AN ARMED ESCORT.
Luke Robbins entered at once upon his duties as janitor of the Emmonsville bank. It was rather difficult, however, to supply him with employment enough to account for his being in constant attendance.
He was provided with a broom, and in the morning swept the bank. Sometimes he washed the windows; at other times he sat on a bench in the rear of the bank, ready for any call upon his services. So far as garb went, he resembled a Quaker, but his brown face and sharp eyes hardly harmonized with his assumed character. Still less did the revolver which he carried in an inside pocket.
Several days passed, and though Luke kept a sharp lookout for the Fox brothers, he did not catch a glimpse of anyone who suggested or resembled them.
Then one morning Luke went to the bank as usual and put on his Quaker garb.
About eleven o'clock an elderly man appeared and presented a check for five hundred dollars. The money was paid him, and then he lingered a moment, ill at ease.
"I don't like to have so much money about me," he said, in a tone that betrayed anxiety.
"No doubt you will find plenty who would be willing to relieve you of it," rejoined the paying teller, with a smile.
"That's what I am afraid of. They do say that the Fox brothers have been seen not far away."
"Is it absolutely necessary that you should have the money in your possession? You could leave it in the bank, or most of it."