The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-12-31

NA/ new job that seems
" " like q gold mine." Oh.
served Selby. Il i'm
rnediately begin TO look around for the
drawbacks.
Kicking Bill. as usual" remarked
his friend Eggieston. by George.
I believe you'd kick in heaven be-
cause your wings were like swans
instead Of peacock's. What in the
world have you got to grumble about
TITS Just like this" replied Selby.
"You see. I have some very large col
lectlons to make every Saturday night,
which have to keep in the house until
Monday. ! don't like the responsible
ity. It's wearing ON my nerves. /
haven't q peaceful moment while the
moneys In the house. and scarcely get
O wink Of sleep. There isn't a place
that I can put 1t and feel that it's Sc
cure"
"well." suggested Eggleston. my ad-
vice Is. first to take a nerve tonic, and
then to buy q safe"
That's what I'll have to do" as
sented the other. buy safe. The ex.
pense Is somewhat heavy, but can't
stand the strain any longer. Look here.
Eggleston. suppose you meet me to
morrow noon ut Devron's and help me
to select one"
"Glad to do II, old man." answered
Eggleston, but III charge you a fee
not only for my professional knowl-
edge Of strong.boxes. but also for the
advice have given you tonight"
The next day the two met at Dew.
fon's. It was evident that the epithet
OF Kicking Bill" which his friends
had long ago bestowed upon Selby was
not slander. According to him there
was not q suitable safe In the whole
establishment. One was too large. an
other too small, third not. strong
enough, q fourth had too easy com.
blnation. After q couple Of hours ex.
animation Of the whole stock. and
when the weary salesman. having vain.
" extolled the merits Of his wares with
! al his traders eloquence, at length
despaired Of making sale, Egglestop
came to the rescue.
''Come. now. s,elby, this is all nom
sense. Here's one that fills the bill"
Selby protested; but Egg,eston in
sisted. and In the end carried his point.
The safe was installed In the library.
which adioined Selby's bedroom. Like
0 child with new toy. he spent the
first few hours after its arrival playing
with the combination until he could al
most work II with his eyes shut.
The first Saturday after his purchase
he brought home a fat wad Of green
backs, which he carefully deposited in
the inner compartment of the safe,
locked the door. put the key in his
pocket, closed the outer door and twist
ed the combination back and forth for
fnIl fiye minutes; then opened It again
d, make sure he had locked the inner
compartment and repeated the whole
process.
He went to bed that night with the
key to tho inner door tied to his wrist.
Nevertheless. sleep was as difficult to
Induce as ever. II the floor in the hall
creaked he imagined that some one
was stealing into the library. and a
thorough investigation had to be made.
But physical and mental exhaustion
tnally won the upper hand.
When he awoke the next morning his
frst act was to feel for the key. 1t had
not been removed from his wrist. Next
he FASTENED into the library. No dyna.
miters had been Mt work on the safe.
) which stood as II gazing at him in
silent disdain at his anxiety. He quick.
~ opened the outer door. and. with
trembling fingers, inserted the key into
the lock Of tb1 inner compartment. A
twist. q pull and Its door was open.
His heart leaped violently to his throat.
then dropped exhausted and seemed
to cease Its beating altogether. Only
gaping. mocking. hopeless, awful emp.
tiness met his searching eyes. Not
the slightest vestige of the treasure
remained.
But who had extracted II and how?
He reported the matter to the police,
and detectives were sent to the house.
As Is their wont. they Immediately sus.
peeted the servants. Impossible! They
had been In the family for years,
and even II they were dishonest, how
could they have gotten into the safe
fntl lx hn knx haI 1nff
his possession for q single instant
and the dealer had assured him that
there were no duplicates.
what-but no, It could not be! Ye,
Eggleston had insisted rather deter
minedly upon his taking that particula,
safe. No, he would not believe 1t Of
his friend. Still. such breaches OF
friendship were not unheard Of. Gould
at be that Eggleston and the clerk were
IN colluslon. and that Eggleston had OBJ
tanned a duplicate key? But how couli
he have gotten into the house? Per
haps he had bribed one Of the servants
Although he doubted him. neverthe
less these suspicious made Selby very
uncomfortable. However. he did no
communicate them to the detectives
who were utterly at loss for clew.
Another Saturday arrived without
any hopeful developments. =
After much hesitation Selby agar
placed his collections In the safe. ant
personally examined every door ant
window before retiring. Not conten