The Argus at KellyGang 16/8/1879 (6)
He had come to lodge £211 to his account. The robbers seemed to hesitate for a minute as to what they should do. Morrison had at this time been seated upon a stage at the ledger desk behind the counter, and could not be seen from the outside. The elder man was standing near him, and the younger one was standing on the outside of the counter. The latter threw aside his indecision, walked up to Mr Musty, presented a revolver at his head, and called upon him to bail up. Musty at first thought that a practical joke was being attempted, and inquired, "What is the lark?" The order was repeated sternly, and the revolver thrust up to his face. The older man at the same time stepped forward and also levelled his revolver. Musty now realised that he was in the hands of desperadoes, and threw up his arms. They marched him into the managers room, and ordered him to remain there quietly, or they would shoot him.
To humour them, he pointed out that they had better draw down the blind, so that no one might see him. They did so, and left locking him in, and pocketing the key of the door. Fortunately for Mr Musty they did not divine his errand to the bank, and did not search him. As soon as they left him alone in the room he thought of his money, and after making sure by looking through the keyhole that he was not watched, he planted his treasure under the hearthrug. He sat in silent solitude for a few minutes, and then heard his name called. Mr Morrison in the meantime remained a prisoner at the ledger desk. The ruffians went back to him after locking Musty up, and cautioned him not to move for half an hour. They then left, and Mr Morrison could see that they turned up High street. A few minutes afterwards, Mr Morrison succeeded in releasing his hands, and called out for Musty, who answered, but as the door of the room was locked and the key gone, he was unable to set the prisoner at liberty. Mr Morrison, however, hastened out to find Mr Carlisle, and on his way told some members of the household what had occurred.
All appeared incredulous at first, but in the incarceration of Musty soon carried conviction to their minds. Whilst a servant girl liberated Musty by taking him out of the room by the back door, a man named Jones, in Mr Carlisle's employ, jumped the fence of the yard and ran to the police station for Constable Manny. The constable, however, was absent, having just gone to the court house, some distance up High street, for a summons. Jones hurried thither, and found the constable at the post office; but by this time the men were gone and the affair was all over before any one in the township besides Mr Morrison and Mr Musty knew that any thing unusual was occurring in their midst. Mr Car- lisle himself saw or heard nothing of the affair, although he was within a few yards of the bank when it took place, and no one was more surprised and incredulous than he was when told of the robbery. He has the consolation of knowing, however that at least £3 000 has been saved from the spoilers' hands. As has been already stated, the total amount of money taken was £866 9a 4d. Of this sum there was £80 in gold, £7 in silver, and £1 in coppers, the remainder being in notes. All that was left in the teller's drawer was 5s 4d , and the £10 belonging to Mr Morrison. The dead weight of one pounds worth of coppers must prove a considerable hindrance to the offenders in their flight.
Of course the news soon spread throughout the township and district, and great excitement prevailed. Whoever the men were, their tactics differed from those of the Kelly gang at Euroa and Jerilderie, in so far that they did not cut the telegraph wire. Intelligence was therefore sent immediately to Melbourne and a special train, leaving Spencer street at 25 minutes past 2 o'clock, conveyed Superintendent Hare and two troopers with a buggy and two horses, to the Lancefield road station.
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