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Show LASH - o- IllGIRCDMSIMCE Greene y Avriicr iiarry Iivino of 1l Tosonle That wu a rather peculiar crime, th rolling of tny Unci Abnr'a safe. It wu cleverly planned, opportunely timid and tuceossfully executed. It was a good haul, too. Fur if tbouianl dollar In crisp cola of tb realm it pretty blta par fur almoin any crlra-lufor a few hours' work and risk, and that la what tb perpetrator got out of It. You will nolle tbat I ssld "criminal" I did that to distinguish It from tb operation of a gang of thtves; for aa It turned out It waa th work Individual and not th of a slngl combination of effort of a coterl. Tbat mad o It still mora difficult to aolv. Aa a chain la no stronger than IU weakest link, ao la tb cunning of a combination of men no keeier than tha wlU of lu dullest member. Tbat la why conaplraolea generally coma to grief somebody turna out to bo weak. In tha matter of which I am . speaking there were aa many baffling points aa there are to a hedgehog, and for a Urn It seemed Impregnable. Aa for tha sleuth bounds of tha police, they cama up to It with caution, amelled about It discreetly and tben drew away, looking wise, to ponder over It, and for all 1 know are look Ing wis and pondering yet Out with William IjcDuo tha case waa different LeDuc had been something of a friend of mine ever since we were schoolboys together, and be did really brilliant work on the case. Everything conjured up by the human mind is capable of human solution If we go about It right and LeDuc found the way. Just because a dog la help-les- a before a bristling porcupine It Is no sign tbat all animals are. The wild cat isn't He la too quick for the fcrlstler. He feints him out of hla defensive posture by lightning play and eventually gets him by the unprotected nose which is the beginning of the end of the problem. Just what LeDue did hss never been made public up to this time for the reason tbat none but he or 1 la competent to give the Inner particulars of the running down of the thief, and up to this time neither of ua haa cared to tell. Dut I feel that I must do so now. That I happened to know more than anybody else about certain Incidents connected with the affair and was able to supply LeDuc with the proofs of guilt waa due to the fact that I lived with Uncle Abner at the time the crime took place. I, also, was the one who found him lying bound and Also It was myself wbo unconscious. reported matters to the police and introduced LeDuc to my uncle. As for the time whon the burglary took place, I happened to be away from home, having stayed at a hotel In the business district quite a few miles from where I lived. And now at the outset I am going to emphaalze one fact While It is an unpleasant thing for me to do ao. I am going to tell everything I know regarding this crime. I am going to spare nobody'a feelings, faults or reputations. That I have not done so before waa because of a reason which will be apparent when all the other facta are known. Dut now tbat a certain ' event haa happened I feel free to make everything known. In writing this account I have thought beBt to do ao chronologically when possible. Therefore, I must go Bomewhat Into matters which' preceded and were more or less directly connected with the crime In order tbat the motive may be ahown and that there may be the proper perspective. To do tbia I must tell more or less about people not absolutely connected with the burglarly, but wbo are necessary to the narrative by Howreason of their propinquity. ever, they are simply the shading and side lights that go to make up the picture. And while LeDuc may disappear for considerable periods in tbe telling, the mistake should not be made of thinking be la nowhere around. Tbat is wbat he did in tbe actual ferreting out of the case, and that Is wbat misled the criminal. But when his fine Italian hand did appear at the finish, it wore a glove of wail. Right at this point I find myself somewhat at a loss to decide just where to begin the recital. This is for the reason that I am not a writer trained In the art of building up a mystery with such skill that it stands Intact until the time comes to demolish It; when with one deft blow the keystone Is removed and the wbole fabric comes down with a crash. Therefore all I can hope to do Is to simply and plainly outline the characters which seem to me to be pertinent to a full understanding of conditions, and then go on and relate events as they happened. Perhaps 1 had better begin with a brief description of Uncle Abner, his peculiarities al and meannesses. When you look at that last sentence again you will begin tte understand that I meant It when I said I was going, to spare nobody. Neither do I believe any one will think as 1 proceed that I am attempting to spare What an idiot I my own feelings. was! I think when the fates were making the world's supply of fools, after they had constructed me they broke tho mold. Having turned out y Wilderness' was no use CHAPTER I. myself, whom ha tolerated as a sort of licensed and ncetary evil; Hruca Ilalllday, my second cousin, whose he would exploits happy sometimes chuckle over, and Clara Wlnton, another distant cousin of mine from a different branch of the family. Hut It was practically I m possible to know Clara and not lova her a little at lenst; and It was hi for b'r. combined with his fondness for nature, that mad ma realize tbat ha was a human being after alt. Urure used to say to me privately tbat If I'ncle Abntr was tbe crab apple of the family tree, Clare was certalnlr lb reach, but I always preferred to regard her as tbe Jewel. I would not liken her to a diamond as I would Mrs. Dace, who scintillates and daisies, but rather to a perfect pearl whose beauty Is soft and emanates from deep within. While It was easy enough to account for his fondness for Clara, I never could quite understand what a man of bis Instincts saw about a prodigal like llruce to pat on the hack, good ((Hiking and agreeable though be la. And It puzzled m almost aa tnurb to notice that Clare, wbo Is and as sweet and wholesome as freih milk, would so readily overlook things In my cousin of which I knew she Instinctively disapproved. On day I spoke to her about it 1 good naturedly charged her with being very fond of blm, and she admitted It with audacious sang frold. "Of course I am. Everybody Is everything la. Children climb all over him and stray dogs follow him home. Why shouldn't they If he pets them?" I expostulated. "Hut he la so obviI might even say notorious ous about his well, I will call them financial peculiarities.' Ha doesn't car who knows about them." She answered me as pertly as a sparrow. "That's Just what I like about him. llruce doesn't know there It tuch a thing as underhandedness." So that's tbe way some Immaculate women have of sticking up for tarnished men. It seemt to be on of the mysteries of tbe female mental equipment which Is Incomprehensible to the male mind. Hut while I always liked Druce, we are of somewhat different temperaments. 1 am not a purist In any sense of the word, but I believe in discretion. Personally I prefer a person w ho does the Indiscreet thing discreetly to one who does tbe discreet thing Indiscreetly. And tbat Is one way In which he and I differ. Neither do I admit that It Is hypocrisy on my part merely discretion. It has always seemed to me that when two people'a characters are equal, tbat whatever advantage the one may have over tbe other rests with the one who has the better reputation. Also Bruce was usually up to his ears In trouble of one of two kinds-fina- ncial or feminine. But no matter which It was, he always managed to slip through It like an eel through olL a perfect specimen tHer of experimenting further. I bsv called Unci Abner mesa and peculiar, hut that description Is Insipid. It is about as adequate as describing Satan at not SHng a pleasant person. Of all the coldblooded men 1 aver met, Abner Ilalllday had the most frog Ilka temperature. I once bad a dream which wi:l illustrate my lifelong Impression of hint. It when I was spending a year at a technical school learning practical mechanics prior to entering college, and It was brought about by a particularly heartiest and thoroughly uncalled for letter which he had written ma. I dreamed that t had seen him dissected at a clinic and that bis veins were filled with liquid air Instead of warm red corpuscles. And when It cama to the region of his heart they found Its place occupied by a toadstool. He was long, lesn, miserly and rich. As to tbe amount of hla wealth, I had little knowledge except from a boast ha once made to me and which I waa Inclined to believe at the time. I happened Incidentally to remark that he must be a pretty wealthy man, and b turned to me with tbat cunning leer of his a leer that had the cunning of a foi and tbe relentless, bsp-pene- d nees of a wolf. "I suppose you know how far It Is from here to tbe heart of the city," he grinned. I told him that It waa eight miles as the crow files. "And about 60 rods. Now, you listen to me. young gadabout If I should turn all my money Into American dollars and put them side by side, edges touching, remember, they'd reach from here to the city ball." "Which Is a long ways." I assented meekly. He grinned again. "And I'll tell you where else they would rescb. They'd reach to tbe chambers of the judges; they'd reach to tbe private' office of the assessor, and they'd reach to the heart of any public official I wanted, then to which Is the reason I desire them. Understand, now, young Jackanapes?" "Yes," I returned wearily, disgusted by bis contempt for all human honesty. Then I went away and left him, feeling more resentful than ever tbat I must toll day In and out aa the cashier of a soulless corporation for 12,000 a year, and then out of It pay hotel my nncle pretty near first-clasrstes for my board and lodgings. At times his browbeating and insults fairly sickened me of life; yet I swallowed them with the resignation of a school boy wbo takes quinine as a condition to his being allowed to go fishing. Ob, dead men's shoes! How we will dance until we fall for the prospect of wear Ing them. Now a few words about the house we lived In. It was a rookery. Large and ram bllng, It had degenerated from a hand sut urban home to some, a hulking, tatterdemalion outcast amidst respectability. It was bruised and battered. The spine of its roof already had a curvature; tbe paint bung from It In shreds, and ragweeds surrounded 1C Internally It was nearly hollow. Year by year Uncle Abner, clutching his dollars, sat by and watched It run down as steadily as a clock that Is never rewound; prldeless of himself and of all be longing to him save his money. And whenever he did spend a few dollars was upon repairs his cheerfulness that of one wbo gives a surgeon his fee for extracting hia vermiform ap pendlx. Necessity, so grinding and imperative tbat further neglect would prove fatal, was the only condition that could loosen the Gordlan knot which bound his money bags. I never opened the heavy door tbat led from the group of magnificent cen tury old oaks, the branch ends of which stroked the gray house like ca ressing hands, without a feeling of disgust and hot shame. Tbe lower floors were unfurnished save for the kitchen, the dining room and the room for the housekeeper. Barring those portions it was as barren as a ship's empty bold. For years Mrs. Tebbeta had been the housekeeper of the place, doing all the household work and never to our knowledge receiving company, and almost never Tbe upstairs leaving the premises. portion of the house was also bare of furniture save for my uncle's and my apartments. His quarters consisted of a large, sparsely, furnished room running the length of the front of the house, with an alcove in connection, my own sleeping room and That den being adjacent thereto. Uncle Abner continued to live amidst this shameful waste of handsomely designed rooms and broad natural grounds, was about the only piece of extravagance I ever knew htm to indulge himself In. However, I could partially account for It in two ways. In the first place he had come Into possession of the premises through some sort of a hocus-pocu- s swap; had secured them for a song, won the res sulting lawsuit and then left the former owner to whistle for the song; and in the second he had a real and abiding fondness tor trees and grass. Trees and grass, however, do not require repairs. There Now as to his associates! were only three people in the world whom he did not seem to have a natural aversion for. These were bleb-minde- d clred other thlrrs that were h com- mon between us. Eh understood perfectly that there was no animus back of my words, and I would not have cared particularly If she had told blm all I tald. Aa a general preposition he would agree with me, but riot always. I remember once when she crushed the roM which she had teen caressing Into a shapeless pulp with on convuMv squecz at some careless remark of Attn concerning his 111- - Improvldenc. "Did you ever happen to notle her Uruce's clothes show tbe first Igtis of wear? she asked defiantly. I admitted that I bad not. "Then I will nil you. It Is at the flap of hit right hand trotiser't pocket where he rsnles the loose money that he loans and gives away." So you cee her action lgnlfil nothing except another Instinctive desire on her part to fly to his defense and cover his sins of extravagance by tbe man-t!- e of his charities. And, of course, against seuUment. Ilk that logic is useless. Then, too, when It comes to his lit-t- l love affairs Itruc Is certainly a You could shoot him as pachyderm. full of Cupid's arrows at you could thrust a human pin cushion full of needles, and the result would be' the ssm In each ras. An unfortunate affair of the heart affects some people not unlike a mosquito. It annoys tbera for a few moments, and then another mosquito comes and the first one la forgotten. With others It gett under tbe skin Ilk a "chlgger" festers and torments and will not be scratched out And there Is where llruce and 1 differ again. II la of the first class, wbll I am of tb chlgger-bitte- n variety. Clare nearly always came to te ut We would upon Sunday afternoons. usually bear her whistling at she came up the walk when she was still quit a waya distant Clara can sing like an angel, but she much prefers to whistle Ilk tb devil. She squeaks and trebles and flats with her lips in a pucker and her chin aslant and the dlacord she creates Is But she never gets disshocking. couraged, and would rather shrill a few false notes through her puckered lips than open ber round throat and let notes pour forth that would drive a prima donna to glaring envy. Into the house she would come by meant of ber private key with a fife of her of her feet on lips and a the uncarpeted stairs, until a final hollow thump would announce her ar rival at the portala of my uncle's In ner sanctuary. Thereupon I would arise to a military "attention" and my unci to a creaking resemblance of uprightness aa she threw open the door to reveal herself, sinking to tbe floor with skirts spread In an exaggerated curtsey of the olden days. Up to un cl she would go with a ridiculous kiss upon the bald spot of his bead, in and then settle light as a puff-bal- l the window seat and commence to bat-a-tat-t- JJpiJ) u. Sewed on the Buttons Missing From Hit Garments or Trimmed the Edge of Hit Ever Frayed Collars. seem to car for any men but Bruce and myself, and I Can't believe that you and he are In earnest In your brazen flirtations. In tbe first place, he has no more seriousness about blm than a Jumping Jack, and l.i th- - second I cannot conceive of a girl with your Ideals loving a man of his peculiar financial practices and alley-ca- t hablta. Outside of his more or less respectable club be baa no more fixed place of abode than haa a balloon, and I don't believe be would be any more content to settle down than one." She would toss her head. "That Is because the poor fellow haa no home to allure him. Just you wait until he gets married. If he wins the right wife be will settle down so hard that you can hear tbe echo." I would wave my hands In protest. "Hut he speculates upon the board beta, and all that, nd while I do not consider such things as particularly depraved, I know that you are utterly against them. Besides, be Is a financial humorist How could he support a wife In th dreary, moneyless periods "I'm sure I don't know that would be hit end of the rvgaln. But I do know that If he bad a wife who would save what be throws away when he la prosperous tbey would never come to want And I am not sure, after all, but that It It better to have a lot of money part of the time and none the rest than to have only a little all the be would sit down and begin to rnnka love to her. Nor would he do this in tb way tbat any other civilized man would go about tuch a thing, but openly and notoriously In the filibustering fashion In which he did every, thing. She always seemed belplesa before his extravagant compliments, while, as for myself, 1 would watch him In silence unable to make up my mind whether I was amused or disgusted. After he got tired of that h would Insist that she go with In in over to the boulevard where tbey could sit on a bench and pick out an utoraoblle from those going by, such as he was going to purchase for her especial benefit At first she would demur, but would finally say. "All right. If Tom will go, too." Whereat he would laugh and any to me with an audacious wink: "Oh, Tom doesn't care to go. II would rather loaf up In hit den and read a book than go over there and sit In the dust wouldn't you, Tom?" In reply I would bow low and say "certainly," with r I! "If I Should Turn Into American My Money Dollars, Reach From Here to the City Hall." All He is a broker by trade. Also, be speculates on his own account, and part of the time is floating like a bubble on the top wave of prosperity and the rest of the time swimming for dear life in the succeeding trough. It was a good deal as he himself once put It, when he had planned to feed a few of us a week in advance: 'You had better put a sandwich In your pocket, boys, for life is uncer tain. As you know, it is turkey with me one day and feathers the next, and you have got to take your chance as to which you will get when you dine with me. But come on Just the same. If it Is turkey it will be the biggest one In the market, and If it's the other it will be feathers in our caps anyhow." In spite of yourself you cant cher ish anything against a man like that. I never criticized him to any one save Clare, and only to her incident ally and openly the same as we crltl- They'd chatter. Five minutes of that would put her out of breath, after which she would be content to settle down to ordinary conversation as she sewed on the buttons missing from his garments, or trimmed the edges of his ever-fraye- d collars. For while Mrs. Tebbets was employed to do all this, Clare always reserved those tasks for herself and jealously insisted upon retaining her prerogatives. Perhaps an hour later, if the weather was fitting, I would manage to catch ber eye with a significant glance and would then go down to a rustic seat beneath the big oaks. Presently she would join me. While I was not really In love with her, neither was I with anybody else. I liked her exceedingly, realized that she would make a well nigh Ideal wife, and sometimes used to speak to her about love matters. I would be half in fun and half in earnest. "Clare," I would say. "you don't a sarcasm that would have shriveled any other living human being, but at which be would only laugh again and straightway march her off., and that of course, would be the last of them for tbat day so far as I was concerned. As I said before, I was not In lovo with her; I did not think that ho was more than half In earnest and therefore waa not Jealous. But It always left me feeling tort of disgusted. I don't believe it Is In the male natime." That would quiet me for a time. ture for any man to witness a woman I had to depend entirely upon my salwhom he likes tacitly accepting I of a man other than himself under bonds for heavy being ary, had I without wishing tbat be bad horns;' could not have speculated cared to and still retained my post He may not particularly want the lion If the fact became known. Still, woman himself, but tbe sight of it by certain economies I had managed breeds a sneaktng desire In him to go to hide away a few hundreds for out and hook something. emergenciea, and In addition to that " 1 CHAPTER II. J I had In the savings bank $5,000 fawhich had come to me from my ther's estate. Tbat, however, I re- waaIn my uncle's large front room there a safe he had picked up garded a good deal as a trust fund somewhere Intbat. the dark ages of bis which was to be left unused except in ' case of last resort So I would take youth, doubtless upon some forewas and It one of the simclosure; another tack and try and Impress her with the greater virtue of ultimate plicities of bis complex mind that ha achievement through Industry and ashould cling to It with the fulth whtcix child reposes in the toy savings economy rather than by mowing your bank in which he had deposited nla way through the ranks of your fellow men. From her quietness I would treasure. It was a dogged enough think she was becoming converted un- looking contraption, and around it retil of a sudden she would give .a fidget. volve the principal characters and "There he comes now, down the events of this history as a mmh cirwalk back of us," she would assert cles a flame. Behind tbe portly doors And were kept the Integrals of his fortune; without even a glance around. sure enough it would he Bruce, a the mortgages. leases, deeds and notes that were the material evidences of cigar in his mouth and a bundle as his possesions. While It was nearly big as a peck measure wrapped up I always always practically empty of cash, at In paper under his arm. remote and for a few days at thought my physical senses were par- a time intervals, It contained considerable ticularly alert, but she would invar- sums inonly, specie. This last happened iably announce his coming before I when he would collect the money on a knew he was within gunshot. Hearor other security, and bemortgage, or inRtlnct sixth eense, ing, Intuition, cause of not feeling well would reI know not what It was, but at times It struck me as almost uncanny. Up ceive payment at the house Instead of to us he would come strolling with a the bank. Once in a long while this" smile and audacious "Hello, little would change to occur after banking hours, or on a Sunday or holiday, and sweetheart." and a nod and an In that event, after the payee had de"Howdy, old man." to me; over to and standing before us with bin feet parted, he would give himself a revel with the currency with all tha wide apart would grin at her like a delight of a child fondling a new toy. puppy. Then I woula He did not seem to care for gold as see Clare's eyes begin to light up. the stereotyped mis.er always does "What is it this time, Bruce?" she but would nose around among tbe would half gasp excitedly. With a bundles of greenbacks with the seemstudied deliberation that would keep fascination of a feline for catnip. ing In be would her squirming suspense was during one of these scenes It gradually open the bundle and raise that our quarrel occurred. It on hlfeh. Then suddenly he would BR CONTINUED.! (TO pour a pailful of roses, carnations or violets over her head and send them Cause for JoyT tumbling Into her lap and down on Mis PertEver since I refused Tom the grass in a waterfall of fragrance. two weeks ago he hasn't been sober And at that she would utter a little a day. cry and go down upon her knees as Miss Caustlque Not tired celebraU" she gathered them up by the handful, Ing, eh? Exchange. scolding him like a magpie for his ex travagance, and stopping after every Nothing Else. few words for a rapturous smell of He I wish you would select mora each captured treasure. And that appropriate times to go to your dresswould be my reward for my lecture on maker's. the sin of extravagance. She My dear man, alt times to go to Then, regardless of my presence, a dressmaker's are fitting occasions. off-han- good-nature- d , |