
head got fuddled, it wasn't old Bins.
Just about the time the liquor was
workin' all right, there came a tele-
gram
:. Hello cried old Bill. it's from our
western friend. He took an earlier
train, and will be at the Grand Central
in a half hour. I've got just time to
hurry and fetch him here. I'll take my
satchel. 50 that he can see I've got the
stuff with me, and you, Briggsy, keep
a sharp eye on your own, and Wen be
and of rushed old Bill, with Briggs
satchel, with its thirty thousand wad.
and You can bet he didn't step rushin'
until he was a thousand miles away;
It's Chicago, l mean, kunnel, where all
the good crooks go.
It's easy now, kunnel, to see your
-eller's finish; how ha sat there half
stupid. with one eye on the door and
the other ON the closet, with old Bills
;atchel in plain view which he was
sure was his own; how. as the liquor
wore off and time wore on, he began to
grow impatient, and then 50 nervous
hat he couldn't sit still; how he argued
With himself that everythin' was all
light. but just for the satisfaction of it,
&c would look at his precious wads
igain; how his eyes started out when
lie opened the satchei, how his hands
shook as he threw out the dummies,
md how ne screamed and then was too
TO scream again, as he per-
.eived that there was nothin' else re-
nainin', and that once more he was
,lucked pigeon.
The Secret of Briggs Death.
And then, kunnel. he had to face
hings. He was busted: he had robbed
he bank; he couldn't restore; he
couldn't run away. What else was
here TO do except 10 feel in his pocket
or the revolver he had brought against
my violence on old Bits part, and
cOff himself? LeaStwiSe, that's what
le did, and that's the true story OF that
nartyred teller of yours"
What became OF old Bill. as you call
lim?" asked the colonel. feebly. Il