The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1911-07-28

from his seSt pocket and la,r u
table before Anderson the little sue uS
disc. nleel
Before Rand could speak ~.
there's parted and in the onsn Sor'
stood Marie Anderson, very Whit ing
drawn up to her full height n @ua
hand she extended the packet r Uas
the typewriter slip still on the ~.
Father" she said slowly. in a Ia u
tense voice, here are the bonds
accident ! just found them in y
on the sideboard." jar
With surprising quickness Ans.
son drew out a drawer in the 80
at which he sat, snatched I'D rero,"
err, and fired point blank at Rand ~.
had vaulted the table to reach b,as
But the Indian was before him ~
knocked up the muzzle Of ~
revolver from behind The bunas
struck the ceiling and the ney, J.
slant Anderson was on the floor bolr
less in the bearlike clasp of the n.
i red man.
/ Take the gun away from him ma
set him on the chair again, Tom
said Rand, as If nothing had hanna,
ed. He returned to his own seat snd
we too sat down.
In fifteen seconds the smoke aoat
ing about the ceiling was the on,r
sign of the crisis just passed. RAM
began again:
"In order to give you an onnor,r
| y,tfy 70 rannuay- ,y0,,,
fore you begin writing, Mr.. Anderson
and to prevent your INDUCING in anv
more foolish lies, will tell Won tba
evidence against you. You belnod
your brother-in-law, Nelson, make tbo
time-lock on the vault ordered for the
Municipal Bank in 1890. You inser,.
ed In the journal of the main stand.
ard Of the clock works a steel disc
instead of brass one, knowing that
the steel against steel would make a
friction that would wear out both in
several years. time. By means NJ I.
second time-lock accurately dupIicat.
ed, and which, If l am not mistaken
is ticking away in that black box IN
the. mantel behind you, you were abla
W LSl very nearly the very hour
when you could turn back the bolts Of
the Municipal vault without let or
hindrance. When your brother.in.lav
died, you sold his patents to the com.
pany, returned to New York, and be-
gan to live for the hour when Won
could help yourself to whatever YOU
wished. You stopped drinking and
settled down. You went into the real
estate business, because you could
obtain in that manner a permanent
hold on Hanahan, the Waterman at
the Municipal, whom you already
knew. When you found that about
the time you were ready to make
your haul, George Rhodes would be
the young man in charge Of the vault,
you called him to the house on pre-.
text and made him acquainted with
your daughter and encouraged bis
visits that you might get from him in
your chats, bit by bit, knowledge Of
just what to put your hand on in the
short time you were in the vault, and
how to conceal the theft long enough
for you to convert the securities.
Your one mistake was in giving so
tlimsy a pretext to Mr.. Duncan for
calling him up and retaining him.
What you really wanted was to be
able to have constant information
from Mr.. Duncan so that you would
always know how close he was on the
track of the real thief. Few men pay
attorneys $500 retaining fees to per
suade young men who really love
their daughters from dragging them
into scandal which does not essen
TALLY concern the daughters at best
On Sunday night a week ago you
went to the bank, as your duplicate
time-lock showed you the steel disc
was worn so thin a jar on the door
would cause the standard to drop and
the lock to release. Hanahan, as he
told me an hour ago, went across the
street for some tobacco that Sunday
night. leaving you in the bank In
ninety seconds you had opened the
vault, taken the right packet, opened
the case of the time-lock, replaced the
disc with brass one, closed the case
and closed the vault, but-you care
a lessly dropped this worn disc on tns
= floor!
" you used the bonds as collateral
to buy stock, not as a speculation
n. but as an investment that would con
e ceal the bonds, and by chance chose
n Overland Pacific at low figure ana
j. 1t rose. You thought best to takS
n your profits, and only your greed pre,
vented you from returning the bonus
" to Rhodes by mail. You hid tas
II bonds in jar. Just like foolish Oiu
II woman. Mr.. Smith does not WISH "
II prosecute you and expose his speer
N lations. Since Mr.. Smith and MI
ID Duncan doubtless have other engage
4. ments tonight, kindly write as ! ~
N quested a few minutes ago.
m Muttering obiurgations in MS ia
r tive tongue, Anderson wrote the WV
If drafts, Rhodes being for more tnan