The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1906-08-24
"Gilt-edged stuff, I'll warrant?
said O'Brien.

er's smiling reply. pennsylvania
railroad first mortgage bonds, and
guess they're as good as the kind the
Government issues, amt they?'
"This interested Mr.. Thomas o.
Brien a great deal.
How much have you got tied up
in those bonds, sir?' he asked the
understanding farmer. I inquire
because maybe I'll buy them myself
and save you the trip to Pittsburg.
I'm looking for an investment of that
sort with a bit of money that | have
not any pressing need for just now
"'Oh, I've only got ten thousand
dollars WORTH replied the farmer,
and reckon | won't have any bother
getting rid of them in Pittsburg.
"Then O'Brien got busy in his sci
entific way. He had something he
wanted to show the old farmer, he
said, and he invited him Up to his
hotel room, and there, after leading
up to it with the customary ingenious
story, O'Brien showed him the gold
brick.
But how am l going to know that
it's sure enough gold?' inquired the
guileless one.
Simplest thing in the world was
O'Brien's ready reply. Come on TO
Pittsburg and I'll prove it to you
"They got aboard. local train and
went to Pittsburg, and O'Brien took
the farmer-looking man to an office
in an out-of-the-way Office building.
The Office had the legend, u. S. AS
sayer,' painted on the glass door. The
'assayer, of course, was O'Brien's
pal, planted there by him to convince
victims of the 'genuineness' of the
bricks. The 'assayer' bored little
hole in n corner of the brick, went
through the motions of testing the
borings eith acid, and so on, and pro-
nounced the brick to be of the puresr
coin gold. The farmer-looking mans
eyes-glistened.
What are you asking for it?' he
inquired Of O'Brien.
"'It's worth a pat $4,000 at the
Mint said O'Brien, but, for the rea-
sons which prevent me appearing at
the Mint myself just now, I'll let you
have it for an even 100000
I reckon l can't pay that much
said the farmer. I'm going to buy
forty acres o. ground to add to my
farm, and that'll cost me $4,000. If
you could let me have it for $4,000
now, maybe I'd
"O'Brien reflected, and made some
figures on his blotting pad, and final
ly he said that he'd make the great
sacrifice and let the farmer have the
$4,000 gold brick for $4,000.
"'All right said the farmer I'll
go down town and sell these bonds
and get the money, and then I'll
come back and pay you the $4,000
But O'Brien was too crafty to lee
SO good a thing get out of his sight
"'I'll go with YOU he said. Bet
ter let me sell the bonds-Pm used
to that sort of thing, and probably |
could transact the business more
quickly than you could
The farmer agreed, and they went
to well-known Pittsburg bond deal
ing establishment. O'Brien had TAX
en- the bonds from the old mans
grip and had them wrapped in a neat
package. The old man waited out in
the corridor while OBrien was dis
posing of the bonds. The head OF
the bond dealing firm looked at the
bonds, and gave O'Brien the $4,000
out of hand. O'Brien would have
probably run away with the whole
amount if he'd had the chance, but
the old man stuck to him like pup
to a root after he had sold the bonds,
and O'Brien couldn't lose him. So the
gold brick crook took the old man to
the back room of secluded saloon
and paid him out $4,000 in good law
full currency. Then they went out
to the little town near Pittsburg, the
old man was handed his brass brick
and the transaction was completed.
Three days later, while celebrat-
ing in Pittsburg, Tom O'Brien was ar
rested at the instigation of the bond
dealing firm, which had discovered
that those $4,000 in Pennsylvania
railroad bonds were forged. The
work was superbly done, and o'Brien
knew, as soon as the hand was laid
on his shoulder, that old man Brock
way had got bunk with him.
And that is exactly what had hap
pened. The guileless farmer-looking
man was one of Brockway's pals in
the bank note and forging business,
and he had fixed up the job with the
greatest elaboration on O'Brien. He
had not only drilled the gold brick
man to the tune of $4,000 in good
cash, but he had fixed it so that
O'Brien himself should make himself
responsible to the law by disposing of
the 'phony' railroad bonds.
"O'Brien was released on $4,000
bail, which he jumped, and he hal
to wander around Europe for several
years before the Pittsburg bogus
bond job was squared by the meth
DDS known to high-grade criminals,