The Alaska citizen., 1911-08-07
TheH light land . =, ;s ~; , ;::,
s;1

Francis Everard Lewis, and Franques.
crstwhile his henchman; and the
plain-Clothes man; and President
Chisholm of the bank, with those
TWO clerks whose affidavits had been
attached to the sealed packet at the
time it was placed in Box 1912.
Lewis liver had turned white with
in him-the craven had come through:
Franques was as inscrutable as mar.
BILE; the reporters keen. eager. tense
and Jim Warren pallid. but calm.
assured and grinning. As for the
plain-clothes man. the delay annoyed
him He hadn't wanted to come by
here anyway; and if these people
were going to stop all day and CAB
he might miss the ball game.
jim Warren was self-appointed
master of ceremonies
Mr.. Chisholm" he requested. will
YOU please state the conditions un-
der which Box 1913. which is held
in my name. may be opened"
Mr.. Chisholm recited the whole
rigmarole and produced his copy of
The written agreement.
That agreement has never been
.
1T has not been. certainly" was
the reply. You have the only key
to the box and you have never
been inside the vault except with
these two witnesses and myself
He indicated the clerks. Jim War
rem produced the key and thrust II
into the lock. There was a sharp
click as he turned it once; then,
with his hand on the knob. he fac
Cd the huddled group. We're going
% make some political history now"
he remarked 1T will be nightly
unpleasant. but history. neverthe
less"
He pulled the door open. There
was a Craning of necks to see what
the box contained. Seemingly there
were only dozen or more long
envelopes; no. two dozen, three doz-
en-each sealed and numbered Jim
Warren stood aside and took 4 note
book from his pocket.
Now. officer" he requested will
YOU take out those envelopes one
al a time and give the numbers
please?"
The plain-clorhes man thrust in
a red, hairy hand and brought the
first packet-a bulky one.
Number thirty-nine," he read.
jim Warren consulted his note
book.
Number thirty-nine," he repeated
Five thousand dollars in marked
fiye-hundred-dollar bills. paid TO ne
by one Franques. as agent Of the
O. 4 Y. Railroad. to be divided in
the Committee on Public Structures
TO secure a favorable report on an
amendment that gives public
bridge. Now. officer. please tear off
the outer envelope. and inside YOU
will find another with affidavits by
Mr.. Chisholm here and these two
clerks. showing that the packet was
deposited in that box less than two
hours ago"
The officer obeyed dumbly. Inside
everything was according to specifi-
cations. With nervous fingers he Zip
ped open the inner envelope Mon
ely. money. money. His ewes buged
at the yellOwbacks of it. He had
never before seen fifty thousand dol
lars all at once.
Count the money and keep that
and all the envelopes, officer" Jim
Warren directed You will need
them for evidence. Now the next
one"
Again the officer thrust in his
hand.
Number thirty-eight," he called.
Seven hundred and fifty dollars;
my share of three thousand dollars
. 10 Try Al a
son and myself. as members of Pub
/ lie Structures, for reporting favor
ably bill for cement work ON the
docks in the lower basin,' jim
Warren read. The next, please"
/ Number thirty-seven."
Two thousand dollars; my share
| Of ten thousand dollars paid to West
on. Blakely. Chester. Hall and my
/ self. of the Committee on Railroads.
in consideration of an adverse re-
/ port on a street-ralway franchise
that would have authorized a com
peting line" He read it off slibly.
Number thirtysix."
Two hundred and fifty dollars;
my share of fifteen thousand dol
lars paid to sixty members of the
House for the defeat of the pure
milk bill In the inner envelope you'll
find list of the men who accept
ed the bride along with me-"
The plain-clothes mai drew out
the list and scanned it. There vas
unanimous movement OF the re-
porters in his direction He thrust
/ the list into a pocket.
The district attorney frs" he
said.
| 1t was a grateful break in the
silence of wonder tina; had fallen
at the reporters, nodded and smil-
ed; they understood Then his sky.
blue eyes travelled over al! reflective
ly. Lewis. white to the gills, was
merely gazing at him dnmbly. fas-
| cinated; Franques' beady eyes were
impenetrable President Chisholm
was standing with his mouth half
open-starng, staring. Only the re-
porters were keenly alive. alert-the
reporters and Jim Warren. Some of
them had already exhausted their
notepaper and were scribblin., on
their cuffs. Jim Warren ore out
the back of his book and distribut-
ed it among them.
So the rollcall went on--that roll
call of shame. Names that had never
been touched by the breath Of
scandal were here; and always, ever
recurrent like the tolling of bell,
was the name of Tyson. The ner-
vous tension broke at last; the mere
!