Show AfTER TOE fACT t i I f N L How Miss Parley Abetted a Burglar l BY W PETT RIDGE t f Gopyrlht 1S99 by W Pcjt Ridge 4 This is firstclass said Miss parley I Par-ley in a warning toner If youre third miss replied the I man with the yJbagblundering > I into the compartment ryou1d uetter I hop out quick The 656 p m started and having put his bag in the corner he turned leaning lean-ing half his body out 04 thevwjndo and holding 1115 bowler hat with one hand Miss Parley well dressed in furs with a damure homier j ropriate to her age and manner vglanced through the window at < heface and shivered Hes lost it remarked the man turning to her and looking out again swore softly at the rushing wind When = the train had said goodbye to the Chislehurst houses and had entered Into the tunnel he brought himself in and stumbled back to the corner where he sat near to the awkwardly filled bag half covering it with his coatI coat-I never had a pal yut he said as the train went clamorously what I could trust I beg your pardon said Miss Parley Par-ley with courtesy I say he repeated raising his oi > ice that I never yut come across the man what I could say to Youre as good as what I am The isat a single sin-gle one of em but whats got some fault faultFe of us here below are perfect said Miss Parley sententiously Sin comes natural to us poor mortals andI I cant elp your troubles interrupted inter-rupted the man What I want is a bit of your assistance I am strongly opposed said the middleaged lady with great decision to indiscriminate charity I will give you a note tothe Secretary of the I know your sort he remarked acutely Give away every bloomin thing except gifts Find otit wh at poor people want and see they dont get it Ho yes Ive met crowds like you Fortunately I dont want your elp as you understand it All Iwantis a bit of common courtesy I trust she paid politely that I am not wanting in it I ope too that youre pretty well supplied The train came out of the tunnel into the open evening mist and the cloud disappeared from the windows win-dows See this yer bag Missi Parley adjusted her pincenez and inspected it It was anodd bag with a leather handle at each hand the contents bulged it unevenly the surface bore some European labels which it seemed might have been > removed re-moved from other luggage for they did not stick with confidence I said Miss Parley with caution I must confess that I do see that bagAh Ah remarked the man ironically now I can tell Im dealing with a smart person Now I know that I can rely on you for doing what I want you to do ina ighlyi intelligent manner Are you going to Gharing Cross tor am replied Miss Parley Thought so Got no luggage ave youI am only going to a meeting explained ex-plained Miss Parley stroking the fur I of her muff and naturally I have no I i luggage I Im not blamin1 of you said the man generously It makes your work I I all the easier This bag contains Are you fond of kids he asked suddenly I adore children I Very well then he said with a relieved air This bag contains presents I I pres-ents for my youngsters Have you many children I JToiiij of em said the man How charmincr Yoiuaiiv tfi en em he said grimly Be that asit may this bag contains presents for em Ive got to get out at Waterloo Waterloo said Mis Parley is the station before you get to Charing Cross You do know something remarked the man admiringly He took off his neckerchief and fixed on cqllar hi hand h-and rather white The change altered his appearance greatly Ive got to get out at Waterloo youre gom to Charing Cross Now do you Jind leaving this bag for me in the cloakroom cloak-room there under say your name and I a number Miss Parley contracted her forehead momentarily and pursed her lips Otherwise re went on earnestly earnest-ly and pathetically otherwise six little eads 11 lay emselves down on their white pillers tonight crying eineolves to frJeep six little cads all curly 9nes 11 be full of sorrer and gnash of teeth six little eads 11 For the rake of the dear children I I said Miss Parley I will doas you wish Here is my card Ill put a number num-ber upon it What number shall I write Put 106S he said leaningacross interestedly in-terestedly Date that good old blooming bloom-ing Wellington won the battle of Waterloo Water-loo Ten sixtysix she repeated as she wrote There my man You can send for it with that card and the dear little 1 lit-tle children willnbt be disappointed Blesstheir carts he said taking the card When the train rattled presently across the bridge into Cannon street the man gave a very fair imitation of menial feeling He dabbed at his eyes with a white speckled blue handkerchief I handker-chief he shook his head pathetically As the train backed out of the station he lifted the heavy bag to the side where Miss Parley was sitting Any slight expenses miss that you might be put to Dont mention that my man For the sake of the dear little ones I would take almost any trouble Itll be called for about 11 p m he said by a lady friend In fact he added with a burst of frankness the lady Im engaged to if you must know But the children Oh he said readily Im an adjective ad-jective widower Miss Parley trembled a little the I man muttered to himself a reproof for his carelessness of speech The train showed up at Waterloo and he opened the door and put his head out Instantly 1 Instant-ly he turned and rushing toward the other door and growling an earnest warning to her partly jumped and partly fell out on the ballast Miss Parley looked out as she pulled this door to saw him hobbling cautiously in the dusk by the side of the train I thought he said with great cautiousness that he was not really firstclass Then Miss Parley took out her plump purse and prepared to do something of 4n extremely Ingenious nature extracted extract-ed from the purse six bright shillings loosened with some difficulty as the train Went 6nce more across the Thames the straps that held the lumr bag together opened the bag and slipped the silver coins within At that same moment she screamed Good gracious exclaimed Miss Parley nffrightedly I She made all haste with fingers that trembled l to yefasten the straps and had scarcely done this when the train arrived at Charing Cross there an active ac-tive young porter who knew her by sight jumped In shouldered the heavy bag and was trotting along the platform plat-form before Miss Parley had time to recover her breath Fourwheeler lady asked the alert porter over her shoulder No no she panted hast r vngafter himRight yotf are lady j he said cheerfully cheer-fully You want to leave it In the cloakroom cloak-room It occurred to Miss Parleys heated perturbed mind that this perhaps would be the most convenient course to pursue pur-sue sueTo summon the chief inspector i to become be-come the center of a suspicious critical criti-cal ring of passengers to explain that she had accepted the care of a bag J i J Q i containing as ths pmentary glanc I had assured silver goods of value that J had evidently been stolen this was really re-ally more than she could bear Mr Morlingham would be here too in a few minutes for it was near to half past 7 Mr Morlingham who was a serious minded stockholder ofCopthall Court neither young nor middleaged but betwixt be-twixt the two who had wooed Miss Parley with great respect for years and had for hobby the restraint of crime and a general view of life that was in tune with that of Miss Parley Mr Morlingham was no man for such an emergency as this he would only reprove her gently for having taken such grave responsibilities A disclosure disclos-ure meant police court proceedings Old Bailey attendance Ere we are lady Going to take a ticket for it asked the man on the other side of the counter coun-ter Ill leave it she said determinedly in my name and the number ton sixtysix Bit lumpy miss said the cloakroom man I manIt hasit has something heavy Inside In-side she stammered Ah remarked the cloakroom man as he affixed a label that accounts for it Mr Morlinghami brought news Jhat the night was fine that the hall was but the distance of three minutes walk that things were looking ominous in the east that the only way to keep peace was to be prepared for war Having reeled off these statements witft indiscreet haste and thus exhausted his evenings stock Morlingham appeared ap-peared to find himself on arrival at the hall go to speak beached and unable un-able to move in conversation until the tide turned with some similar remarks re-marks They found seats on the crowded platform neither in the mood for talk Miss Parley checked a sigh now and again as she looked at the strange men and women whQ filled the body of the hall They were mainly criminals or at any rate affected to be so for the purpose of this meeting and Miss Parley felt that strictly speaking her place was among them Mr Morlingham content to be near the lady of his heart content also to see in his hat the notes of a speech which he felt contained some thoughts that came near in his opinion to bein r epigrams epi-grams sat with folded arms and did not observe Miss Parleys preoccupation preoccupa-tion of thought Excuse me she said presently The chairman and the principal speaker a judge were coming onto the platform the hall rose to its feet and cheered at though the dearest wish of its life was at length to be gratified I wish to speak to the police inspector Can I take a message Jane asked Mr Morllngham No sold Miss Parley with brusqueness brusque-ness Please stay where youare The inspector seeing Miss Parleys attitude of appeal met her half way on the platform The hall amused at this and having finished its applause called on the inspector to look her up She was a well known character shouted the hall humorously and a perfect terror ter-ror in the lane Take her off to Bow begged the hall and if she became violent vio-lent why give her the good old frogs r march I I wish to ask > ou said Mite Parley In a low voice unconscious of the badinage I bad-inage what is the sentence usually I given forfor Murder prompted the inspector I No no For whatd you call itO it-O said the inspector you mean shoplifting madam I mean nothing of the kind she replied with asperity I mean icc6iv ing goods Well knowing the same to be stolen sto-len said the inspector glibly He passed pass-ed his hand over his chin Let me see now madam what shall we say for the average What do you say to three years Miss Parley went blindly back to her seat as the chairman rose to introduce the judge to the meeting a proceeding that was in some part superfluous Three years One two three she had never before thought of three as a large number There seemed a way out of the difficulty and this was fortunate but it made one tremble to think that one should be ever within sight of a fate so terrible The obvious exit was never to allude to the incident to anyone any-one That dreadful man would send for it the bag would thus disappear no one need know the part that she had taken in the affair The old judge was getting on with his speech with an occasional joke of moderate strength that made the hall roar with ecstatic appreciation and Miss Parley nerved herself to put aside her terrifying thoughts that oppressed her with partial par-tial success partial failure A deplorable I deplor-able old hag sat in the front row below be-low interrupting the proceedings now and again by demanding cheers for herself her-self the pleasing thought occurred to MIE Parley that she might never lead a sedate comfortable later life but that she might finish in the type of the dreadful woman who was just then shouting Hooray fer Patsy Maguire Pursuing this cheerful vein Miss Parley Par-ley succeeded as the old judge resumed his seat tearful at his own affecting peroration in accepting with fair equanimity equa-nimity a sentence of penal servitude for life Would anyone in the audience asked the chairman care to give their experience I can spare five minutes before calling upon Mr Morlingham Nobody ros at first but when the deplorable old woman in the front row stood up then a dozeiSothere started to compete for the honor The old woman called upon by the chair stated that she was as good as any other lady in Sardinia street and that if anybody dared to say a word against her public or her private character she would Nevertheless Mrs Maguire confessed with tearfulness but with something of pride to a life of wrongdoing that Included crime from birdfaking to highway robbery It was all the fault of the first step aid the old lady the first step was fatal Becoming interested interest-ed she declined to regard the chair mans call to prder and had eventually to be removed from the hull Morling ham in his speech took advantage of this and spoke severely of mistaken tolerance Wrongdoers said Mr Mor lingham wrongdoers must be shunned Anyone participating in crime should not be recognized by decent folk Vrongdoers must be ostracized The other men on the platform coughed doubtfully at this the argument being precisely opposed to the intent of the movement Miss Parley sighed Sure you ale not out of sorts Jane That place was cry close I am quite well said Miss Parley dolefully She was in the Chislehurst train at Charing Cross anxious for the train to start anxious to get away from nearness to the terrible bag She would have given something to have known if it had been called for But I I am just a little worried Tell me said Mr lorlingham with W hand to his ear I cant she answered Not now at any rate If you were a wise woman he said nervously taking out his watch you would marry mel me-l have often told you that I do not want to marry she said wearily But urged Morlingham I do Stand away from the carnage she aid I with consideration in her tone The train Is just starting Write to me he begged It wfll be the same letter Thank goodness the train waslnovins at last noving away from the bag Alter the wording slightly this time suggested Morlingham He walked walk-ed along with the train Make it less essStan Stan away sir stan away The alert young porter Scarlet faced and excited pushed Morlingham aside opened the door jerked from Ills shOJll i ii der the large lumpy bag down into the center if the compartment closed the door asain I Youda1 forgot i lady he gasped breathlessly if it sulnt been for me There was no escaping it Miss Parley Par-ley l would have llftedit up and dropped it out of the window but it was too down heavy At Chislehurst she stepped briskly closing the door and the guard discovering the bag sent it after her to the cab by two men As she drove home she could by clcslngr her eyes see eouI clcslng everything Capture of the burglar his full confession the bag traced a preposterous fut posterous explanation on her part that pt3terou explantol would be accepted Q1 nobodY She would bun the bag tt the end of her wnu1 lawn that night I would be impossible impos-sible to sloOp feeling that itremained in the house Im so sorry miss said the multi meeting her in the hal I WJiat have you brqkcn nor Lambert Lam-bert Nothing broke missV said the maid regretfully Wont be ro hlnleft to break If we go opike this Will you give the man some help with the heavy baThe ba-The two lugged it i into the hal As I was saying nlissr < Get me a spade Lambert and go off f nlt to bed quickly Has eookfgpne Miss you must please listen Theres been a burglary and jthe best of your beaktifiil plates gone and fl t I l t i iI ir Lambert cried Miss Parley with sudden excitement hajp me to undo these strong1 Why said the maid wltlvgreat relief re-lief as the mouth o the large bag gaped open yoq tool em Miss then Miss Parley loosened l hercloak took off her Iiat 10 felt inclined to I dance And weve been frightened out of our lives nearly fornathtnc Very absurd of you Lambert All the same miss I remarked the maid as she took out the contents all the same my opinion 1510 badly theyve packed emmy opinion Is that there ought to be not ousct without a man in i Miss Parley glanced thoughtfully at herself 3r > a slip o f mfrror I think perhaps jpure right Law bert 1 shant want a spade now Ill write a letter insted |