The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-03
IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR

BJ William Hamilton Osborne. | Copyright, 1904, by Daily story Pub Col I The underworld in New York is divid- ed into two great classes, First. those who get caught; second, those who don't | The police department, finding 1t tmpos-
 sibie to keep an eye on everybody all the l time. had come to the conclusion that | Britches Beliman belonged to the latter class In their hearts they knew that | Britches was up to many things; but when they came to slft even one of these | things to the bottom invariably they found themselves wofully weak when 1t came to evidence.
 Evidence" snorted Britches; T ain't
 got no use for it. don't want none of 1t around me. To with evidence" l Now, Britches Bellman, being citi-
 gen of the underworld, had. come to the | conclusion that for a part of the time, at least, such citizen ought to reside underneath the ground. He got this Idea one day when he was passing the County National Bank. In front of the County National Bank was ditch. This ditch is called the subway.
 ''Gee!' said Britches Bellman. knocking himself on the side of the head, ''Get down in that hole, just where you belong"
 Now, if Britches hadn't been an extra QIuhtAoEJ hAttu Ol u tildIfs He never COuiQ have pulled off the little scheme that filled his head. But he was anything and everything from an A con man down to the lowest kind of strong-armer. In high hat and a frock coat he was su- perb; in a business suit he was all mat ter of fact; in a slouch hat, he could scare the wits out of a beiated ricn old party by just looking at him.
 One day a genteel looking parsonage called at the office of the subway con- tractors and announced that the County National Bank (which, by the way. was backed by the Democratic boss) had con- cluded to strengthen It's underpinning just bit. He produced a letter apparently on the letter head of the bank. signed apparently by It's president. He was cour- teously received, as, of course, any rep resentative of the boss's bank would have to be. and he left bearing with him the written direction of the contractor to the section foreman to permit the work men of the county bank to make any necessary excavation in the subway This genteel looking parsonage, it cannot be denied. looked extremely like Mir Britches Bellman. A day later rough honest looking workman. wearing a union but ton and dressed in toil-stained overalls, handed the letter to the section fore man, tOgelneF with another letter from the bank. stated casually that he and Sam Parks had known each other all their respective lives. borrowed a chew of tobacco, and started in to work.
 The work he was about to do he had all planned out on a sheet of rough draft ing paper. IL was to cut a square hole four by four from the subway in to the foundation of the bank
 Tlie bahk,s he said to the foreman. "ain't so much afraid of going up as 1t is of fallin' down. Its pins Is weak, or somethin'"
 In five hours the genial Mir. Bellman had made himself the most popular man in the ditch. He talked to everybody, sympathized with everybody, jollied every body
 But he was a good workman and he understood his business. But he insisted upon one thing. Every night, when he left his job, he carefully covered up the mouth of the hole he was making with a pile of dirt.
 Some fellow" he explained to the fore man. might take a notion to finish up my job some night and go clean through the bank, outside and in.' The foreman expectorated.
 "Gee!'' said the foreman, ''that's so. l never thought of it." He scratched his head and grinned.
 T s'pose," he added, ''that might take hack at it myself some night. W MAat dye think "
 Brtches ReIlman. honest workman,