The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1902-12-18
A STRANGE CASE.


cably discussing various topics and making
comments on the events of the day. They
were mere lads as far as years went, but
they carried themselves like athletes and
kept step with military exactness.
They were clerks, one in a hardware
business, the other in bank. Clerks ON
q small salary, filling unimportant posi-.
tons, but on the road to succesa, for al
ready both of the young fellows had made
good records and were named for early
Advancement. They lived at their respect
i've homes, had no bad habits, and even had
saved q trihe from their small earnings.
Allan Richards was the elder of the two
by a year, but Owen Morgan was mature
enough to be his friends match, the diff
ference in their appearance being that be-
tween blonde and dark.
The state in which their town Is located
does not believe in capital punishment,
hence long list of criminals and doors
of desperate deeds who do not fear a term
in prison which may be shortened at the
option of q new governor. So there are
carnivals of crime just as there are cpl
denies of disease, and they make work
for a great array of legal talent with its
grades and supernumeraries. One winter
will be comparatively quiet, to be followed
by a summer season of atrociouss muir
ders. The next winter the criminal fad
will be hold-ups, series of your money
OF your life" dramas. The local press will
give dramatic recitals of robbers in masks
who reap golden harvests, and the SPLEEN
didly appointed police force read 1t over
their breakfasts and nobody is appre-
hended. The lawyers, however, give ad-
vice to the victims and get what little
money they have left
This particular winter the hold-up man
was something out of the common. He
gave back the purse of poor washer
woman and even added a new five" to it
after hearing her tale of woe. He fire.
quently returned an heirloom watch or some
souvenir begged for as gift of dead
friend. He was ubiquitous, being seen on
the Campus Martius and the Grand Cir
Gus at the same time, conducting two diff
ferent robberies. Finally it dawned on
the local comprehension that two hold-up
men were operating among the citizens,
but the knowledge did not lead to any
arrest. They were written of as If they
were magnanimous heroes, their gentle
manly rebates exploited as generous con-
cessions, but they escaped detection and
arrest as completely as If they had been
myths. 1t was left to the quick intuition
and acute hearing of one victim to locate
the criminals.
Allan Richards was an employe of the
Mercantile bank. One morning he was
summoned to the Office of the president OF
the bank. A blue-coated policeman was in
attendance and the youth recognized him
with a pleasant nod, for he knew him by
sight.
Allan" said the president, CURLY,
"where do you spend your evenings"
Not tremor was in the lads voice. nor q
tint of added color in his face as he an
swered, respectfully:
"At home, sir, or with friends-some-
times at the public library reading to i'm
prove my mind. Why, eir?"
81 believe you, Allan" said the presi-
dent, kindly. 'but you will be compelled to
prove lido your duty, policeman"
"What is the charge against me! / In
sist upon knowing" AS Allan faced the Of
ficer his lip quivered and his cheek whit
ened, but his manly bearing and honest
eyes looking ght into the eyes Of his &C.
cusers made his own selfdefense.
"You are charged with highway robbery
come on, young fellow. ! guess we won't
have to jug you. One story Is good until
another is told, and we haven't heard yours
yet"
Allan went to the station, and after
short preliminary examination, during
which he preserved remarkable silence,
he was "jugged' safely enough. A few
hours later his chum, Owen Morgan, was
taken to the same building and also placed
t,ll IS 90 fr,a
arrest, nor was Allan informed Of his pres
ence. But the whole town was aroused
by the Stupidity" as It was termed, OF
the police in making such mistake. Bank
ers and merchants flocked to their tele-
phones to offer bail, and the lifetime
friends of the boys wept over their out
rageous treatment and demanded their i'm.
mediate liberty.
Their whole record gives the lie to the
unjust accusation" said one of their de-
tenders, but before the words died on the
air the officers sent out to search for evil
dence had returned with the spoils and
established evidence that was indisputable.
Gold Watches money, diamonds and enough
personal bric-a-brac to start a jewelry store
had been found secreted in the trunks OF
the two young men. They seemed to have
made no effort to dispose OF any Of their
plumber, and it stood as the most unique
crime of modern times Crime neverthe-
less, and the end was not yet
No one-except the victims Of the nu-
merous robberes- rejoiced over the appre-
hension of the criminals. The whole town
seemed dazed over the denouement. The
boys had not spent any of the money nor
benefited in any way by their unlawful ac-
cession of wealth. Neither Of them would
talk, SO it was not known what motive
could have actGeted them. AT noon on the
day of their arrest the father of Allan Rich
ards was informed of his sons dishonor.
Allan was his only child, and he had
brought him up in the fear of the Lord. He
went home and found his wife unconvinced
If the boys guilt Then he went to the
station and saw Allan in a cell. What was
said was only known between the two, but
on his way home the father called at .
drug store and bought something in phial,
and in a few hours Allan was fatherless.
When they told him he tainted, and re-
NAMED so long unconscious that his friend
Owen was taken from his own cell and
brought down to help restore him. Then