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Show (A COMBINATION LOCK. fT WAS ATTACHCD TO A CLOSET DOOR AND CREATED A SCENE. .. Miirln tVliiKrl8lit TpIIh a M.ry of How I mil Artor 'iiii! Very Sear Killlnif 111. I I Newly Wrthlrd M ife-llerne.l by tl.o : I Landlady Aflrr llnrrilile fcuelnie. I Thu in idetit hereafter toM was an j I trtual happ' dinic. 1 In Chiea;,'i) some years bo tin actor 1 .) ami uetret-. lmsiiaiiil anil wife wlio I Lad gi'wn tii-i. ii of ho'.el living, uti'l who I I were boohed l:.r a stiiy ( f K-verai weekj I la that city, n solved to tako u suit of i I liirntshed rootna u;id get their meal I v-heii and where their inclinations illicit I direct. They arrived in Chicago ou a J I Hunday, and after some tiresome seiuvh- I ini? found on Dearborn street exactly 1 I i wliar. ihey sought, cr lit least us near it ' 1 as ia often given to lodgin; seekers to; 1 I obtain. ' I I II Tho woes ot letters of Isiard :md lodjj- II ' ing havo fi-e,picuily licen told in papers 1 comic and otherwise, but tlw tvii of U thy seeker of the same would furnish I , Almost as fruitful a theme. Tho writ re-If re-If ferred to eonsi ted of a parlor, bfdnmui mid iiathrooia. Evidently tho building ft liad tieen intended otiginally for ollico M tises, as in the bedroom whs a lar,'o safo 'I or vault of the most massive coustriu'. Stion. Instead of la ing used to hold securities se-curities of priceless value, it was devoted de-voted to the humbler duly of receiving clothing. Tho heavy steel door, somo rive im dies thick, was supplied with a combination lock. This was a novelty to tho wife, who, as wain as she had bestowed some, of her i wraps in the sale, began a BUerficial rtudy of the mechanism. She could not, of course, make out much about it, and her hud and master oilcred, in his superior supe-rior wisdom, to explain it. ,J AN OMNHI lK.Vf lit SUANIl. f "ji, "All you have to do," he said, "is lo I think of a word, shut tin) door, then '""pell tho word on this dial, turn the iridlo and then no one can open it who doesn't know the combination. Xow nBtep in l" ir a moment; I will lock you in on tho word 'open' and let you out again in an instant." Tho wile, who had not been married long enough to discover that her husband hus-band was ind as clever as lie thought, Bteplied gayly inlo tim vault. "il will lie av felly dark and rttiTy here with the door rlo-ed," she exclaimed. "Ih. n't bo afraid, dear: I'll let. yon out U'.-aiti before y.nl have time ! i think." He tnrib'd the handl,', worked tho combination to "open," worked it back rig.iin. pulled at lh" door, but there was Ho sign of its yielding. Frantically ho lerain ran tin) indicator over the letters making the wind, but siill the door Would not Imdge. II" shouted encour-l: encour-l: 'iugly to his wife, but it was evident that she could not, hear him, fur there eatno no reply, though he thought there i was a faint sound of rapping. " '; i "Was iilie already dead for want, of I nii'l" was the first awful thought; but he ri'iiiemls'i'i'd that the vault was at least x six fis-t square, and even if perfectly air i 1 tight must contain enough air to xupport i lite for come liithj time. lint for how long;1 It was Sunday. It might bo i hours heforo ho could find n locksmith, and even then it might take more hours to open that dreadful door. His darling 'J Hiiglit bo dea l! H.) would bo her slayer! m . lVrh ips the law would call it lunrder! an t'M'i n.isii i:r..ict'KR. Theso thoughts fhi'.he.l thron-h his min 1 in le-s timi tinn it tak"S to read i them. After shoutnv; some reassuring ; words he ru:,'i"d np to the landlady's I room ou the floor above, and breathlessly i u:id almost nuiimdligibly tol l soinet! ing ! of thetronlih'. i "Vou're tiie feroinl fool who';' got into : a nie ; nieldlin ; w;;!i tliat salt'," was the old woman's comfort in c comment. "Never mind that!" he cried. "Can , you get her out before she dies': ' "Yes, I can. I don't have things about I don't understand, and ii I did find i tht'in I wouldn't iii",ld)e with them." j "Never mind tint, my good woman; only come and open the door." "It's easy to s"o you ain't l.mg married," mar-ried," was her grumbling comment, as !phe waddled nfi r him down the stairs. She gave a few turns to the handle and '.brew the door open. The wife was discovered dis-covered in .'l dead faint, but evidently still alive. I A good many dollars spent iu doctor's fees and a present for the landlady to f Home extent repaired the damages of the husband's experiment, but uothiiigconld repair his eternally lam;'ged reputation (or omniscience. In after days his wife was even occasionally known to hint I that he had tried to kill her, and that t he was sorry ho hadn't succeeded uud been duly banged. i A day or two after tho occurrence he j 6aid to tho landlady, "How was it the I floor wouldn't open on thu combination t I usedi-" I "Because,'' she. answered, "you must E release the lock from one combination I before you can set it on another. Y'ott I men don't know everything, though you generally think you do." Marie Wain- tvright in Dramatic; Mirror. |