The ordinary promptings of manhood would, it was thought, have induced him to make some show of resistance, or to have gone to the rescue of a young and delicate girl; but none of these things did he do, and, if the story related was true, the young man had acted like a base coward at the best, and submitted without a murmur to the outrages that were perpetrated in his presence.  Instead of acting like a man, he stood tamely by and allowed a woman to be cruelly beaten, the bank robbed, and the robbers to walk off unmolested and unharmed.

There was another matter which seemed impossible of accomplishment.  Pearson had stated that while in the vault he had removed the screws from the lock upon the door with the aid of a ten-cent piece.  This idea seemed to be utterly incredible, and prompted by his doubts, William attempted the same feat upon the lock on his office door.  After several efforts, in which he exerted his strength to the utmost, he was obliged to desist.  The screws utterly defied the efforts to move them, while the coin was bent and twisted out of all shape, by the pressure that it was subjected to.

While he was thus engaged with his thoughts upon this perplexing problem, he was informed that two gentlemen from Geneva desired to speak with him.  Signifying his readiness to receive them, two well-dressed gentlemen entered and announced their business.

One of these men was a Mr. Perry, a director of the Geneva bank, and his companion was a Mr. Bartman, a merchant in Newtonsville, a little town situated but a few miles distant from Geneva.

“Mr. Bartman,” said Mr. Perry, addressing my son, “has some information to communicate, which I think is important enough to deserve serious consideration, and I have brought him to you.”

Mr. Bartman’s information proved to be of very decided importance.  He stated that he was a merchant, doing business in Newtonsville, and that he was in the habit of purchasing his goods from various traveling salesmen who represented Chicago houses.  Among this number was a young man named Newton Edwards, who was in the employ of a large commission house, located on South Water Street, in the city of Chicago.  He had known Edwards for some years, and had frequently dealt with him during that period.  During the forenoon of the day on which the robbery occurred, he saw Newton Edwards in Newtonsville, but that instead of attempting to sell his goods, that gentleman was apparently seeking to avoid observation.  He met him upon the street and familiarly accosted him, but Edwards received his salutations coldly, and did not engage in any conversation.  Mr. Bartman thought nothing of this at the time, but in the afternoon, having business in Geneva, he drove over to that place, and, to his surprise, he found Edwards, in company with a strange young man, lingering around the public house in Geneva, apparently having nothing whatever to do.  He noticed also, that Edwards was somewhat under the influence of liquor, and that he had effected a complete change in his apparel.  A few hours after this he heard of the robbery, and instantly his mind reverted to the strange appearance and actions of Newton Edwards.  He endeavored to find him, but, as if in confirmation of his suspicions, both Edwards and his companion had disappeared.