Indiana State Sentinel, Volume 35, Number 16, Indianapolis, Marion County, 5 June 1889 — Page 6

- 6 , THE INDIANA STATE SENTINEL. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5. 1889.

THE MANUFACTURER.

N. T, Tribune.) One gloomy afternoon in the November f 187 , while I waa busy eorting checks in the outer office of the Lombard-st. bank, I received a message that the maner wished to see me in his privat room, "Mr. William," he aaid, when I entered the apartment, "I want you to take 22,000 to Mudborouph to-niht-7,000 in gold, the rest in notes. The express leaves Euston at 9:30 and reaches Madboronph at S:13. A clerk from the bank of Mudborough will meet yoa on yoar arrivat. Yoa might go home now to dine and make yoar arrangements, and return here at 8 o'clock, when Mr. Smith will have the consignment ready for you. Of course yoa will keep yoar eyes open on the journey," he added, pleasantly, aa I was leaving the room. "Not that it wonld be easy to steal such a heavy box from you ; but yoa will have time to sleep when you get to Madborongh. Good-bye." The communication did not at all earpriee me; I was about twenty-three years of age, and, having the reputation of being sharp and reliable, had been intrusted with many miss-'ons of a similar nature during the five years I had been in the bank. Besides, "there was a bit of a financial scare at the time, and gold and note were being sent in large quantities from London to the provinces. Having received rny instructions, I left the bank and started on the way to Brixton, where I lived. As I was walking down Lombard-st, toward the 'bus etand, I remembered that I had appointed to meet a friend at a billiard-room in the neighborhood at 5:30, and, as it was impossible, under the circumstances to keep the appointment, I thought it only fair to leave word to that effect. Accordingly, before taking a 'bus to Brixton, I called at the billiard-room and instructed the marker to tell my friend that, as I had to goto Mudborotieh. I could not see him until the next day bat one. Having left this me&sace I went home and returned to the bank at S o'clock. "When I came back Mr. Smith, who was our bead cashier, was waiting for me with the money and a letter of advice to the bank 6f Mcdt-orough. The cold was tied tip in teven bags?, each containing one thousand sovereigns, and the notes were raade up in bundles. We packed them carefully in a leather box which looked like a diminutive portmanteau, though inside it was lined with iron. "It is pretty heavy," he said, referring to the box," when we had locked and strapped it up eecurely, and I had put the key in mv pocket, after giving him a receipt. "It would not be very ea?y to run away with; but you had better, I think, I?t l'ouglas take your ticket w hile you yourself eee it put into your carriage." - Dcogiae, I may mention, was one of the bank porter?, w ho was to accompany me to Euston, and the box weigued altogether about eleven 6tone. "All right," I replied; "I had better pet to the station in time to 6ecure a place before many of the passengers come; not that there's likely to be a crowd, but a heavy thing like "this attracts attention, and I may as well pet it into the carriage A3 quietly as possible." "Quite 60," said Mr. Smith, "the sooner yon get into the carriage the better. Tho guard will look after you on the way down. Don't leave the carriage for a moment unless he stands at the door." The box was wheeled out of the bank and put into a cab. I get inside, while Doneias took his seat beside tho driver. "Well, pood-bye, and take care of yourself," sail Mr. Smith, as he hook hands with me throush the window. "Good-bye," I responded, and we set oft for Euston station. It was just 9 o'clock when we drew up In the yard of the station, and, having assisted a railway porter to put the box on a track, Douglas went to get my ticket, whilst I accompanied the truck to th6 train, which was already drawn up by the platform. "Halloo, Williams! Going to Rugby?" exclaimed a voice behind me, as I walked along by the porter's side, looking for a first-class carriage. The epeaker waj a tail, fair-haired young man named Hill, .who was a habitue of "the billiard room where I had left the mes?a?a that afternoon and who, as I understood, was engaeed in a stock-broker's office. "No," I replied, "I am going a great deal further, I am sorry to say, for I hate traveling at night." "Well, we ll go as far as Rugby together. How odd we should meet in this way," continued Hill. "I'll tin the guard, and we'll have the carriage to ourselves. You will be all alone when I pet out at Rugby. Here, this carriage will do. Let us secure the corner seat ttay, I'll give vou a band. Your back to the enpine ? That's it" As he spoke be threw a rng which he was carrying on bis arm on the seat, and, getting into the carriage, assisted the porter in puthin? the strong box under the place where I was to sit "Wait for me a moment while I jret my bag from the cloak room," be continued to me, as he got out of the carriage and went in the direction of the cloak room. He bad ben gone for about a minute when Douglas came from the bookingoffice with my ticket Douglas, I mar mention, was a shrewd old Scotchman, with whom I had always been on very gxl terms. When he had given me mv ticket, he looked carefully under the seat to see that the box was safe, and then, while we were standing at the door of the carriage exchanging a few words before we left, Mr. Hill came back with a porter carrvinjr a large, handsome traveling-bag. "You know that gentleman, sir?'' whispered Douelas in an interrogative tone, as Hill got into the carriage with his bag. Yes," I answered, he is a stock-broker." "Oh, that's all right, sir," replied Dougla. "Excuse me for asking, but it is well to know with whom you are traveling when you have got such a lot of money. Well, good night sir." "Good night," I said. I lingered for a moment at the door, to watch a very aristocratic party who were getting into the next compartment There were two gentlemen and two ladies, attended by a footman, and I stood on the platform watching tho footman until be had handed them all their bags and wrappe rs and shut their door. "How nice it must be to be a swell with plenty of cash," I thought, as I gave a laut look to see that my own moneybox was eafe, and then took my sat I was rather annoyed at tho last remark of Douglas. Though why, I did not exactly know. Perhaps it was that it seemed a little too familiar, or too much as if he depreciated, or, at lea.-t, thought that he had a right to caution me about rny choice of acquaintance. J-f till his. word harped on a true cord, and, very likely, it wan thi that made tbcr.j disagreeable. What did I know ai-out Mr. Hill, I suddenly aaked isyself. He was a mere bi!liard-room acquaintance. I believed that he was in a stockbroker's office, but I ha1 no certain information as to who or what he waf, and I had never met him except in a billiardroom, unle cn this one occasion, when I w traveling alone in charge of 22,000 in cash. On the other hand, I had often been engngd on similar minions before. J was young and active; it would not be very easy to rifle the strong-box. I h?A no reason to suppose that his purpose

in traveling was not as innocent as my own ; and altogether I feltalittle ashamed of myself for allowing any suspicion to enter my mind about a man who, presumably, was as honorable as rnyself. Nevertheless, it was my dnty to exercise every Erecaution, and so I declined a cigar which e offered ma shortly after, the train had started, and presently some brandy and water which he had in a ßaak. I thought he seemed a little hurt at my not accepting either the cigar or the brand v, but he kept on chatting quite pleasantly, telling me anecdotes of the stock exchange, and about a very eccentric old gentleman who was a client of his firm, and whom he was poing to Rugby to fee on their behalf. Once or twice I was on the point of asking him the name of his firm, as he did not mention it, but I refrained somehow, owing to a feeling of delicacy. Thus he made himself so agreeable during the two hours' run down to Rugby that I felt quite sorry as the time approached for parting with him. "Well, the oldest and dearest friends mnst part at hist," he said laughingly, as the train was running into the station. Then, taking out his cigar-case sgain, he selected a cigar for himself and was about to put the caso back in his pocket, when, as if by an afterthought, he offered it to me. saying: "These are really very good; do try one," I could not very well refuse a second time without giving offense. Besides, there was no longer any ground for suspicion, as he was going to leave the carriage in a few seconds. So I took a cigar and lighted it just as we came alongside the platform of Rugby junction. "There is hardly time to ask you to have a drink," he said," as he was going out of the carriage. "Stay, though ; here is the guard; he'll mind the carriage while we run over to the refreshment-room. No? Well, perhaps you are right Good-bye, I'll see you in London in a day or two. Guard, "you'll see that no one "else gets into this compartment. Good-bye again." He had scarcely left the door when the guard said: "Dox ail right sir?' "Yes," I said, putting my hand under the seat to feel that it was there. As I did so the guard turned his lantern on it tosatisty him&elf that it was safe. Having done this, he shut the door and went away. He had not been gone more than a minute when, to my great annoyance, a stout, elderly man got into the compartment and sat down at the far end of the seat on which I was sitting. He had no luggage of any kind, and hardly looked like the kind of men who are accustomed to travel iirst-clnss. "Do you object to my smoking?" I askfd. "Not at all, though I don't smoke myself," said the stranger; "seems a wasteful habit One-half of the population, I think, spend as much on cigars and tobacco as would feed and clothe the other half." This answer, rather ungracious though it was, reassured me, and "eliminated any little mistrust I might have felt toward my companion. It was not, I thought, the kind of remark a thief would be likely to make. The speaker, to judge from" his rather brusque manner and hard-&et face, was probably a manufacturer of some sort. "I'm sorry I was away when, that gentleman got in, sir," the guard whispered to me through the window just before the train started. "Oh, it was all right," I replied, and immediately afterward we began to move out of the station. For a few minutes I tried to engage the stranger in conversation, but gradually I desisted, as he seemed rather taciturn, and, owing to the noise of the trsin and tue dis-tance between us, it was necesrary to shout in order to make one's self heard. Then I lay back in my seat, quietly pulling my cigar and meditating about a young lady whom I had visited that evening before I left Brixton. We should want, let me see to keep house the cigar was very strong I threw it away we should want my reckoning was very confused I seemed to forget the figures directly I had thought of them how dark the carriage was ! It was broad daylight! The stranger was running over preen fields with the strong box, which he carried as lightly in his hands as if it were only a feather's weight I wai trvinjto pursue him, but my limbs seemed as if they were half paralyzed. I could hardly move my legs; at last I sank powerless in the soft grass, whilst he disappeared over a stile. As I lay there two policemen seized hold of my arms, and raising me from the ground, half led, half carried tne to a police station, whither we were followed, as soon as we got on the high road, by a noisy crowd. "What is the matter?" I exclaimed, as we ascended the steps of the stationhouse. "What have 1 done that yoa are bringing me here ?" "Oh, yoa know all about it," said one of the constables. "Yon and voar friend Mr. Hill are a nice little pair.'5 Merciful heavens! I waa charged with being an accomplice in tho robbery of the 6trong box! They led me through a long whitewashed passage and pnshed me into a narrow cell. The gloomy walls 6wam about me as I staggered to a seat on which I sank unconscious. How long thi3 state of unconsciousness lasted I could not say, when suddenly I was awakened by what seemed to be a roar of thunder. Instantly I sprang to my feet, but as I did so I was thrown back again on the seat by what seemed like the throes of an earthquake. The whole place was in motion. The seat was softly cushioned, a lamp was ehining from the ceiling, and it was quite dark without What did it mean? It mnst have taken me about a quarter of a minute to realize that I had only been dreaming, and that I was in my compartment of the train, which was rushing along at the rate of fifty or sixty miles an hour. What time was" it? I looked at my watch. Ten minutes past 2. We had just left Crewe, and in another hour or so we should be at Mudborough. But my companion the strange man who got in at Rugby where was he? Good heavens, he had gone ! Must have got out of the train at either Stafford or Crewe. .And I fell asleep though I was in chargo of XL'2,000. A pretty sort of fellow to be intrusted with the care of such a sum I What would Mr. Andrews (our manager) or Mr. .Smith say if they heard of such a thing? The box! I felt with my hand under the seat Yes, thank God, it was there heavy and safe! A most curious thing mv going to sleep in that way ; such a thing had never happened to me" before. Why, I had been asleep for more than two hours. The guard must have noticed me. A ni-o "figure I should cut in his eves. But the box, was it safe after all? That was the main consideration. It could not wll be otherwise, especially as seeing me asleep the guard would be sure to have kept an extra sharp eye on the compartment at Stafford and Crewe, the only slations where we stopped. Still, I might as well make assurance doubly sure. Such was the drift of my thoughts, as actuated partly by a general sense of uneasiness, and partly by a confused desiro to make some atonement for my remissness, I began to tug at the box so as to bring it out on the floor of the carriage. It was not very easy to do this, owing to its weight, but, by pnlling the handles at its ends alternately, I succeeded at last It was strapped up just as it had been when it was put into the carriage. Could thero li any use in unbuckling the straps? There hardlv semed to be; and yet, having gone so far, I might as well set my

i mind completely at rest by finishing the i investigation, especially as it would be nearly an . hour before we reached Mudborough. Accordingly I undid the straps, and took the key out of ray pocket Great God! what was this? The key turned in the lock withont any impediment! I caught the lid in my hand it opened at once! But inside Oh horror! horror! horror! Tongas nor hemrt' Cannot conceive nor name the?. At one glance I comprehended that the strong-box had been rifled, and stutfed with worthless rags and papers! Both joy and horror when they reached their most intense stages develop into emotions which are heterogeneous to all other facts of consciousness, and for this reason these absolute emotions, while they can never be forgotten, can yet never be perfectly recollected in the sense of being revived by the imagination. In saying this I am not writing ior the sake of effect but merelv stating a fact that will be acknowledged by most people who have experienced a sudden and immense revolution of fortune. When, at a glance, I saw that the box was staffed with rags and shreds of nowsf tapers dived my hand into it and found umps of lead and iron instead of gold, there came upon me a feeling simple, unique and unintelligible unless to those who have experienced it This is the only description I can give of the effect that was produced when I suddenly comprehended that 22,000 had been stolen from my charge while I sat drugged for drugged ! evidently bad been, and that by the cigar I incautiously took from Hill. "It meant, of course, utter ruinpossibly worße, for might I not be regarded as an accomplice in the robbery, as my dream seemed to foretell? I shivered while I sat wondering how the theft could have been perpetrated, but with alwavs the same curious, new, and horrible feeling about me. Who stole the money from the box ? The mau who got into the compartment at Rugby? He was evidently either a principal or an accomplice in the robbery. The cigar that Hill gave me must have been drugged, and thd monev must have been stolen, and the lead and iron substituted f r it, since ho left Rugby. Yet, how was the thing done? It is verv easv to talk about walking off with 7,000, but, as I knew well enough, 7,000 sovereigns weigh about nine stone. How were nine stone m gold, besides several bulky parcels cf notes, taken out of the carriage, and rags and about the same weight of basa metal substituted for them in the strong-box. The man who joined mo at F ugby tho "manufacturer," as I called him for want of a better name did not carrv a box or anything else in which he could conceal the money while he w as leaving the train : anrl then, the weights? he certainly did not bring them into the carriage with him at Rugby. He must, therefore, have had an accomplice Hill, probably. Where did this accomplice join hint? Sinco leaving Rugby wo had stopped at only two fctatiocs," Stafford and Crewe, The accomplice or accomplices Hill or whoever else they were must have got in at Stafford, and the party must have left the train at Crewe. The guard would be sure to have noted them. They might be apprehended if they were pursued in time. Ought I to ring the alarm bell and stop the train? I looked at ray watch; it was now half-past 2 o'clock, and we should be in Mudborough in three-quarters of an hour. No. No useful purpose could be effected by stepping tho train in the open country, and the consequences might be very serious. The news would be spread far and wide that the express train had been robbed of gold which was on its way to the Bank of Mudborough, and this would probably lead to a "run" on tho bank itself, as the good people would never pau.e in their excitement to remember that the loss must fall on the Lombard-st. bank, because the mony had not been delivered, and was in the custody of one of its officers when it was stolen. It was clear, I thought, that I had better make as little fuss as possible about the matter, so I strapped the box up, restored it with some difhculty to its place under the seat, and sat down to wait for our arrival. Punctually at 3:15 we steamed into Mudborough Junction. I looked out of the window for the guard, who came to me directly the train stopped. "You have bad a sound sleep, sir," be said, pleasantly. "Guard,"' I said, "eomein here atonce," beckoning him into the carriage as I spoke. "Who got into this compartment at Stafford ?'r I asked. "No one, 6ir," was the answer. "The gentleman who got in at Bugby left at Stafford. I locked the door immediately he got out, and nobody has been in the compartment since. That I'll swear." "Good God!'' I exclaimed, "then how didthey get in here? The strong box has been robbed!" "Robbed, sir!" be cried, looking at me with blank amazement "Yes, robbed," I continued. "I have been dragged, and while I was asleep 22,000 has been taken out of that box, and lumps of iron and lead put in its place." "But it is impossible, sir," he said, after a moment's pause, and speaking as if he were dared. "The gentleman wno got in at Rugby got out again at Stafford. I was as ciose to him as I am to you when he left the train. He had no luggage of any kind with him, not even a hand-bag or a rug, and that he could not have taken the money away with him I am perfectly certain. That box was all right then. Seeing that you were asleep, I examined it, and saw thatt was quite 6afe. I locked the door as soon aa I had done so, and from that time until now the door has not been opened. Of that I arn quite sure," "Then," said I, "the robbery must have been committed between Rugby and Stafford. The man who got in at Rugby must either have handed tho money through the window to somebody in another compartment, or some'oodv inut have crept along the footboard while the train was in motion, and thus have brought tho weights that are in that box, and taken away the gold and notes." "That is an utter impossibility," was tho prompt reply. "I'll get into the next compartment, and you'il see that we can't join hands." ' He did so ; we each stretched our arms as far as we could out of our windows, but the tips of our fingers did not come within two feet of each other. "No, sir," said the guard, "that is noj the way it was done; and as to any one creeping along the footboards of a train that is traveling at from forty to sixty miles an hour, it is very easy to talk about but another thing to do; "but to carry thousands of sovereigns in that way oh, it is utterly impossible. Besides we passed a station or a signalman every few second, and they'd be certain to have seen. Oh, sir, you must be making a mistake." "No," I baid gloomily, "it is no mistake. In some wav or other the strong-box has been opened and plundered. I must go at once to the manager of the bank of Mndborough. Can you come with me?" "No, sir. I have to take the train to its terminus, which is our next station. We get there at 4:40. But there is a return train at 6 o'clock, which reaches here at 7:3ö. I can bo with you at a little before 8. In tho meantime I must tell the station-master what has happened." "Do so," I replied; "but in the meantime make as little fuss about it as you can ; all sorts of exaggerated stories may get about, people may think that the bank

of Mudborough has been robbed, and that might do the bank harm at present" "All right sir, I understand you," said the guard; "but here is a gentleman from the bank, I think." A young man, accompanied by a porter with a trunk and a policeman, was standing on the platform looking inquiringly at our carriage. "From the Lonibard-et bank?" he said, addressing ine aa I got out of my compartment "Yes," I replied ; "can I speak to yoa for a moment?'' I took him aside and told him in a few words what had happened. 'Good God!" he exclaimed. one who has come by this train ought to have been allowed to leave the station. Stay, there's the station-master the train must be searched." Only two people had left the train at Mudborough ; both of them were well known and highly respectable. Ot the search which ensued I need only say that it established as a certainty that the money had not come so far. The two compartments next to mine were empty, and only five people remained in the train, about no one of whom there could be any doubt. Accordingly, we had the still heavy but now worthless box put on a truck, and started with it to the bank. The Bank of Mudborough is a private institution, the principal partner in which was an old gentleman named Church, who was waiting in his dresjing-gown to receive us. . It was not until the box had been solemnly wheeled into the strong-room, and the porter had left, that I ventured to tell Mr. Church of the robbery. "A dreadful accident has happened, sir," I said nervously, as I handed him the letter of advice from London. "An accident! Good heavens! where and when?" he exclai ned, with as much animation as his nature seemed to permit. He was a .tall, lanky man, with what I have heard described as a parchment countenance, and iron-gray hair. "Not quite an accident, sir, in that sense," I replied, speaking with some confusion in my excitement. "Oh, sir, what I meant is that the box has been robbed, and the 22,000 stolen from it during the journey from London." "The box robbed!" he repeated calmly, as ii he were relieved to hear that it was only money and not life that was lost "Well, that Is hardly an accident" he continued after a moment's panse. "A preconcerted matter, I should call it Let us bear about it, pleese. How was the robbery effected?' These were his words, as nearly as I can remember them. He was perfectly polite and sclf-pcssessed, and yet I thought there was something icy, an undercurrent of sarcasm or incredulity, in his voice and manner. I told mv story rs fully and clearly as possible. When I finished ho merely said: "Well, it's very .annoying, and I can't understand it at all. However, it concerns your people and not me. I must wire to them to send me another 22,0n0. But it is nearly 4 o'clock now. You had better go to bed; I have a room for you. Good night, Mr. Adams" this last to the clerk, who left the hous3. Ho showed mo up stairs to a room, saying, as he left me, that 1 tbould be called at half-past S o'clock, but that I need not got up then if I were too tired after my journey. "Good night, sir," I said mechanically, as he left the room. "Too tired after my journey," I repeated to mvself when I was alone. Tired? I had reason to be tired, but I felt as if, like Mvbtth, I should "sleep no more." Sleep! It seemed as if a walk of a hundred miles would be a little grateful exercise to calm my feelings. To get into bed was impossible; the solitude of the room was intolerable. I would have given anything I had to get out for an hour into the free streets to roam about at wi'.l. The place seemed like a prison. Was it really om? Was I really confined in Mr. Church's house on suspicion of having taken part in the robbery? If I could have left the place with any decency, I should have done so, but, unable to sleep or to relieve myself by 7oing out into the open air, for which I felt an intense craving, I put out the candle, open?d the w indow and sat by it for more than hour, looking into the depths of space with a growing sense of relief from their aspect of boundless calm and freedom. At last, to mv great delight, I began to feel tired and sleepy, and so, having closed the window, I threw off my clothes and got into bed, where I shortly forgot my troubles in a profound slumber. I did not seem ta have been asleep for more than five minutes when I awoke crying, "Yes, in a minute." "It is half-past 6 o'clock, sir," said a female voice outside. "Very well," I replied, and at once jumped out of bed. It seemed as if it were only then that I fully realized in its full and true significance the importance of what had happened daring the previous night, or rather during the early hours of the present morning. In vain I tried, whilst I dressed myself as quickly as possible, to think of some plausible or rational explanation of the robbery. And it was, I think, then that I first comprehended, fully and clearly, that the only reasonable hypothesis that would cover the facts was that I myself was an accomplice of Hill! We had been together as far as Rugby, during which time I was wide awake. At Rugby he left with some luggage, at ail events"; as to how much, the evidence, I could see, would probably not bs very clear. Hill having left the compartment at Rugby, a strange man with no luggage at all got in. This man left the train at Stafford. He could not have cither brought the weights with him into the carriage or taken the gold from it. From the time that he got out of the train at Stafford the guard would prove that nobody had access to my compartment On this showing, the only" person, who could have tiken the gold and notes, and substituted for it tho rags and weights, was my friend Hill, and he, by hypothesis, coul-1 not have done this without my knowledge, as I owned to j having been awake during the journey from Kuston to Rugby. Thus I saw that if the mystery was not cleared up in some way or oilier, 1 should be held morally, if not legally to 1k guiltv. In anv case, my ! reputation would be destroyed forever. Having dressed, I went downstairs in search of the breakfast parlor. "Come in," I heard a voice that seemed familiar say, as I paused on the landing. I entered the room from which the voice proceeded. The table was laid for break- j fast. Mr. Church was standing in his dressing-gown before the tire, reading the morning paper, while two very pretty j girls, of about seventeen and eighteen, were sitting by one of the windows. ! "Good morning, .Mr. Williams," said i Mr. Church. "W hardly expected the pleasure of your company at breakfast this morning", after your "long journey. Allow me to- introduce you to mv daughters, Miss Milly and M'ss Dora Church." We bowed, the ygung ladies regarding me, I thought, with" a rather curious and half-amused expression. "Well, you've recovered yourself, I hope; slept well, and got rid of your idle fancies?" he continued," hardly taking his eyes from the paper as he spoke. . "I beg vour pardon sir; 1 don't quite understand you," I replied. "I mean,"he said, speaking in the same indifferent wav, "your nerves are a bit stronger after your night's rest You don't

think now that the strong-box was robbed?'.. "I am sure of it, sir, unfortunately," I gasped. Mr. Church pat down his paper, and, after looking at me for a moment through his spectacles, with a stern, searching expression, said: "Mr. Williams, when I saw you last night you had come on a long journey. I rsturally treated the- story yoa told me a belnj due to a delusion produced by fatigue, anxiety, very proper anxiety," he repeated in a pompous manner, "about your charge, and want of sleep. Surely, now that you have had a night's rest to refresh you you don't mean to say that a man who got into your carriage at Ragby, without a particle of luggage, could walk out of it at t'tafford with nine stone weight of gold about his person, besides large bundles of bank notes, and not only that, but actually leave about nine stone weight of lead and iron behind him! Oh, nonsense, sir!" he concluded gruffly. "I don't know, sir, how it was done; I only know that the gold and notes have been stolen, and lead and iron and rags put in their place," I exclaimed, almost bursting into tears. "You must have been dreaming. You could only have imagained that you opened the box," he said in a more conciliatory tone. "I am sorry to &ay I was not dreaming. I was never more w ideawake in my life," I faltered. "Well, as you persist in the story, let us go downstairs and examine the box," he replied. "Seeing is believing, they sav, and I shall believe that there is gold in the box until I see that there is not Have you the key? I thought it better not to ask you for it last night, as you were probably tired and excited." "Yes, sir; this it it" "Not an easy lock to open," he observed, as he took the key in his hand and looked carefully at it. "However, come down stairs." Accordingly, we went down to the strong-room, "where the box wa3 etil lying, iust as the porter had left it some hours before. We unstrapped it. Mr. Church himself bent down and put the key in the lock. To my surprise, it seemed to turn with some difficulty. "Lock all right, apparently," was his remark when the key went round at last. He put his hand to the lid and opened it. I staggered back with a curious suffocating feeling. In the box I saw the bags of gold and bundles of notes, lying just as they lay when I closed the lid in London ! "Merciful God I This is most 6trauge lte I exclaimed. "These are not lumps of lead or iron," said Mr. Church, emptying one of the bags on the table, where there lay a piie of bright gold sovereigns. "These are not ragr though they are made from rags," he continued, as he took out a bundle of crisp Bank of Lngland notes. "But they were not in the box when I opened it on the train," I murmured in an awe-struck voice. "Oh, will nothing convince you?" be exclaimed, rather testily. "You see it is as I told you. You have been dreaming." For a "moment I was silent Then I said: "Mr. Church, I wa? sober when I came here?" "Yes, sir, perfectly sober," was the reply. "I am sober now," I said, "and I declare before God, and on my honor as a man, that I was both wide awake and sober when I opened that box in the train, and that the gold and notes were not in it then." "Well, what was in it?" he asked, impatiently. "As I have told you, sir rags, pieces of newppapcrs, and lumps of lea 1 and iron." "In that case, where are they?" said Mr. Church. "Thev don't seem to be here." He took out of the box bag after bag of gold and bundle after bundle of notes. I watched him with a kind of awe, feeling as if he were either a wizard or I myself were going mad. "Oil, Mr. Church, for merev's sake, do tell me what it means. I feel as if I were losing my reason. Those things were not in the box when I opened it on the train," I exclaimed at last. "Were these, think you?" said a voice at the door, which was half open. I looked round and saw, standing before me, with, in his hand, a bag, which he seemed hardly able to hold, the "manufacturer!" The man who got into my compartment at Rugby! As he spoke he laid the bag down, and emptied out of it on the floor the rag3, papers and weights, which I had previously found in the strong-box. While I stood gazing blankly at them, be continued: "Young gentleman, these are what you found in the box when you were in the train. The gold and notes were stolen right enough. You had been robbed, but vou need not be ashamed of it, for I am Sergt. Sharp, a detective police officer who is pretty well known, though I say it myself, and if you were outwitted, so was 'I. I am not ashamed to own it, for it was about the cleverest thing I ever heard of. Something quite new, which is saying a a good deal for criminals, who are not very original as a rule. The worst of the thing seems to be that, though vou were drugged and asleep, I was wide awake while the robbery was being committed, and never knew anything about it, only discovered it by accident And that not until you were miles away from me and the money." "But do you mean to say that somebody opened the box and exchanged such an immense weight of gold for other metal in the train?" I asked. "That I do," said Sergt. Sharp, "and, what is more, that they made the exchange between Rugbj and Stafford, whilst I was sitting, wide awake, within a few feet of you." "Then how was it done ?" "By the watch-saw." w as the answer. I have now reached a stage of my narrative when, for the convenience of the reader, I had better, I think, summarize, and tell as briefly as I can the real story of the robbery as it was established (partly by the testimony of one of the pang, who turned queen's evidence) during the trial of Hill and his accomplices at the following assizes in Statlord. Hill, who was a professional thief, learned from the marker that I was going to Mudborough .that night, and knowing that I was engaged in the Lombard-st bank, he easily guessed what my mission was, and that I should travel by the express. Accordingly he arranged with hU confederates and met me, as I hivvo described, at Kuston. When Douglas . saw Hill he thought he recognized him as a suspicious character. His doubts were oniy party dispelled by my assertion that Hill was a stockbroker, and so, when, on leaving the station, he accidentally met Sergt. Sharp, whom he knew, as the sergeant was sometimes employed by tho bank ; ho communicated to him the nature of my mission, and the suspicions he had of my companion, and gave him the number of my carriage which he had noted. Sergt. Sharp at once went to the train, recognized Hill, took a ticket, and traveled to Rugby in another compartment At Rugby he saw Hill leave the train, but did not detain him, as there did not seem to be any reason for doing so, since I was apparently quite safe. While the worthy sergeant was standing near the train, wondering what Hill might be about, he recognized in " the next compartment to mine two "tlcket-of-leave men" amongst the fashionable party whom I had watched

when they were getting into the train. It immediately occurred to him, trorn their general "get op" and appearance, that they must be bent on some mischief, though, at the time, he had not any particular idea of their having any design on me. However, partly to ' keep me safe, but chiefly to follow them, he got into my compartment and took his scat. Nothing particular happened during the run to .Stallbrd. When the train arrive ! there the party in the next compartment got out, and Sergeant SharD cot out also.

lie had no compunction in leaving tne, f as the box and I were, apparently, quitt j safe, though I was asleep, and 'as the gnara was evidently looking after us. I t hue tney were petting into a cab, on leaving the station, he. hvl the whole party arrested on suspicion. They were conveyed to the police station, where 15.000 in bank of England notes, issued only the day before, and 7,000 in gold were found about them. The sergeant and the police authorities in Stafford at once guessed that, in some way or other, this money must probably have been abstracted from the box which was in my possession, though it was not until some hours afterward that they discovered how the robbery had been committed. Accordingly, they telegraphed to Mr. Church, who, when he received the advice I gave him from the London manager, informed them of the numbers of the notes, and thus had the money sent on to Mudborough, where it arrived at a few minutes before S o'clock. When the train from Euston arrived at its terminus, the carriage in which I traveled was thoroughly examined, and it was only then that the mystery was explained of how the money was abstracted from the strong-box, and the rags and weights and paper substituted for it. Under the seats and immediately where the box was placed, A piece bad been cat out of the partition which divided the compartments. It appeared, from the evidence of the informer, that the operation of cutting the partition was carried on between Euston and Rugby. At Rugby, Hill signaled that I was crooking the drugged cigar; when sufficient time for it to take effect had clamed, the part of the partition which bad been sawn away was removed; through the aperture thus made the box was drawn into the next compartment, rifled, stuffed with rags and weights, and then restored to its place. The noise of the train prevented Sergt. Sharp from hearing what was being done. Atter this the piece of wood, which had been cut with wonderful evenness from the partition, was replaced and fecund with clasps. The instrument used in cutting. through the partition is one that is known as the "watch-saw;" that is to say, a taw which is made out of a finely tempered piece of wire, such as the main-spring of a watch. Such an instrument cuts noiselessly and quieklv, and passes through iron almost as easily as through wood. The chief danger the thieves had to fear was, that if I wore awake, I might feel with my heels when the box was taken from under the scat. For this reason the first cigar which Hill offered me was not drugged, as the robbers did nut want me to be insensible until the box was brought into their compartment during the two hours' run from Rugby to Stafford. 1 need hardly add that the gold and notes which were taken out of the box in the bank had been put into it again that morning by Mr. Church as a joke. "Why did you not get into my compartment at Euston when you saw me in the company of such a man as Hill?" I asked Sergt. Sharp. "Because," he replied. "I know Hill's character quite well. I knew that he was safe not to attempt any act of violence, and I wanted to find out what his little game was. The only way to do that was to try to watch him" unobserved, which 1 could not do if I got into your compartment, as he'd have b;en suspicious, and verv likely he knew me." "In other words," I said, "you were afraid you might have misled 'a case' if 1 were properly protected or even warned." "Well, perhaps there's something in that," he answered good-humoredly. "No doubt prevention is often better than cure : aud Eve had a narrow shave of being able to cure this time." On my return to London I wis, of course, "chaffed" a good deal by my confreres in the Lombard-st. bank, where, however, I now occupy a very responsible poL Shortly after Mr. Hill "and nis associates had been provided for some years with board and lodging at their country's expense, I wa3 united to the young lady whom I visited before I started on ray eventful journey to Mudborough; since which time my calculations as to what it would cost to keep house have become much clearer than they were in the train. I have only to add that the bank authorities have the highest confidence in me, but that, somehow or other, they have never since employed me to take gold or notes to the provinces. Itoth In Hard Lack. Harper ' Eir.J This story opens on the third floor of a Harlem comoartnient house: He had been twistiug around in hi chair trying to lind words to express his undying devotion, and had already begun to Lern and haw, when a voice came from the floor below: "Miss Cand'ewick," it saiJ, "I love you passionately madly; bid me but hope, and all ihe dark colors of my life will change.'' This was a bonanza for the young man above. "Miss Clara, darling," he said tremulously, "them's ray sentiments." Then auother voice came from below: "No, Mr. Goatee, I caa not bid you hope; I love another." "And them's mine, Mr. Morri?," remarked Miss Clara. How to Stop an Eipre. IN. Y. Weekly. Suburban Resident "'See here, tir! You told me that country place 1 hoairht of yon was was only thirty-fire minutes from the city." City Agent "Yes Mr, thirty-five minutes by eipre'ss. You reuietnbt-r, when we went out to look at it, the time was thirty-live minutes exactly.'' "Hut, confound it, sir, the express trains don't stop there, not one of them, and the aecommodatioti takes about an hour and a half." "You and I went by express, and it stopped for ns, you know." "Yes I know; but it ha.n't stopped since." "It will stop if yon hire a man at your station to buy a throush ticket for somewhere. That's the way I did the day we went out" Kally Found. IX. Y. Weekly. Age New Yorker "I've often wondered what became of my playmste. Will Winkel, whose parents removed to Philadelphia while he was very younsr. Sixty years ago he was an errand boy in a Market-st 6tore, but I haven't heard of him since." Thiladelphian (astonished) "Well, thy don't you co to the store and inquire? Most likely he is there yet." Safety Aanared. X. Y. Wet Mr. Mr. Winks (solemnly "A noted phytician says that deadly bacteria lark in bank-notes, and many diseases, especially fuiallpox, are spread that way." Mrs. Winks "Mercy on us! Give me all you have, right off. I've been vaccinated, you know." A Variable Climate, ruck. I Eastern Man "Is the climate of Oklahoma healthy?" Returned Boomer "Wall, that depend! on wot sort of a feller wants yer claim." Jlard To Get, Though. Puck. "I would like tt teure an dice from this administration. Whose iulluence had I best secure?" "Baby McKet'l."

THE ONLY TRUE R. R. R.

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RADWAY'S READY RELIEF Not only cures the patient e;zed with malaria, but if people exposed to it will, every mornin on getting out of bed, drink twenty or thirty drops of the Ready Relies- in a glass of water, and eat & piece of cracker or a crust of bread, they will escape attacks. With RADWAY'S PILLS there is no better cure tor fever and ntrae. Fifty cents per bottle. Sol " by druszists. ADVICE TO CONSUMPTIVES. Consumption is a ScmTulon dUease occasioned by a deposit of tubercles in the lu'jj the ur;er portion of them centrally. As the tubercies enlarge they Ik gin to irritate the lunjs by pressure on the surrounding parts. This creates a hacking couch. At length nature, in her endeavor to jre t rid of the annoy inc tubercle, set up an iniLunmation; matter is secreted and the tubercle is sotteneil. It then comes to a btad, or suppurates, aud the matter is discharged into the iiearet air tube. This the patient raises, which, for a time, allays, the eoutli, hut as the air cells Cll up with tubercular matter, theblooj rnn circulate but imperfectly through the luncs; hence it becomes more impure for the want ot air, which lessens the power cf nature to throw o:i the d.seae, until at last the disease becomes so general and the cough so great that hectic fever and niht sweats intervene, with hleediuj of the lunjs until the patient finally sinks. SOW gADWAY-S Sarsapariliian Resolvent. Is the only Medicine that has ever yet struck t the root of the disease, acts in thi wise: First, by its action on the glands, it purifies tun blood and counteracts the Scrofulous habit of the body, which is the cause of the disease; second, it promotes the action of the absorbents that remove the deposited tubercles, and third, it allays the cough, pivin? immediate ease to the patient. If patients, laboring under this disease, will follow the directions here laid "down, we will promise, in every case, that their complaint will be speedily relieved, if not entirely cured, by the use of this remedy. DIRECTIONS: Take from a teaspoon to a dessertspoonful of the RESOLVENT, in a little water if more acreeahle, three tiroea per day, half an hour after meals. Eat good, nourishin? food, such as beefsteak, muttou chop, venison, roast beef, sago, arrow root, tapioca, and the like. Drink as much milk as aereeswith you. Pay particular attention to fresh air, cleanliness, exercise, and as a general thins: comfort, as much as possible. Lofty aud airy sleeping apartments, not exposed to drafts; and care to avoid and prepare for sudden changes of temperature: never pjo cut of the house wLen the atmosphere is moist. Be careful nut to catch fresh cold, hut cure the one you have. Wear flannel underwear according to the season, which hould he .hanged for drv nicht nnd moraine. Do but this, and the RESOLVENT will exceed your most sanguine expectations and fulfill our most confident promises. For pain in the chest, bock or limbs, rub with READY RELIEF applied by the palm of :he hand, or flannel saturated; and if diarrhrea should trouble the patient 'as it sometimes does) a dose or two of the RELIEF, that is. half a teaspoonful swallowed in hslf a tumb'er of water, will check it. One of RADWAY'S PILLS should be taken occasionally to induce healthy action of the Liver, etc We eoneientiousiv recommend our SARSAPARILLIAN RESOLVENT. READY RELIEF and PILLS for the ease and comfort and probable cure of all iuering from Consumption. It is cruel to five way to despondency. The mind exerts a wonderful intlur nee over all diseases, and firm in the hope of a cure. Consumption must give way to the proper treatment. HEALTH. STRENGTH. Pure blood makes sound flesh, strons bone, and a clear skin. If yoa would have yoar flesh firm, your bones sound, and yonr corn, plexion fair, use RADWAY'S SAllSAPARILr LIA-N RESOLVENT. THE SKIN, After a few days' use of the f atsapaktlliajf, becomes clear and beantituL Pimples, Blotches, Black Spots, and Skin Eruptions removed. Sores and Heers soon caret. Persons su"erlnj- from Serbia, Emptive Diseases of the Eyes, Mouth, Ears, Lesrs, Throat ani Olands that have spread, either from uncureJ diseases or mercury, may rclvnpon a rireif the Sarsapariliian is taken, doli by all dru gist, fl a bottle. DE. EADTVAY'S Regulating Pills, The Great Liver Remedy. Perfectly tasteless elegantly coated with sweet gum, purge, regulate, purify, cleaase, and strengthen. DR. RADWAY'S PILLS. For the cure of all disorders of the Stomach, Liver, Rowels, Kidneys, Plädier, Nervous Diseases, Loss of Appetit, Headache, Cüre ness.Indicestion, Dyspepsia, Ddionsneas, Fever, Inflammation of the Internal Viscera. Purely vegetable, containing no mercury, minerals, or deleterious druffs. in the tomftch. Sour Eructations, Sinking or Fluttering the Heart, Choking or Su ocatiu Sensations when in a lying posture. limne ot Visit n. Io:s or Wehs I e fore the Sijrht, Fever and Dull Pnin in the Ilea 1, Deficiency of Perspiration, Yellowness of the Skin and Eyes, Fain in the Side, Chest, Limb. suJ Sadden Flashes of Heat, Rurninsr in the Flesh. A few doses of RADWAY'S FILL will free the system of all the above-named disorders Trice S3 cents per box. Sold by all druejfi't. To tho Public Be sure to k for RADWAY'S and see that name cf "RAD WAY" is on what yoa buy.

m.Lorv i'nm fnM,.winir iTmrtnmi renHinc

from Diseases of the Directive Orsrans: Constipation, Inward Piles, Fullness of Riood in the Head, Acidity of the Stomach, Nausea, ii .1 . n;..m.)nfVini1 Vn II -! rf UVi -ht