The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-01-16
q tne cuurrn u..u ,ue.. rv.
scar Cor the robber.

10
make it wor,. much easier. There was
sMaii opening - the top of the shaft
tnrough which the weight could be
seen when It was ra,>ed into place.
Wascning this opening aa >s toiled e.
tne crank. Rodney saw appearing not
tne Diock granite, but q mans head.
Ae dropped the crank. III the me-
/ chinery had not worked automatically.
man and weight might have fallen to
the basement.
How did You get l. therer Rodney
gaspe.l.
mo matter" said .ha men. arli xive
you Sl01 II you'll help me out and say
nothing about It."
"How did you get In there7p Rodney
repeated.
When he had been down. on. the
street, he had heard the little girl who
had seen the bank robber telling a
group OF eHclted people that the
strange man had q smooth face and
wore q brown derby hat. This man
| had smooth face and wore q brown
derby hat.
"yyoc::: aT5 tue Junk ronoer!= suid I.e5-
ney.
"You help me out, and I'll make It
$780," said the man.
"Are you the man that robbed the
bank?'
"You get me out Of this trapr
The man kicked savagely against the
inside OF the shaft and, bracing himself
as well as he could In the cramped
space, tried to burst the walls apart.
The joints creaked, but the strength Of
six men could not have broken out the
planks of which the shaft was built.
"YOu better stop that wiggling in
there" said Rodney. "The rope isn't
fastened any too solid through that
soesh. IL you yunK it out. you and the
rock will go down to the basement to-
gether. It's 73 feet down there"
The "wiggling" stopped, and the
mans face appeared at the hole again.
The opening was not more than eight
inches square, and only the head Of the
captive was even with it, but mo-
ment later the muzzle Of a revolver
came up into sight beside his face.
Before the man could get his cramped
arm and hand into aiming position
Rodney, quick as fash, knocked the
catch out Of ratchet In the clock
works and. grssping the crank, turned
it backward until he had lowered his
prisoner far enough down the shaft SO
that he could do no harm.
Feeling sure that his prisoner was
safe for the present. Rodney decided to
go for help.
Some boys would have rushed from
the church, shouting. "I've got himw
but Rodney walked carelessly down the
street with his hands in his pockets
and Joined the outer edge of crowd
in front Of the bank. A hastily printed
notice on which the ink was not yet
dry announced that the bank would
pay $500 for the capture Of the robber.
with his plumber. The town added an
other 500 to the reward.
Rodney's fingers twisted Rervously
That meant for him the Institute of
Technology. If he asked for help to
secure the man, he could claim only
part of the reward.
He left the group Of excited men as
quietly as he had come and went to q
tinshop near by. The proprietor was
out, but Rodney knew him and the
place well. He quickly found the
things he wanted and took them--a
small portable furnace with a charcoal
fire in It, a long handled skillet used
for melting lead and q handful of sui
phur. Taking these with him to the
church vestihule. he locked the outside
door and once more climbed the stairs
into the steeple.
This time he went up one more lad
der into the belfry itself. Here he un-
tied the bell rope from the wheel and
He knew 1t would go clear through to
the vestibule and that he would find 1t
on the floor there when he wanted it,
100 feet of good pliahl inch rope.
Then ne came down to the clockroom
again and, turning the crank backward,
let the loaded weight slowly down to-
ward the basement. Fortunately ev.
cry one on the street had been too ex-
cited all that afternoon IN notice thet
the town clock was varying from its
usual regularity. ~
Rodney had wound the clock often
enough to be able to tell by the number
OF coils Of wire about the arbor pretty
nearly when the weight had reached
the vestlbule door. When he thought
II was nearly there, he left the clock
room and hurried down the stairs. A
cautious glance through the narrow
door showed the weight alowly de-
scending and nearly all Of It in eight.
Scooping the skillet full of live Goals
from the. portable furnace. Rodney
stood ready. The weight stopped just
as the feet Of the man standing on 1t
fvHA<~ <xlr-T ~
ed the Goals with sulphur and showed
the skillet into the shaft A chorus OF
mingled coughs and cries followed.
Pulling out the skillet and tossing 1t
into an empty coal hod, Rodney ran cp
the stairs and ladder faster than he
had ever done In his life before. gave
the crank In the ,clockroom one more
turn backward and then ran down
again. This time the. weight was let
down to where the robbers legs were
H-ll- FTyn-