Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1904-11-11

1t and Immediately inquired as to the
cause of his uneasiness.
"The bank was robbed last night"
he answered, land over $4,000 stolen.
Every cent had in the world is gone
with the rest"
Ny mother made an exclamation Of
dismay.
"And the worst of it is" went on
my father, that we are almost certain
who the thief is, but we haven't a
thing in the world to trace him by
not a vestige of a photograph or any
thing like it, which We could give to
detectives to guide them in the hunt.
The mans gone, and the money with
him"
And my father sank despondently
into a chair.
Meanwhile Lester and stood by lis
tening silently, the still wet blue print
in my hand. After a minute l went
and pressed the print out fat upon the
table, on which my fathers arm was
leaning At any other time l would
have proudly eXhIulred it to him, and
would have been sure of his interest
and appreciation, but l did not feel
like intruding upon his present worri-
ment.
As l laid the picture face upward
| upon the table, my father turned his
head and looked at it indifferently.
Suddenly he pushed me aside, and bent
over the print so closely that his face
almost touched it. l recovered my bal
ance with difficulty, and stared at him
in frightened bewilderment. My faith
er had never acted in this manner be-
| fore, and l was almost afraid he had
| gone mad.
Great Scott"' he exclaimed. "Thc
very thing"
Then, wheeling around, he grasped
me by the shoulders, and wanted to
know where l got that picture.
l was far too dazed by his strange
actions to answer a word; SO Lester
|
few words as possible, of our morning
| expedition, and of the man whom we
had photographed in the act of drink
| ing.
BLESS the cameraw calculated my
father, excitedly, that's Eli Parker,
the thief! And the best likeness Of
him ever saw, too"
Then he questioned us closely as to
the direction the man had taken when
discovered, and ended by confiscating
the print and the negative, and rushing
out of the house to take the next train
| back to town. Lester and | talked
about it all the afternoon, and felt our
selves quite heroes for having the
temerity to stand before a real bank
robber
| Fifty prints were Immediately struck
off from the negative and these were
| given to detectives, who secured the
country in every direction. After a two
| days search those nearest home were
successful, and found Parker In the
same woods where Lester and | had
1
| first surprised him. He had sought to
avoid capture by avoiding railroads,
and hiding himself until the first ex-
citement Of the robbery had passed
away. AS the whole amount Of the
stolen funds was discovered in the
black grip which he carried, he was
convicted Of the crime without diff
Guilty, and sentenced for a term in
State prison.
The sequel of the incident was the
most agreeable and the most astonish-
ing Of all One day, month subse-
quent, when Parker had been safely
housed in the penitentiary, my father
came home and with mysterious
smile upon his face, handed me an en-
velope. Upon being opened, the discov-
cry was made that Howard Benton
and Lester Drake were authorized to
draw upon the First National Bank for
a hundred dollars apiece as slight rec,
ognition of their part In apprehending
Eli Parker, the perpetrator Of the re-
cent robbery upon that institution"
am still an ardent disciple of anna
teur photography. Who wouldn't be
under such circumstances ?-Golden
Days.
An Eccentric Lord.
Matthew Robinson UOrd Rokeby),