| Show A MARREDt i TELLER I e TlieConvlct Tells the True Story of S BrIggs Death 1 I WAS AN EASY I PIGEON BANKERS READILY CAUGHT BY TH GREEN GOODS MAN S f t The Old Story of the Paying Tel the Gaming Table and the Almost Inevitable EndIngRuin and Liz I grace the Final Landing laee I Chicago IntcrOcean The colonel had come dowd from the hospital and was now the sole occupant occu-pant of G 2S his quarters as he saId euphemistically striving to veil from his own consciousness ths ignominy ot his situation The doctor had directed that he should have the freedom or the main hal during tie daY with an hours exercise in the yard but this latter lat-ter prviege had ltte attraction lor tho old lan who dreaded the frequent passing of visitors lcallzmg that trom his former position and sac notoriety of his case le was regarded as one of the sights of the penitentiary Smither the con tuna had also been sent down and wa now acting a head of the whItewash gang The Intimacy between the two was odd In its way they had come from the extremes of life to meet In the mean oJ dIsgrace But Sxiithers was sympathetic SIlher thetc and ready oJ suggestion and hisS his-S deference was grateful to the colonel I glvinS back to him that seIse of personal per-sonal Importance whIch had once been the breath of hIs nostrls One afternoon the colonel lying back on his straw piows and Smiher curled up like a gnorqe Oli a threeleS ged stool had been talking about says I terlous disappearn es Ye had a case In our bank ten year ago said the cOlqII which has always I al-ways been a unsolved prpblem to me The paying teller a man by the name of Briggs was found dead In an obscure ob-scure hotel over on the east side with a bullet through his heart There was a revolver by his side but whether the wound was selfinflicted or not wa never definitely determined Anythin missin asked Smithers the con man Yes replied the colonel that was the strange part of it His accounts were found to be all right but when his box the tellers box you know In which ho carries along a considerable amount of money fromday to day teas examined it was found to be short 30000 Three packages each contain lag 10000 were gone The receiving teller who sometimes worked Ia Briggs desk was positive ho had seen the three missing packages on the day before be-fore Brlggs disappeared There was a new satchel on the ta hie entirely empty Now It was proved that Briggs bought a satchel about this time but thd merchant with tvhom he dealt swore that this was not the one he had sold to him although it was exactly similar to It I always believed that the man lied for some unknown reason but he showed the stamp of another an-other firm on the leather lining Well what did the other dealer say I He said that while he couldnt remember re-member to whom he did sell this particular par-ticular satchel he was positive he never sold it to Brlggs Hum iusecI Smithers notnln suspicious found in the hOtel room I spose Why yes there was replied the colonel after a moments reflection Now as I recollect It three or four packages of blank paper cut and tied to resemble a package of bank bills ssere found on the floorof the closet But the detectives said there was nothing strange about this the house was frequsnted by green goods men who used such dummies in their chi caneies and these might very well have been left by some former occupant of the room Smithers Tells a Story Say kunnul raid Smlthers after a pause if the flash push rOsIly appre elated what fat heads come of you bankin nebs were theyd take moru desprite chances Of course they knoss that detectives cant see through a millstone unless theres a big stake on the other side of It but to think that your board and you yourself kunnul should have gone squintin around the barn with your hypottisses and lntun able teories when the hull truth uas fairly dancia up and down before your eyes to attract your ateritiOn Now after I take a peep at he kalsomiala brigade Ill tell you a stor myself kunnul which may seem to have a pint before I git through Smithers went out on the gallery and swore a little After looking up and down the flagging for a keeper he dodged In again twisted himself into mandarin shape and thus continued Tea years ago kunnil I was on my uppers now throtvtfl shells now brac In the game now coppln an odd super and stang but all the while keepin In with old Bill Jenkins who svasnt on easy street himself Did you ever hear of old Bill kunnel Well that show how little sably there is to a reperta tion Old Bill was recognized as the slickest thing in the hull push He was the man who invented the goldbrick game He was bit fustotsrk the long con in AmerlK sic nuu uiveis fifty clever twists to the bunko Idee You see he was origitral he was Why after an exposure of green goods hed do hotter business than ever before becauss hed make the ptppy guys think that he alone had the real stutf Non for some reason Bill tsascst very active at this time although he was bard up Perhaps he was seared on account of some old job Perhaps he was seared of the boys they was sore on him kunnel because he kept by himself All the Same he would pay for information infor-mation and whenever I struck anythIng any-thIng that seemed crooked Id give it to him straIght and hed brace me Well one day I came to old Bill Jenkins and said to him says I Bill theres a bloke named Briggsdont get excited kunnel It might bring on another an-other one of them stazzumsiheres a bloke named Briggs says I thats playin the wheel to beat she band and its 0 and double 0 and eagle the bird with him all the time Then what good could the fool be to me asked Bill lie must have gone broke already al-ready Hes a fine man I said alight a-light in a leadin church up tewn and payin teller in the Oldtime bank Are you sure asked Bill with a queer light in his little eyes Sartin I said Ive twigged him for morea a sseek Then said he just give me the odd glance to him tonight and put this in your vest fQr the present How Briggs Was Caught Now kunnel when Bill wa rigged out for business youd discount his note without a backer he was so respectable re-spectable Who a Wall street man wasnt In it with him You5d have togo to-go up Into the dry goods district to find his equal So that nIght when Brlggs and he sat side by side at the wheel you might have called them two typeical hightoned Netv Yorkers Non Its easy enough to git acquainted acquaint-ed with a nan under such circumstances circum-stances especially if you are lucky and he foliosss your lead so presently I wasnt surpriseTtVioee Bill and the teller git up and go over to a iIe table where they chippied with a cold hot between them like two old churns Of course I cant give you all the nrc liminarles butti can give YQU the main pints as old Bill afterward told me Theres aothln Ia thIs game saift 4 i old BilLaftertheirtvere suffiIesltly intimate in-timate Thbdfd streP alt against yOu when its square which It never is and Im surprised to see a man of your posish and opportunities havin any thin to do with itMy poition repealed re-pealed Briggs nih alarmed Why yes said old Bill coolly family man Presbyterian deacon and payin teller In the Oidtirne bank They know all about you here and say when they think youve been pumphd dry its ten to One If they dont give you away unless un-less you consent to blow In the capital surplus and deposits Well kunnel your teller trembled like a leaf an looked fifty different ways except Into Bills bold black eyes Ive meant no harm he said and I done no harm except to my own pocket I like excitement and I like gaint Exactly said Bill and so do I but you wont find that combination here unless you sit around at the other side of the table and roll the ball I may have a change of luck though said Brigga and thats what Im trying for ive spent nearly every cent I ever saved Youre a poor plucked pigeon said Bill wish considrable scorn and before yqu know it youll be puhlin at the till to square yourself and then I see your finish behind the bars Why dont you have some gumption man some sand Look at it I live on cth or people as a gentleman ohould but I dont take no chances Oh tell me how you do it said the teller pleadia like a schoolboy for all the ucrlf Briggs Becomes a Green Goods Man Well kunnel it hadnt taken old Bill 11mg to size up your tellers estimable estim-able character He san that he was mean and avaricious and cowardly that while he would shrink back front bold jobs like lootin the hull concern hed go In for any snap that he thought nas safe And so old Bill told him all about green goods He explained to hm just how it uas worked how there were two satchels exactly alike and in one was real money and In the other was dummy money host the real money was ehonn to the comeon and thus he was satisfied with what he bought and how the bags were changed and heiwent on his hornessard way re joicin with the dummy money Well Briggs listened ivith sparklla eyes i J hike It he said Its safe and theres money In it but uhy should you tell all this to me What service could I be to you You know hpts to do it and I dont You have plenty of nerve and I havent Why should you suggest my gem in with YOU You see he was suspIcious for all his eagerness kunnel S Thats very simple r0lied old Btll I like you Its true but like doesnt cut any ice in our business See hero lock at these letters Ive been havin from a cattle dealer out west Hell give 20600 In good money for 30000 in counterfeIts Hell come on in tsvo days if I telegraph him and hes as good as gold Say shall I send him a mcosoge Think Ittheres 10000 apiece And then no went on to say that he knew this ranehinna so welt that he was sure it would be useless to try to do anything with him until he was actually shown 30000 in good money and thea hed swallow hook bob sinker and all You must supply this money he said Its only for overnight over-night and theres no pessible risk in it You can do it I know theres noth in to prevent you from takia the packages pack-ages of your box when you leave in the afernoon and puttin them back the next mornin You will be with me all the while and nesd never take your eyes from It ill do all the talkln and all the manipulation Come now will you eer get a better chaace to make 10000 without the slightest risk And ubat we do once e can do a dozen times Frankly I want you because be-cause I can do aothin without you and you can do nothin without mc The Plucking of Pigeon Briggs Tltere isnt much more to tell kua n l Of course old Bill had no particular particu-lar razichman in his mind He could have hunted up a hundred It neces sexy but Briggs was all the sucker he was lookia for just then and he played him to the queens taste The two men met in that hotel by aptcement Brigga all keyed up and hangin onto his peer Ions satchel for dear life suspIcious nervous startin at every sound and never takin his eyes off old Bill But Lord he didnt have an earthly show Old Bill opened his catchel and showed the dummy packages Briggs opened his and showed the three 10000 wads Lets put them in the closet said Bill for fear some one might come I dont have to go for two hours yet and itt the closet the placed them side by side Brtggs faIrl feefin of the trails to see that there were no trap doors Then drinks were in order and If one head got futdled it wasnt old Bills Just about the time the liquor was workia all right there came a tele grasaHeilo Heilo cried old Bill Its from our western friend He took an earlier train and twill be at the Grand Central in a half hour Ive got just time to hurry and fetch him hero Ill take my satchel so that he can see Ive got the stuff with me and you Briggsy keep a sharp eye on your own and well be tack here In a jiffy So long old fellow and off rushed old Bill tvlth Briggs satchel with its thirty thousand wad and you can bet he didnt step rushia until he was a thousand miles away its Chicago I mean kunnel where alt the good crooks go Its easr now kunnel to see your tellers finish how ho sat there half stupid tsith one eye on the deer and the other on the closet with old Bills satchel in plain vien which he was sure was his own how as the liquor Wore off and tima wore on he began to grow impatient and then so nervous that hecouldnt sit still hn he argued with himself that everythin ttas alt right but just for the satisfaction of it he would look at his precious tvads again host his eyes started out when he opened the satchel how his hands shook as he threat out the dummies and how he screamed and then was too frightened to scream again as he per calved that there was nothin else re mainla and that once more he was a plucked pigeon The Secret of Briggs Death And then kunnel ho had to face things He was busted he had robbed the bank he couldnt restore he couldnt run auay What else was there to do except to feel in his pocket for the revolver he had brought against any violence ott old Bills earl and scoff hmacIf Leastwize thats svhat he did and thats the true atory of that martyred teller of yours What became of old Bill as you call him asked the colonel feebly 1 presume he flourished like the green bay tree Oh he blew in the boodle and then he had his ups and downs and finally nothin but downs Do you want to see him kunnel Look hera Smithers stepped out on the gallery and shouted to an aged convict tottering totter-ing in from the yard with a pail ot uhitewash Here there Bill be careful he yelled Dont sihl any of that stuff on the fiaggin Would you like a thaw old fellow Well lcetch The aged convict tottered to the rail and caught the plug eagerly He tottered tot-tered back to his work with a silly grin Thats old BiliJenkins kunnel said Smithers the con man Its easy to see his finish too but he had more of a ruq for tho money |
