The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1905-10-13
My Friend Hastings

| name as Hastings arrived in town.
and after a little while it was given out
/ that he was a schoolmaster from the
east who was taking winter vacation
! for nervous trouble. He didn't look
the typical pedagOgue, but when | be-
| came acquainted with him found him
first rate fellow. He seemed to take
liking to me as we'll, and after our
| acquaintance had continued for month
he got into the habit of dropping in on
me when he saw my light evenings.
Along in March Mr.. Hastings went
! away for three days. He was board
ing at the inn, and upon his return, and
as soon as he had finished his supper
he came to my rooms This was about
s o'clock in the evening. We chatted
| for awhile, and then he read law for
a time, and about half past 8, as
! laid my book aside, he looked up and
! said:
II had forgotten to tell you that an
| old friend came back with me to stay
a few days. 1 told him if he felt like
it to drop up here this evening and be
introduced. You will find him a very
nice gentleman"
While [ was making some appropri-
ate reply a step sounded outside, and
the stranger entered. He was intro
| duced as Mr.. Barber, and 1 no sooner
| set eyes on him than l wondered how
| Mr.. Hastings happened to be friends
| with such an uncouth fellow. He
| neither looked nor dressed like a gen
! tleman, and as soon as he began talk
| ing | discovered that his educa ton had
| been sadly neglected. Once or twice
| during the next half hour I caught
| Mr.. Hastings making signs to his
| friend as if telling him to do less talk
ing, but they had no particular sig
| niticance for me at the moment. 1t
| had come 10 o'clock when | arose and
| fire in the stove, as was my usual
| practice. | had just emptied a scuttle
of coal in the stove to keep the fire
through the night when an arm was
| passed around my neck, a mans knee
| was pressed into the small of my back,
and | was garrOted in first class shape
My breath was shut off by the arm,
and my back wrenched by the twist
the fellow gave me, and l suppose I
lost consciousness for four or five
minutes. At any rate, when l could
take notice of things again, Mr. Hast
ingS was smiling down at me, and his
friend had finished tying me.
1
my natural query.
Just preventing you from getting
into trouble was the answer Jim,
| go down and fasten the outer door and
bring up the tools.''
Il want to know what this means.'
l said in pretty bold tones as the man
| disappeared from the room.
Mr.. Hastings sat smoking a cigar.
In lazy way he flicked off the ashes
and smiled and said:
Il thought you were far enough
along in law to tumble to plain case
when you saw one but as you are not
will explain. We are after the
money in the vault below"
| Good heavens, but you don't mean
to tell me that you are a bank rob-
| ber!''
That's a pretty rough term for it.
Deplete is much nicer word than rob.
| Yes, we are going to deplete the bank
OF it's cash, and let me say to you that
if you hadn't put yourself out to make
my stay pleasant while here piping off
the job you would have been cracked
on the head instead Of gently assisted
to lie down on your back. Here is
Jim, and we shall now get to work.
1t may help you in later years, when
you have bank case on hand, to
watch our operations. I don't think
you are fool enough to go to shouting.
| 1t you are we can soon gag yOu.'
| While the men were stripping off
coats and vests and getting tools out
of bag l lay there like a stunned
sheep. couldn't get over it that my
friend, Mr.. Hastings, had blossomed
out into a bank robber, and l kept
wondering all the time if it wasn't
some sort of joke. 1 didn't think of
calling out, knowing that almost
everybody was in bed by that time
| ttuo llC SIlCcIS OGSSIICu. ttdu i NSllcu
my loudest no one would have heard
| me.
The plan of the robbers was to cut
a hole through the floor of our back
room directly over the vault and then
go down through the brickwork into
the vault itself. They ripped up the
carpet, bored a few holes and then in
serted saws and soon had a space four
feet square cut out. They smoked and
chatted as they worked, and now and
then Mr.. Hastings turned to address a
word to or give me a smile. In little
time they were at the bricks, and as
fast as taken out they were piled UP
| in the room. They had gone down
! through three courses when they sud-
denly began cursing There was a
steel plate under the third layer, and
had the robbers had the best of tools
they could not have pierced it in three
days. They were knocked out in
minute, and to save my life couldn't