The daily Alaskan., 1904-03-18
FOR TEN YEARS
rconrrlrht. la1a. by .. D. Lewls.l ]


 the bank.
 Mir White was very friendly with me and hattered me SO extensively that l wondered what object he had in view. l possessed duplicate keys to all the rooms on the second floor and one day visited Mir Whites room when he wasn't there, and on rolling back the carpet found a hole in the floor over tue vault. As the vault top was pro tected by railroad iron his attempt had been a failure.
 He had replaced the cut floor fairly well and then abandoned the idea for another. What was the otheri
 The question bothered me not a lit- tie for week. Then l found an an- swer to 1t. One day when Mir. White dropped in to see me looked him over mere carefully than had ever done before. saw that he was determin- ed and reckless man who would stop at nothing to carry out purpose. Fail ing to get Into the vault above or be- low. wouldn't 1t be his plan to get pos session of the keys of the bank and the vault and thus come at the money? I reasoned that 1t would. and two incl dents that fell under my observation during the next fortnight strengthened my belief
 The first was that Mir. White was cultivatlng our private watchman and seeking to make himself solid. The second was that l found him skulklng about my house at night. l concluded from this latter circumstance that he was planning to pay me midnight visit to get possession of the keys, and l b,gan making preparations to re ceive him.
 Burglar alarms were unknown in small towns in those days, and win dovs were secured by driving a nail ovor the sash No dwelling house in town was secure enough to keep burglar out if he wanted to get in. l spent hay an hour surveying my house from the outside to decide by which avenue NIT. White would seek to make his entrance. | finally concluded that he would come across the common, climb my back fence and, keeping along under the shadow of a row of fruit trees. reach tue west window of the dining room. He could work there unseen. and his chances of getting in were at least as good as anywhere else.
 To hurry up his plans a little and have the affair or my hands l invited him to lunch one day On that day the east dining room window was securely fastened. but the west one was not We walked in the grounds that he might note the best means of approach, and at lunch ! managed to convey the idea that l was a sound sleeper and never feared burglars.
 To the best of my knowledge and be- lief. Mir. White was well pleased with tte outlook-wel pleased. He saw his wly clear to accomplish a certain ob- feet. and after he had departed l got down Che family olmbnac to consult the moon. l deduced from it that l might expect a visitor about the third night, aud l therefore began to prepare for him. Neither my wife nor children knew my suspicious or what l had In view, but at n o'clock on the third night l was ready and waiting.
 Mr. White arrived at a quarter past tue hour seeming to be in a hurry to close up the deal and get out of town. ] heard the fIst noise he made at the window, but my policy was silence. Up went the sash. and in came Mir. White and l may say that be was con siderably surprised at finding his right foot caught fast in a big bear trap be- fore it had touched the floor. The yell be uttered as the trap closed around his ankle proved that he was not altogeth- CT imperturbable and also awoke every member of my household
 ] had a match ready to light the lamp, and as soon as the room was flu minated l saw the man lying on the floor. l wished him good evening and Inquired about the weather outside and asked him if he had dropped anything
 Mr White was not the gentleman l had supposed him to be- He swore and rnved and called names, and his loud talk kept the baby bowling and my wife on the verge of a chill He had come armed with big knife, but as he could not get at me this did him no good. He had also taken the trouble to put on false whiskers and an old hat and I could and did truthfully tell him that they did not add to his personal appearance.
 The talk l had with Mir. White lasted about an hour-that is, he did most of the talking, and his conversation was all in English and of the most vigorous kind. When he wasn't speaking and wasn't running upstairs to assure my wife that things were all right l got of a few words of well meant advice. He didn't like it a little bit.
 It was very interesting while 1t last cd, and I made 1t last a great deal longer than Mir. White cared for. ] was selfish enough and mean enough to want revenge for the worry he had caused me, and so I took things easy and let the trap get in its work.