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Show I A Qlljrlolmafl F BrSAlDEEESTEIXE DALCOM (CopjrrliJa) HE nlght-watchmnn nt' Wympton, posses of a du tense of his importance, im-portance, wns cullml "Sergeant" Sloore. Ho had become nwnro that the distinctive tltlo was one In general gen-eral TOgueulth metro-. metro-. vjjr- Polltnn police systems IWS!FJX' nnd he wns proud of 2iZ. iVJ J the designation. (ip The day preceding nnn ii. a Sfotl was nlwnys doughty sergeant, for It was upon that occasion that his conscience nl-lowed nl-lowed him to accept llttlo marks of Approbation. "Hey, thcro, sergeant I" generally prefaced the bestowal of something In-tho In-tho shnpo o' a gift "It's duty I havo to attend to nil night long," ho told his wife. "They say Micro's a regular bund of burglars on tho movo." Now two problems of fate were to work out a strange series of circumstances, circum-stances, In the Christmas eve events appertaining to tho redoubtoblo sergeant. ser-geant. The first was that tho llttlo town Jail had burned down tho week previous. The second was that n new family had moved to town early In December, De-cember, comprising the Wnynes father, fath-er, mother, a charming daughter of seventeen nnd thrco young children. As Moore passed their place ho noted that It was all dark, tho family probably prob-ably absent at some local entertainment, entertain-ment, and he caught the echo of a sound resembling the tipping over of n pleco of furniture. Then from nn open window a form protruded. "nurglnrsl" muttered tho sergeant, and made a dash for the prcsumnbln dcspollcr. "Hold on 1" spoke tho latter excitedly. excited-ly. "It's all right." "Oh, Is it?" purred Moore derisively. "What's thatt' nnd ho made a grab at tho protruding pocket of the young man. tfiffiffitfi!Jitfiirlif.ffiH.ffiKri i "it you'll nUow me to explain," bo-Bin bo-Bin the latter. "I know tho peoplo. who live here?' "Oh, yes, very particular friends! Cordlnlly Invited you to break Into tho house at nny hour of tho night I And this a new muffler and n pair of gloves. Say, you come with me," nnd the sergeant marched his captive from the spot. "It you'll only let mo explain," pleaded tho young man, but Mooro wns deaf, blind to nil but duty. Fifteen minutes later tho cnptlvo found himself him-self locked Into n stono cellar, and the sergeant handed Its koy to his wlfo, saying: "You might pass In n Jug of wnter nnd n plate of bread to ray cntch . j .,., i thropgh.-lho, window; ItT? ROT IIU ir.tjjn to It." ni-dropmrbcnd rigo-lfr'soon,".' Tho young man In retirement was pnclpg about InMho dark nnd miotlie-matliln'g miotlie-matliln'g his oulclous cnptoi'.whoh Mrs, Mooro timidly approached pie window, "Here's somo water and a llttlo food," sho sold, "so you won't Buffer," nnd Just as sho passed the things In she uttered a shriek and crouched down trembling. Two men had suddenly sud-denly appeared, real burglars this time. "Ob, slrl" whispered tho woman through tho cellar window, "they mny kill the children I And then there's nil Tlm'n hnlf yenrly pay In tho burenul Please help me. Here's tho key to tho cellar door," nnd something tinkled on the floor. Something else then transpired. tran-spired. The released captive locnted and knocked down nnd tied hnnd nnd foot tho prowler within tho house. Then coming unawares upon tho armed tmndlt outHldo ho toppled him over, rendered him helpless, and seemed to enjoy tho excitement of It all. l - .! in ii n mi 'mjj' ' i, i i nwml pBH "" "1 rim Itoscoc Wnldcii nnd I ntwrnrr"" M gaged to Ktliel Wayne," he explained VH nn hour later. (o th'p bowlldered ser- iH genntnftor tho latter had transferred j H the two criminals to Umbo. "This Is ' M the first tlmo I have' visited their new j H homo, nnd I got In surreptitiously to ' TM place a present on tho Christmas trco B as q surprise) to my lady lovo. I donjt M want the Waynes to know I nm la JB Plympton until after sho finds lt.'V Thero wns n rare spice of ndventur- H ous excltomcnt for pretty Ethel In her H dovotcd lover's unlquo experience when Jsa ho recited the sftmo tho next morn- 9H Ing. And meantime Sorgonnf Mooro BH wns gnlnlng populnrlty nnd tho com- H muntty's good will ,by detailing his 'H horotc net which hnd Btgnnllzcd Christ- 'JM mas eve In tho apprehension bt' two iflH despcrnto criminals who, bdt1 for 'him, AH might linvo hnd tho entire town, at their mercy. ' ,BH |