The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-12-27

TO the money itself, for there was only one
key to the strong box and that the man
ager himself kept. He got the book he
wanted, and going to his desk opened it to
the days transactions. Then he took a
pencil and some paper and figured a little.
"Whee-eu," he whistled. II guess old Clay
tonw was safe in saying that there was owe
fifty thousand in that grip. One hundred
aud eight thousand, seven hundred dollars,
as I'm a sinner. Jove, that's a lot of mon
ey, and, besides, / figured eighteen hun
dred on hand this morning. One hundred
and ten thousand, five hundred dollars.
The corpse is even richer than / thot for,''
and he laughed aloud at his joke. "But,
what does this mean! Is the old man get
ting pinched, I wonderY I never knew
him to draw his salary all out before, and
/ am sure that fifteen hundred was all that
was due him. I'm not SO rich as / thot for.
Only one hundred and nine thousand.
Well, / guess I can get along on that" and
he shut the book, put it back and closed
the safe again, whirling the silver knob
several times to be sure of the lock.
Then he sat down and commenced to
read. The novel proved a good one and
Tom became so interested that the time
flew by UNDECIDED. Ten O'Clock, eleven
o'clock, twelve o'clock passed and still he
read on, never hearing the bowling of the
wind around the building, or the many
noises of the night. At last the fire died
lnxrn naJ a. ,noa, Hnao.,a oo~I M
wanting to take time to fix the fire, Tom
got up, took his overc )at from the hook
and threw it over his shoulders, half un-
consciously taking the revolvers out and
putting them in his coat pockets, so that
he would not have to lean against them.
Then he resumed his reading.
All at once a queer thrill of fear shot
down his spinal column and he instructive
ly knew that he was watched. He looked
quickly up and carefully examined all
parts of the room, but seeing nothing he
concluded that he was simply nervous and
went on with his reading. He could not
feel easy, however, and very soon got up
to examine the windows of the inner office.
Before he had moved three steps he was
brot to an abrupt stand. Throw up your
hands" commanded a rough voice, and the
startled boy saw that he was looking down
a shining pistol barrel. Tom threw up his
hands with alacrity, and saw standing in
the door leading to the inner Office the
same two men he had noticed as he came
from supper. They had evidently climbed
in a window somewhere, while he was so
absorbed in the story, and were after the
money. They wore masks and were armed
to the teeth, but he recognized the hats.
what do you want?" he asked, with a
voice that he hardly recognized.
'We want the money in that there safe
and we want it mighty quick. Get it open
in a hustle, now" answered one of the
men in a threatening tone. Tom hesitated,
How could he save that money? If he
let them shoot him, no one would hear the
shot thru the storm and he was sure the
men had come prepared to blow the safe
open, if necessary.
"Get to work on that combination, damn
yer, or I'll blow the head off'n yer" growl-
ed the man, and Tom, with his hands well
up, moved quickly to the safe and began
to tumble with the knob. His brain was
on fire. 1t seemed as if he must think OF
some way to stop the robbery, but the
case seemed a hopeless one
'If yer don't open that door before l
count ten your names pants, and we'll hev
a try ourselves" and the big nan began to
count in a way that made Toms fingers
fly. But a plan had ONE to him. It was
terribly risky, but it might succeed. Be-
fore the robber had got to five the heavy
doors swung open, and Tom stepped back.
Il haven't a key to the money box" he
said, 1.-The manager keeps that"
"He does, eh?" said the big man, with a
peculiar leer at his companion. "Well,
jerk Their lock, Jimmie, while watch ther
kid here"
So Tom was forced to stand and watch,
while the smaller man get out his~tool5,
crawled into the big safe and began to
break the lock. He pretended to be very
intent in watching the operation, bnt in
reality, his eye was on the other man. At
last his moment came. Jimmie seemed to
be having a hard time, and the big mans
eye wavered towards the obdurate lock q.
Quick as a flash, Tom leaped, with his old
time football plunge and tackled tho man
squarely around the knees. Over he went,
his revolver sending it's bullet thru the
window Instead of Tom. A more aston
ished man would be hard to find, and be-
fore he had time to himself Tom
had bro't his foot down so hard upon
his right hand, that the revolver dropped
from the mangled fingers. At the same
time he had drawn his own guns from his
pockets and, as the ~safe-blower hastily
withdrew himself from his awkward posi-
ton in the safe, he found the situation
reversed with a vengeance. Keep quiet
and put up your hands" cried Tom, trying
to control his voice but keeping a steady
bead" on the fellow. His next move was
to send the big mans revolver which had
dropped onto the floor, spinning across
the room with a swift kick. BY this time
the man on the floor was trying to regain
his feet. But here again Toms quickness
came into play. "Bang" went the revolver
in his left hand, and the man dropped yell
ling, shot in the left shoulder. Before the
other man fairly started to drop his hands,
Tom was covering him again, and he gave
no more trouble. He seemed completely
cowed and made no resistance when Tom
took his revolvers away from him. After
this had been done, Tom compelled him
TO take the arms away from the big man,
who was practically disabled, and was