Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-01-30

DURING THE MEAL HE TOLD ME.
IL to no good use, needs no demon
strating. Nor-conservative and i'm
perialist as I am-did 1 feel that it
would be much better employed in the
hands of the strikers. Number Two
had stated-and l saw no reason to
disbelieve him-that the money had
been sent to England by Germany, and
for so sinister purpose as to prolong
strike, and so to cause English trade
/ to drift irrevocably into the hands of
; the Germans. In that case, by pre-
venting the money from coming into
! the possession Of the strikers, | should
, be serving the cause OF my country.
! l had often enough had to make ex-
! cuse to myself for the means by which
| L obtained money. For once in my
life was in the position of being able
\ to steal, not only with a clear con-
science, but with glow of virtuous
| self-righteousness. The only question
that troubled me was how l was to
go to work. l was at first strongly
| tempted to take some one-say my
get him to undertake to switch off the
electric light at the critical moment,
so that 1 myself might be on the spot
when the bag was thrown out, and
make off with it before lubbock could
| lay hands on it 1t would, of course,
be necessary to disguise myself so
| that my fellow conspirator should not
recognize me, but that need not be
very difficult. The meeting vas p1r-
posely arranged to commence at nine
| o'clock, in order that working men of
all sorts might have a chance to be
present; and as there was no lamp in
! the yard behind the hall, and night
/ would by that time have fallen, l
| might easily escape Identification.
Thrash my brain as would, however,
| l could hit on no plan for so conceal
| ing myself in the yard as to escape
Hubbock's notice. The place was moth
| ing more than a bare, gravelled patch,
some few feet square and surrounded
by four high walls so that il would
! have been next to impossible TO find
shelter in which to conceal so much
/ as a cat. Besides this, l was disin-
| clined to breach even to a brother the
! business on which 1 was engaged.
Half-confidences would be no use in
! such a case, and unless one were pre-
pared to make a clean breast of it, the
thing had best not be spoken about
at all.
Not often have / been so hard put
to il for way out of a difficulty, but
In the end decided that the following
was the only feasible plan. If imme-
diately after turning off the light
slipped round to the side door that led
to the yard, should be in ample time
to cut off Hubbocll's retreat. His only
way out from the back would be along
the side passage, and as the bag could
not be thrown out of the window un-
til the light had been turned off and
the bomb exploded, the chances were
that I should be able to be on the spot
In time to get first snatch at the bag.
And even should find it in Hubboclk's
possession, my superior height,
strength and weight would give him
no chance in a tussle. To have that
bag I was determined, and if Hub
book showed fight, so much the worse
for him.
Now that had decided upon my line
of acton-unsatisfacto though that
line OF action was in many respects
began to feel easier in my mind, and
after switching the light on and of
several times, TO make sure that every
thing was in working order, i locked
up the hall, and went in search of
z lunch. Number Two had told me that
the key he was lending to me was only
duplicate, and that, as the care-taker
had one of his own, | need not con-
Germ myself about returning it; so
had the whole afternoon in which to
arrange about a disguise and to at
tend to the batch of letters which
found awaiting me at my chambers.
/, Evening was creeping on when I
sailed forth again to make my way to
the hall. which l reached some half
hour before the advertised time of the
meeting. Number Two had omitted
one detail. Admission to the meeting
was only TO be had by ticket, and as
he had forgotten to supply me with the
necessary paSteboard, l was at first
refused Ambulance. 1t was fortunate
that l happened to have in my pocket
the proof Of an article | had been writ
ing which | produced in evidence of
my claim TO be a representative of the
press. Otherwise, SO memorable were
the guardians OF the gate in their re-
fusal to admit any one without tick
ct, that l might have been left outside
altogether; in which case the lights
would not have been extinguished and
the $4,000 might by this time, like the
proverbial bread which is "cast upon
the waters" have found its way back
again TO the German pockets whence
1t emanated.
NyNyuy