The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-03
Our Daily Sbort Story.

nc sal0y Smiilng, HI nave to set @ pEaf
 clothes man on top of you. got to talk care of that there bank. and no mis take" He caught the other by the arm Say" went on Britches Rellman. it, blamed good thing you chaps dowi here are honest. If you weren't--say, thInl of the whole lot of banks here on Broad l way-you could tap. the whole lot, al most, and nobody wouldn't know the diff ference. not until" he added mot un.. | they found out"
 And when they found oute' suggeste, | the foreman.
 "There'd be hot time," returne, | Britches. He scratched his head again Now, look a-here,' he went on, ala raises a very nice, delicate, importan question in my mind. It seems to me tha I'll have to get the bank to put a nigh watchman down here to set in front O that there hole. It won't do to have an, two-legged rats a-burrowin there whel I'm away. naturally gotter keep tn, bank protected, because-because," h, added softly, to himself, "Id like, to know If some chap got in ahead of me.' It so happened. therefore, that 10 permission of the section foreman a bur ly night watchman came on an hour after Britches left. This night watchman hac bushy beard. Otherwise he had tht same proportions of Mir. Britches Bell man. Tn course," the night watchmar assured himself, ''the union wouldn't stand for me workfn' day and night. SC gotter plaster on the makeup. Ant gotter watch that .IoIe 10 see she don't get away from me. For when a hole zets away from man-especialiy a hole like this one-it ain't no easy job to get an. other" ,
 Mir. Bellman had worked only a few days and few nights when he struck something with his spade that gave him joy. .ss
 ''If this ain't vein of gold bearins ore. said Mir. Britches. "Tn wager its the underground part of the County banks undefpinnings; and if it's that why then ft fs vein of gold"
 He was right. It was a portion of the banks cellar Wal. He hastily covered it up, hung around until the whistle blew, then he left and. returning later in the evening. brought with him a new set of sharp tools.
 I'll get this job finished by morning. '' said this night watehman, Tor I'm a Dutchman''
 He removed layer of tar coating; then a layer of cement. Then he struck the bricks
 ''Now." he said to himself, If she ain't more than three feet thick I'll have her through in no time. That's what"
 But that wall was blank wall and 1t had been laid many. many years be- fore. when there were no trade unions. and no employers associations, and when cement and bricks were cement and bricks. When the first gray streaks of dawn had appeared in the sky above the subway Rritches had not finished. But he judged from the sound his hammef made that there was but one layer, of bricks still to be removed.
 Tomorrow night" said .Britches to himself. 'to-nisht; I faean, why-the trickll be turned to a T. And no mis- take"
 He took a day off and rested m He was made of flesh and blood and he was tired. But that night he started in. refreshed in mind and body. A deep peace was upon him. for he knew that in twenty minutes he would be inside the oank. And there was no man in the whole world who understood the inside of a bank as we'll as Britches Bellman.
 One by one he loosed the bricks: he was right; 1t was the last layer. Little by little the hole -wldened. He stuck his head inside. N was dark as pitch. He was prepared for this; prepared with a dark lantern. =
 "S HhohJ cApIdlHeu, huge joy possessing him, now, here I am. The hole was just wide enough to admit his body, and he pulled himself carefully through and dropped down to the inside floor.
 ''Ho. ho'.. exclaimed Mir. Britches Bell man. softly, this is nuts. for fair" lie didn't want 10 show fight. So he groped his way carefully about across what seemed to be little room. It was. as he suspected, coal cellar. He crossed it, and the boiler room: picked a lock and entered stlll another room. In this room he walked into wall and stepped back suddenly. As he did so his heel trod upon something soft. Suddenly the room was flooded with a bright white light. Britches gasped and looked behind him.
 You stepped on my corn," growled a voice In his ear. It was the voice of A very big man. This big man placed his hand upon Mir. Bellman's shoulder. Then Bellman looked in front of him. Two other men were looking on, smoking cie- ars. They wore blue uniforms and brass buttons. They smiled on Britches Bell man.
 'Is this the gentleman" said one. arch ly, who has no use for evidence?" Bell man gasped again. ',rhe bank" said an other, has been a-watchin' you for two days; they wanted to stop you, but we wanted you to go on, until you finished the-the job."
 "Gee!" gasped Bellman, holding out his wrists, IT finished 1t. all right"