The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-24

and passed through the upper part of
| the house. He found nothing to ex-
plain the noises. Then he descended
| to the ground floor. He was in his
He had to move carefully, too, as the
floors had dry rotted and become
shaky. Down here the noises came to
him more plain, and he located them
as coming from the cellar. This was
a part of the house he had not visited
Eyet. He did not go down now. He
had more courage than ninety-nine
men in a hundred, but he baked at
that. He knew that it was like dun
geon down there and if uncanny things
were he met with it would be below
stairs. He returned to his bed and his
sleep, saying that he would investigate
when daylight came.
After breakfast next morning the
boy lighted his candle and started on
his trip. He had found the cellar
door fastened on his first exploration
through the house: What had. struck
hi1n9as curious was that the fastening
found in the kitchen was used as a
pry and after 10 minutes work the.
door fastened on his first exploration
was forced open. The old house
had been built and inhabited for a
time by wealthy people. There was a
cellar and sub-cellar, and down in
the later were the wine vaults. The
lad might have looked for four air on
descending the stairs, but there was
none. There was the blacklist kind of
darkness in the cellar, with the heat
ing apparatus and it's pipes rusted
away and fallen apart and the door
to the sub-cellar was also fastened on
the other side. The boy did not even
stop to wonder how the person who
had made these doors fast on the
down-side. could have afterward- left
the house, but forced the second as he
had the first. In the sub-cellar We're
seven large wine bins and a large
square room. The air down there was
purer than on the parlor floor. A de-.
tective would have paused to cogitate
over this. but the boy didn't. He en-
among the wine bins for awhile. and
there he got his explanation of the
blinking noises he had heard the night
before.
gang of eounterfeiters. There were
bogus gold and silver coins living
about almost by the bushel., There
were molds and dies and presses
There was furnace and several melt
ing pots. There were jars of acids
and hundreds of pounds of metal.
There was a table, chairs, lamps and
dishes. At the rear end of the room
was small door, but this was locked
with a key and could not be pried
open. Joe had seen bogus coins and
heard all about counterfeiters, and he
was soon aware of the Importance of
his find. When he had used UP q cOu-
pie of hours looking about he returned
UP stairs, fastening the doors behind
him as well as the could. He had no
impulse to rush off to the police. AS a
matter of fact. he remained in the
house for a week. longer. going out
twice at night to purchase provisions,
before he made UP his mind to go back
to the tailoring business. Then he
went to the, police. His story was
not credited until a detective had ac-
companied him to the house. Then it
was figured that the door from the
room led into the big sewer in the
alley and the police made a descent
on boarding house a block further
down and captured three men who |
had been counterfeiting for the past
four years and sending all their coin
abroad They had used the big sewer
as a street to come and go and had
carried all material that way. But
for tailor thrashing his apprentice
they might have worked on without
discovery. If the rewards We're paid
the lad had no share, although in la
ter years he left the tailor business to
become policeman and enjoy further
adventures.-(Copyright. 1907, by C.
H Sutc1iffe