Year: 1876

/


aware that il | continued to iuhale
the supplying vapor, should soon
be entirely under its influence. I
therefore held my breath and fcigp-
ed unconsciousness. Much TO my
relief the handkerchief was remov-
ed, and the person who held it
walked of to another part of the
store.


/ drew in a deep breath, and
partially opened my eyes. saw
a man in the back part Of the store
fumbling in a closet; in moment
he turned and approached the
place where | was lying. lie wore
a false face, but | was sure that his
form was familiar; in one hand he
held dark lantern, and in the 9TH
er ball of stout cord, commonly
called bull twine.


lie placed the lantern on q box
and proceeded to unwind several
feet from the ball of twine. Just
at this point he was compelled to
sneeze, and through my partially
closed lids | saw him remove his
false face and wipe his nose. That
action gave me full view Of his
features, and l readily recognized
him as one of the porters belong
ing to the establishment /; a quar-
relsome, disagreeable fellow, called,
from his pugilistic propensities,
"Thumping joe"


lie turned his back on me for q
moment, and l made a strong eff
fort to throw off the influence of
the drug, but In vain my mind
seemed perfectly clear, but my
body was as powerless as though it
had been dead. / was not depriv-
ed of the sense of sight, but /
could neither quite open nor shut
my eyes.


/ saw Joe divide the cord into
three sections, each about four feet
in length, with a long, murlerous-
looking knife, such as butchers use
in large slaughtcr-houses. He next
proceeded to bind my right arm to
one leg Of the couch. Another
string he fastened TO my left arm,
and drew it over the back Of the
couch, fastening it TO The other leg.
With the remaining cord he bound
my feet together aud fastened
them down ty binding a rope
around them and fastening each
end to leg of the couch. / was
thus firmly secured, and absolutely
in his power. He then took up
his lantern and went down into the
cellar.


When he was gone my strength
gradually returned, and endeavor-
ed to escape from my fastenings,
but the rogue bad done his work
we'll In about ten minutes, which
seemed rs many hours to me, so
burdened was l with anxiety and
dread, he returned, bearing in his
arms one of the boxes Of gold.


He examined my fastenings
closely, aud, seeing that / was con-
scious, inquired in a disguised
voice if l recognized hin?


Eyes, sir" l replied, "you arc
'Thumpiug Joe,' and half-a-dozen
detectives will be on your track
half an hour after ain released"


With an oath he grasped the
cleaning knife and made a motion
as if he would plunge it into my
breast; but an equally hendish
scheme had occurred to him, and he
desisted from his purpose.


Having rolled half barrel of
gunpowder under my couch and
bored small hole in it with an
augur, he drove the barrel of my
revolver into this hole almost up
to the hammer. He then took
some twine from his pocket and
tying one end to the trigger, drew
the other through q hole in the
ceiling and attached to it q heavy
weight, so that it hung about two
feet from the floor. He then set
the alarm of the clock so that it
would go off in about one hour.


Having balanced the weight at
tached to the cord on the edge of a
box about four feet high, so that
the lsast pull would cause it to fall
of, he attached one end of a lne
cord to the hammer or striker of
the clock, aud the other TO the
weight. carefully tightening IL. Nv