La Junta tribune., 1906-11-17
cashier Of sAa. b.ah and .hov.a II.

That bill was deposited" said -.
-by Mr.. Rixby. who keeps a little hetei
around the corner. and he redeemed IL
Q few minutes ago. He told me he got
II from a minister who ID spending his
vacation here The way I remembered
whom l got II from is the corner was
torn on. and l charged 10 cents for
that. Mr. Bixby didn't want TO pay II.
but when l showed him a package OF
mutilated currency l was putting up
that day To send to Washington for re-
demption he said he guessed 1t was
only fair TO pay something toward the
expense of having il redeemed
ON inquiry | learned that this hank
was not in the association and had
not received the circular.
Then l called on Mr.. Bixby.
Mr.. Bixby said lie had given the bill
back 10 the minister and pointed him
out TO me sitting on the veranda.
The minister had the counterfeit in
his hand and was looking ruefully at it
when l introduced myself.
Il got this the other day." said he,
from a man whom ! married in the
parlor OF the hotel He was a stranger
here-so am Land he asked the land
lord TO direct him to a clergy yman's
house. saying he wished to lie mar
r!ed- The woman was with him. and
~ ! was standing by Mr.. Bixby re
ferred him to me. We got the license.
! performed the ceremony and he gave
me this ifli as fee. ! never saw him
before and don't know where be Is
staying or whether he 10 still in town
Or not
His description Of the man Tailed
fairly well with the appearance Of one
q the gang, and as be felt sure be
would know him II be saw him again
we started out TO walk about the town,
which was fairly swarminG With sum
nsr boarders. stopping at the o@cs
where the marriage license had bsen
procured, Compared The signature
With the writing on the slip left in tie
safe and decided they had both been
written by the same hand The name
agned was william Weston, not quite,
o. rather . little more than, william
West.
We failed to nnd him. and ! returned
- the botet to6 supper.
He's gone. I coocluded dejectediy.
Then 4 thought struck me. He may
have designs on q hank here. II 70,
this being Saturday. tonight 10 the very
time he would select to do the job.
As there Was only one bank OF any
consequence In the place-the one that
had had the counterfeit twenty-I went
At once tn the cashiers house. He was
not at hoIne but would he nt 10 O'Clock.
] waited till he came.
Yes" said he in response TO my ques-
zion; such man as you describe came
into the bark the other day with a cheap
time lock appliance which he said would
wosk rs well the very costly ones.
Vie srxuca sh.s - ~ bank is situated
no sane burglar would attempt to blow
open the safe. therefore the danger was
that ! might be compelled TO open It at
tn. muzzIe OF a gun. As there have been
so many cases like that recently, I let
him show me how his device worked liz
put II on and set Il for ten minutes In
ave minutes ! tried to open the safe. but
could not. after ten minutes Il opened.
Thursday and again Friday he set II for
O'Clock the next morning. and II work
ed all right both times. This afternoon
when We closed he oiled everything W
and set the thing for . o'clock Moroay
morning. IL 1t works all right I am te
pay him so for IT,"
you opened the safe several times In
h.s presenceg'' 1 asked
.Yes. sir" replied the cashier.
The inner compartment where yor
keep your cash tooy
NO. only the outer door. At nrst h.
wanted to put the appliance on the inne'
lock also. but
Then the combination Is the same ON
both locks l Interrupted
How do YOU know thaty'' asked he In
astouls hrnant.
"Iiow did you happen to tell the mar
SCI was my reply.
lie stared at IN. In amazement.
Come 10 think. did tell him. lie said
to nrc. of course the inner combination
II different from the outer and l said u
was at hrst. but as | got confused some
times with two sets OF figures | had II
changed to correspond with the outer
one"
And after that he didn't think IL nee
essary to have his contrivance on the
inner lockT
"No. sir. lie said ~ they couldn't oper
the outer door they couldn't the inner. oi
coursc.-
quite evident replied.
lie stood behind you pretty close wher
you opened the safe two three times 2
I asked.
yes sir But he would have to have
a remarkable memory to remember ths
combination II took me two weeks ts
nnemorize IL. IL ~ quite complicated
said he with tinse Of p-id- In his tons
Ills memory would suffice. but h.
didnt trust. to IT. sad I. "You DON
know. l suppose. whether he had his
hands In his pockets while you wers
working tho Comhiua tion7'
yes. he did." spoke up the cashier
son. fo-y faced young man. who was
employed IN the bank. "He kept his
hands In his side coat pockets all the
time
'And he had a little pad in his pocket
IN which he wrote the numbers as weil
as how many turns 10 the right or left
after each humber. Hes got the COM
binltion all right said T.
The oid cashier looked at me clIriot.sly