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Show I TmE' -'MttMilLE MEITnUBIES IP. OMOTB H 111 Stories of Strange Cases Solved in Secret by a I ill y Banker-Detective By robert carlton brown. f III A VAUDEVILLE SKETCH m W m A MELLOW moonlight night It had S Hi H heen. a clear, clean, beautiful i L night, with' plenty of stars flung 1 m li wide In tho sky. and a gorgeous 1 Wj "I biff moon glowing bright enough 1 SB ,l lb reveal both keyhnleB to tho staggering 6 eyes of late, convivial home-Boekcrs. And I tlili M n0 OM,! onJved Uiat brihL n,&nt ,noro 1 1 21 0 '"'Iy l'uin Pr,vnt0 watchman Hopkins, Jlfij S who hud a round on Royal ntrect which 1 lM rl Included the bis: New OrlcattH Antique I exchange, the Louis XIV furnituro fne- m n lor' !l fm'1 p,,op for olfl-fa'shloncd Jew- Wl 0 dry. a molauses warehouse and tho old HlR jj Dubois home. Bi 11 Moonlight nights and pay dayc gleamed OK. m with almost oo.ual luster to Hopkins. mu IS There wan certain relief for him In rcach- B a ing out for a. door-knob In plain sight; IB fi theni was suro satisfaction In paeslng U f the tmp corner between tho furniture j factory and the jewelry store, where, norno V Q one might be Inrklng with a gun to stick Bflj In hlfl face unseen on. moonless nights; NjS but. best of all, he could ace plainly the BK vicious great Dane which Armand Du- HRffj bols, cowardly miser that ho waa, kept HHu to protect tho hoardings in hl3 houso. HBH There Is. Just before dawn, a breatli- EIH less space, an awesomo gap. in which Hn the moon Is making ready to surrender ISM her silver scepter to the sun: for the Bwfi tlnie the hlage Is darkened, the world fiktnj is stilled; and the omlnoiiK puiiso can Hl be licard, scon, folt. H is tho period Pn j of darknoS before dawn that strikes Hill I a chill down the backs of various nc- BKj cUfttJiued night-prowlers, for In that 9Rf moment the culmination of more than 9 half of all night crimes is reached or Hl It was at this awesomo hour that Ml private watchman Hopkins unlocked JMMU tli(j front gato to the Dubois home. V nipped softly up tho front steps, and MR tried the door-knob for tho twentieth Wmw time that night. At his first step on MMm the wnlk Alort. tho vicious great Dane. MMM h..il grouted, and bounded toward him R oti the long wire to which ho wus FnSj ihaincd bo that ho could run the length wMmi of Ihe "houso and guard tho rear door MMm mid windows. Tho great beast chafed on Dies chain uhilt! Hopkins passed within 1 i fix feet of his snapping Jnws, to try tho Mmm i Hde door. As ho ascended tho steps, iflH Alert ground out a scries of guttural D? growls and Iwrkcd In u low, vicious rum- MMm i 1 as wus his Invariable custom. mm - When iloplcins mechanically tried tho door and passod back along tho walk, IB . ttm ilog raced bcsldo him on IiIh wiro, MM ! jiirninliig. Jerking to lesson that six-foot gap. struggling 10 get at him. snapping. Hi giowling. Armand Dubois had trained his dug to mnko frienda with no one. and he himself stood ten yarda away and threw moat at him through a wln- 0 3 daw at meal times. It was tho knowledgo of this tliat caused private, watchman HI i. Hopkins's relief on moonlight nights, when he could see tho dog and make !(; Mire lhut Us chain wns fast: but on Hi every night he wus Intensely foaTful that J I ' the chain would snap under tho strain J; of Alert's lunges; Indeed, ho had spo- MM ken to nilsiM' Dubois n-hout it many H ; times, but Dubois laughed, because now HJI i haln cost money, and he did not have Jjn to ko llirough tho J'ard himself at H When Hopkins had gained the 'front HRI: gate, he took his customary deep breath of relief and contlnuod on his round. Wmm Fifteen mlniiles In tor he was back, mm 4 and Alert greets! him with his usual H growl, and dlsputetl every step ho took HH toward the side door. Porhups it was JR the Influcuco nf that uneasy period Just B j lWoro dawn, but Hopkins felt that Alert HJ . xu the leaht bit tie for than usual. Ho D shuddered as ho thought of any stranger ' entering tho ird at night; Alert, ac- J customed for three years to his lifteon- HJH f minute rounds, still tried to get at him. HD . Two years before a prodatory cat dropped R over the garden wall on a mousing e- J pedltlon. and Alert made such a rum- Hji pus. and barked and toro about so vlo- lently, tlwit half the neighborhood was k alarniMl out of bed, and a weather-vano-l headcil householder ran out In his nlght-H nlght-H . shirt to turn In a lire alarm. And only B . mnnths before, when Hopkins had BM hren sick and a new man had taken his Hnjf place for one night. Alert had raged so BU that the relief watchman stood trembling BRr at tho gate, afraid to enter, and Du-WBR Du-WBR bote thicw up his bedroom window, and Orel s. -earaed to the man not to come In. that HK the dog would kill anybody In the grounds Br hut Hopkins, and he had to throw a mm big chunk of meat to Alnrt to iulet nj . htm so the neighborhood could get to H All this flitted vividly through Hopkins's BB I active thoughts as he remarked Alert's 1 lncioaeil fury, and wondered If a night j . bird luu! flitted across the garden and w ' enraged him, or If a mosquito had slipped t into his domain unnoticed and Irritated K lli brute. But overythlng was nil right, the doors HM had not been tampored with, though JU Hopkins laughed at the notion of anybody Jl getting as far ns his 11m stei- Into the j ard wltliont, Alert arousing nil Royal .lust as ho was approaching tho front gate again and gasping for his usual j deep breath of rollef. a window on the WMj, second floor of the Dubois house flew H up; Alert made, an instaneous bound. flung himself In the air toward the Ipv nlghtcnpped vision framed In the saah, wan Jerkotl back to tho ground by b HHj 'lialri and kiy stunned for a moment MH while tho nlghtcnpped Ilguro screamed: J "Help! Robber!"! Thieves! Robbers!" f WIikiows In several near-by houses popped up. Night wntchman Hopkins, ma glancing at the dog, dropped his electric "tctc. pulled his gun. und dashed toward H the front stairs. Tho dog scrambled to nj 'l fours, emitted a lion-like ronr. hunched mWt logiUher. and with dripping Jaws and wild MM. ' staring nyea sprang for Tlopklns JUBt a K ; h grasped tho porch -rait. The running J wire drew tnut, held, and tlien snappe-l j with .1 loud report Alert, free from his chain, sprang for Hopkins. Tho night-capped night-capped old man in tho wlndotr threw up his hands, ficronuiwl "Mon Dieu!" and droppod limp, half over the Mill. Hopkins throw himself buck, and puHl at tho trigger of his gun with both hands. A crash of bono, an agonized gron. ami Alert humpod ovor in a heap on the w-nifnt w-nifnt walk at Hopkins's feol, his maaslvo skull crushed In by a big bullet. Hopkins flow up tho steps and poundud on tho door, fumbling his key-chain blankly, and trying to force th door, for Dubois's nature was so ausptctoutf that ho would not oven allow his watchman a key to his door, locking everything from the inside wltli bolts aixl padlocks. Keeping one eye on the quivering heap at tho foot of tho stops, Hopkins pounded until tho soft clap of hustling steps In shiftless slippers came to his expectant ears. "That you, Hopkins?" oajne an anxiotiH cry in a cracked voice from within. Trs, Mr. Dubois, for tho love of heaven, open up! I told you this would happen if you " The door wns opened a crack boforo he finished, und tho frightened face that had appearod beneath the nightcap. In the window stared out. "For God's sake come lnl" cried old Dubois querulously, grasping Hopkins's i shoulder with palsied hand, and piilllncr him within. 'There's a nasty crowd collecting col-lecting In front. Bring In that porch-chair porch-chair I don't Imow how T forgot It laet nlffht; they might got through tho gate and steal It. Hurry!" "Whore aro tho robbcra?" "Gone!" cried Dubois, atralnlnfr his wrinkled neck, forward, and moistening his throat with an effort as hn spoko. "Aro yon sure? What did they get?" "Everything! Look!" Dubois had punhud the watchman up the stairs to the second sec-ond floor, and pointed a shaking finger through an open door, holding to the wall for support and gasping for breath as ho spoke. ".Everything look! All my money In hU!s; stacks, stacks of bills!" Thoro was a rlcknty antique Sheraton four-poster, Dpbois's bed. and on It was the cloth-covored box of a bed -spring, gaping open, half filled with a scattering of crumpled pnpors. The bed-clothes wre thrown In a heap In one corner of the room. Hopkins stepped back in surprise His foot camo down on n wad of cotton; ho picked It up, and stood fingering It absently as he slnred- at tho wrecked bed. "Then you did sleep on your money in placo of a matt l ess, as people always said?" ho quorlod. "Yes, yea. There Is no use." the quaking quak-ing old man stood glassy-eyed, glaring: at tho empty spring box, "there is no use to deny it now. I kept overytlUng all in that box. packed In among the spring. Slacks, atacks and stacks of bills! I did did '" He stopped, clawed forward one of his inrge flapping ears, and stood straining to catch the repetition of a sharp sound he had picked from other noises rising from below. Hopkins was sniffing at tho piece of cotton he had picked up boaldo the bod. "Chloroform!" he exclaimed, dropping "T3h!" cried old Dubois, lorldnff his hand from bis ear, and thrusting it into tho opening of his nightshirt. "They chloroformed you, and threw you Into tho corner with your shoes and the bed-clothes, while they rifled tho treasure chost." "Eh? Yes. I I heard them at my hwlsldo. then I wns on tho floor, and J couldn't use my arms, my legs, my tongue, and T knew they wore taking my poor bills. In stacks stacks and slacks of thorn!" His veln-ridged hand shot to his flapping car. nnd ho broko off again : "Listen! What's that? Thoro somobody fooling with tho front gate." Ho rushed to tho window, which ho had again carefully locked aflor recovering recov-ering from his faint, craned hi cordv nock toward the front of the houso. and tottered as ho shook his quivering fist at a nondescript fellow In a modest bual-noss bual-noss suit and ordinary derby who must havo clambered over the locked Iron gate regardless of Its pricking points, and was busily at work stretching out the limp form of Alort. "Leave tlyit dog alone! Get out of there, or I'll" Dubois In an Insono moment toro an antique French firearm tremblingly from tho bosom of his nightshirt, where, to Hopkins's surprise, he had boon concealing conceal-ing it. "Don't!" cried tho watchman, Jumping' forward to giasp tho quivering' hand attempting at-tempting an aim. ' j.j'j'1'! protect my place my right Dubois's twitching Jawg dropped open; he stared at the man below who, aroused by the commotion In the window, glanced up. picked a small filmy object like a sausagc-skln from one of the points of Alert's massive studded collar and slipped through Ihe front gate, which he opened with an easy twist as though it were not locked. "Von left It unlockod?" cried Dubois. "I did not!" Hopkins denied. "Wlio the devil Is the follow? I never saw him before. Do you suppose he " "I don't suppose anything " Dubois thrust out his lower jaw threateningly. "You're hired lo protect mo; why do you let him run away? Maybe" Hopkins, having leaped to the same unexpressed un-expressed conclusion, turned, and rushed down the stairs, stopped at the gate, unlocked un-locked U. and cried to Uie group of newsboys, news-boys, neighbors. tanuUe men. market hoy and other earlv birds collected In front, "Where'd lie go?" "Who?" "The man tho man " TTopkina strove for some description "tho man with the black derby." A boy In front grinned, and glanced around at the circle of men towering above him. "lCvery feller In the bunch's got on a black derby "rept us kids." Hopkins stood chagrined. He had seen tho man, front, side and rear view for a full minute, but was 'at an uttor loss to describe hjm. "The man who Just came out of the sate. Ho took pomothins; that looked like the rubber of a toy balloon from the dog's collar," ho cried. "Oh, him?" answered the boy. "The feller that monkeyed with the dot?? I thought he belonged thrre. He bid h key. Where did hp go. now?" Some raid one way, and some said tiu-otlier. tiu-otlier. but It was rjnl? apparent that ti f- man had slipped ir an-l m mmo- tlccd. duo lo Ids plain appearance and his matter-of-fact manner. Tho aquure-chestad man in tho black derby was Christopher Poo, tho prominent promi-nent bunker from the north, enjoying his second week's vacation In the carnival city. He had no sooner shut the Dubois gate behind him, and stuffed tho sklnllke object Into his pocket, than he slipped through the collecting crowd, without touching any of the onlookers or attracting attract-ing attention by any unusual move He walked to the corner without once turning around, crossed the street, and returned briskly to tho edge of the crowd Just In 1 1 ino to hear Hopkins cross-questioning liiti small boy. I'of molded his head with the rest, and nie-d quickly with somebody who hud pointed out at random the direction he had taken. As a member of the crowd, as an unobtrusive unit, he was utterly unuotioonble. Ho stayed no longer than ihe rol, aud said. Just like overybody else In parting from tho man who stood next him: "I'll bet It was tho feller in the derby hat. Wonder what It was the kid aald he took off the dog." Having hoard all the facts and conjectures, con-jectures, I'oe walked to the corner again, turned up the side Btrecti and PhcimI slowly down Bourbon past a block of cheap lodging-housos, largely occupied by vuudovillo artists, traveling fakers, and other true Bohemians. Each old houso Jiad. liko so many of tho dwellings dwel-lings In the French quarter of New Orleans, Or-leans, a courtyard lu the rear, divided from the courts on the next street by high brick walls. Stopping at the house which backed directly against old Duboifl'p, Christopher Poe Inserted a key, twisted It sharply twice, glanced up and down tho strcol, opened the door, and stepped In, closing It quickly aftor him. and standing motionless motion-less at the spot where his first step had brought him. That he wns listening Intently was disclosed dis-closed by hs suspended breath. In that moment one hardly would have described him as HopkinK had a human blayk. His cics wore-focused Intently toward tho top or lli- dim, winding old staircase In front of hlni; his mouth was drawn into a firm, purposeful line; hla form was lithe and strong; he lieeincd the very embodiment of Kunie forceful idea. His pose wns histrionic: his-trionic: he appeared to have thrown himself him-self Into a part he was about to play. Poon stealthy footsteps from above shuffled through the tsllence. Poe removed re-moved his derby, outer cont, tic and shoes In a series of quick movements. Running firm fingers through his neat hair, he mussed It up. and with the same motion snatched a fawn-colored theatric raincoat from the hall ruck, loosened loos-ened his- suspenders, turned up tho collar col-lar of the raincoat ho had donned, and sneaked silently upstairs, his manner that of a drowsy lodger wakened against his will to make an early train. On the second floor he paused, took out hla watch, deliberately set It back lialf an hour, wrapped it In the wrinkled, skln-like object he had removed from Alert's collar, and. having located tho sounds in a tear room, approached the door with audible tread, and knocked lightly. The shuffling steps within ceased. There came no answer. "I say pardon, ino you folks goln' take the six-fifty, too?" he said sleepily. ; "Can I borrow a collar? Heard you kiekln' 'round and " The door was abruptly opened a crack by a wiry young man. short, and with a pleasant face. A Mnall feminine hand rested on his shoulder, and seemed to bo tugging him back. "A collar? Sure thing. What size do you wear?" asked ihe short, fluah-faced fluah-faced young fellow through a crack In the door. "Six an' seven-eighths, r mean fifteen fif-teen an' a quarter. Say, you ain't the Twirley Twins, aro you?" asked the mnn in the passageway, throwing back ono sldo of the fawn-colored cravenctte to remove a wallet from his hip pocket. "The very sumo." cried the amiable young man, squinting his eyes professionally profes-sionally through the gloom, and opening tho door another notch In Kplte of the restraining hand on his shoulder. "Saw you work down. In gan Antono. Good act that! Where's the missis? Clever kid!" "Thanks! "Will this collar do?" A forced feminine voice came from within, and a mato to tho hand on the Twirley shoulder pushed a stiff, starchy circle of white qulveringly through tho opening. "That ain't a collar. That's a cuff!" cried Poe. quickly dropping behind him tho nrtlclo ho had asked for and selecting select-ing a card from his wallet which bore tho nnmo of Hardy. Ho handed it to tho man with a laugh ns an exclamation exclama-tion of disappointment came from ihe woman. "Thomas Hardy." read the Twirley Twin. "Not the Thomas Hardy, angel of tho Merry Whirl show?" "The very same. What's left of him." said Poe promptly, smiling to himself at being called "angel" of a company he had formed under his assumed name only as an adjunct to a scheme for running run-ning down ono of the cleverest bank-swindlers bank-swindlers in New York. Ho drew the mincont closer about him and edged Into the doorway. "Como In. Como in. Glad to see you," cried tho young follow, who had been with the Merry Whirl company and to whom Its backer was a great man. A cry of alarm from the woman. "I'm not dressed! Dick, don't let him In. Tin not dressed." llut her husband (a twin only In the profession) had already thrown tho door open, and disclosed her to the keen evos of Christopher Poe. fully gowned in a somewhat worn tmvellng suit. "Bv George, I'm glad to seo you. Mr, Hardy. lCld, shako hands with the best In tho business. A gamn backer and a good loser. I'd tell you to take off vour hat to him If T thought you'd ever get It back on straight." Mrs. Twirley bowed stlltedly, and aid In a very stagy aside: "Dick, wo must be going? We'll miss that train." "What time you got. Mr. Hardy?" asked the Twirley Twin. Christopher Poe drew out his watch, ond with a comfortable yawn removed It from tho thin fkln covering. "Five-thirty." "Five-thirty." he announced, exhibiting the watch-dial to tho Twlrlev Twins and exclaiming: ex-claiming: "Oh. that watch-case? It's Just a souvenir." as he saw their eyes rivet on the wrinkled skin In his other hand. Mrs. Twirley sniffed cautiously twice, irllnted. her eyes at Poe, and stepped back quickly to scat herself on two suitcases suit-cases in a corner, covering them completely com-pletely with her skirts. Her hm-band stood stupefied, sniffing tho air also, and n taring t tho unique wntch-ca.v'. "Came from Paris," continued Poe j pleaaanlly. rubbing the skin between his , fingers' fondly. "You know. lf juat what's left of one of those little Harlequin Harle-quin bladder? they use on a string to srruinh each other over the head with In lm work. Didn't you use them In that pantomime acrobatic stunt T taw you In thrp years ago at Frisco?" "Yes. I believe we did." Mrs. Twirley Twir-ley cleared her throat harshly, and continued: con-tinued: "But It didn't amell of chlo " Jhe ended in a stifled scream, and rushd toward the man she had heard of as a theatrical banker, crying: "Ixok out! That picture behind you la fall-In." fall-In." Poe made a quick move as If to look, but Instead stepped forward, and caught Mrs. Twlrlsy's hand as it emerged from beneath newspaper on the tabic, containing con-taining the. butt of a small revolver. Poe. holding her liand so th Iron wa directed at her amazed husband, who had stepped back Involuntarily, sized up the weapon In a sharp scrutiny, dropped her iMUid. wnd laughed: "Only a property pistol! You may resume your soai on those iivn buU-cmsqs you were guarding" "T he turned to the young man, face dough-like, was trying to nw quivering frame. "Twirley. i w ' talk business with von t OVf f k felWiw dropped 'Imp In tir ' '''' 'St'1 'l i"1! er Poe droppcj ' '' ' ' 1-I...I ! t 1 ball u lo.nfu table angle against the door of tho room. Mrs. Twirley Twir-ley sat on the suit-case, one cheek drawn tip In a hardened, sarcastic smirk, her eyes smoldering sullenly. "How long have you folks been out of work? asked Poo sharply. "Seven months," said Twirley In a hollow hol-low tone. "I see. That's a long time," mused Poe. "And you've been living In this room two months." "On credit," put In Mrs. Twirley with a twist of her Hps. "Stranded." added her husband. "Too bad. Yon must havo been desperate.'' des-perate.'' continued Poe thoughtfully, switching his gaze to Mrs. Twlrlev. "No clothes nothing. Hard luck!" he said. "Damn ha,rd luck. Clever people you wore, too too many acrobatic teams though that was your trouble," "Yes, we used to get good money we stayed stiff-necked a while, and then when we was ready to take cheap bookings book-ings nobody wanted us; other head-liners had come down first an" tilled In." "Tough luck. But why didn't, you use your brains? Why didn't you beat the conditions, adapt yourselves lo a. now act?" asked Poe in a high-pitched earnest tone. "I can't sec why the devil two clever people like you should ever got stranded. You've been In this room two montha. and right through that shade behind be-hind you, Mrs. T., you saw the house of Armand Dubois every day, and you couldn't have missed hearing the rumor that ho kept his fortune in cash in Ills mattress. You heard, too. the barking of that big beast that protected his wealth. With your clever mind why didn't vou work out a sketch for you and Dickie" to do in vaudeville?" Ho stopped, and looked squarely at the pair, their eyes glancing shiftily about, their fingers fidgeting. "Now. you were Interested In this harlequin bladder blad-der that smells of chloroform," continued contin-ued Poe. "What if I were to tell you that H was used in an act bv a clever young couplo I once knew In well. In Pnrls? What If" "Oh. don't beat around the bush," cried Mrs. Twirley sullenly, then blazing up. "What's your game? What aro you trying to get at? Whal " Christopher Poe held up his hnpd for silence as Twirley, his eyes bulging, his mouth panic-set. leaned toward him. fingers and eyelids twitching. "Now wait wait! Here's a sketch Idea for you folks. Listen to It!" continued Poe. "You can pull down three hundred a week with It easy with your acrobatic ability and cleverness. "Once upon a time In Pari, vou understand un-derstand there was a clever vouhg couple cou-ple like you kids. Stranded team of ocrobats; pantomime people. They II vd in a rear room of a cheap theatrical rooming-house. Just one flight up, where they could see dally acres? a high brick wan a courtyard containing a big beast shackled on a running chain to protect a miner's gold. "On day the woman, the cleverer of tho two. goaded to envy nnd despair bv the sight of professional women finelv clad and at work, suddenly thought of the great dependence that old miser had on his man-eating dog." Tho Twirley Twins were drawing unconsciously un-consciously nearer together, as though for protection, and the flush was leaving leav-ing their faces, slowly fixing into awed, gaping blanks as Christopher Poe continued. con-tinued. "The money of that miser worried the woman. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't eat, and finally the workd out a scheme a good scheme, a shrewd scheme. Siio told It to her husband In a wild mood, never thinking of It as a practical matter. mat-ter. He. poor devil, urged on by debt, took tt practical view of It. and they wero about to execute the, scheme when suddenly sud-denly the Idea came that while tho chances were that their careful plan would work they might be caught later on; nnd the thought came, too, that they might not enjoy the miser's gold, after they had It." Mrs. Twirley tossed back her head and laughed sharply, artificially, as Poe paused. FIc fixed his eyes on hor. "So the woman suggested that since the Idea of robbing the old miser was so completely figured out as to almost defy detection, and since they were letter-perfect In rehearsing the act. It would be better to play a sure thing. So she sat down and worked out the practical prac-tical plan of the robbery Into a twenty-ri twenty-ri iMitc audclllc skit for herself and luaband, and thc had already got Into the spirit of I lie thing so well from considering con-sidering It as a possible crime, that at ti tryout before a good manager they wore offered $200 a week and a bonus If It vo'ii hlc. ' "Sounds good!" remarked Mrs. Twirley, Twir-ley, oreathliig fiercely. "But are you quite sure you know the plot of that sketch?" Her husband's llt-ts clenched till tho knuckles phone stark and white. His small black eyes pierced to tho core of the raconteur, before him- "Yes. aro you quite sure?" he breathed viciously. "Oh. the plot." said Poe lightly. "Yos. it was so simple. I'd most forgotten. The sketch opens during the hour Just preceding pre-ceding lhat dumb darkness before dawn. The vaudeville pair are disclosed In their I room; the man is dressed In a line dogskin, dog-skin, a good mako-up a hide the exact counterpart of tho miser's Great Dane. The woman Is dressed In black trousors nnd coat, carries a jimmy with which she has practiced, a. dark lantern, a revolver revol-ver like this" as he picked up the one from tho table by way or Illustration, the Twirley woman sank back against the wall, a low cry escaping her "and a harlequin's har-lequin's bladder filled full of chloroform and tightly tied. A second scene shows the man and wife tocother on one side of a high wall dividing the stage: It is the garden wall suparallng their court from the miser's. The man. hclifg an acrobat, climbs up to tho top so skillfully that the dog lying below on the other side hears nothing until a skin full of liquid bursts on one of the pointed studs of his collar, a big stono drops at the same instant on his head and stuns liiin. ho opens his mouth and gags for breath with which to bark, sucks In tho chloroform and succumbs. suc-cumbs. "The man gives a signal to the woman; wom-an; she climbs to his side, together they drop over into the court; the man In his dogskin, suilt unsnaps the great Dane's chain, and attaches It to a duplicate collar col-lar about his own neck. "lie has no sooner attached the chain and dropped to all fours when the shaip click of a key In the front gate announces an-nounces the approach of the watchman on his regular three-minute round. The woman darts to a rear window thoy have examined from their room with a glass and found to be a weak point, guarded only by the dog. and she works quietly whllo her husband leaps forth boldly, snaps at tho watchman. Imitates the dog's bark exactly, and rages back and forth angrily in the moonlight to convince the watchman that all Is well and tho house perfectly protected. lie had practiced the part tor weeks, you see. and was letter-perrect In II. I saw tho sketch when It was produced In London and 1 could not tell him from the real dog. This scene occurs, at thai fearful moment, mo-ment, the darkness before dawn: the watchman riotca thai ot?l "Before the watelin., 'AM round tho 1,-iok ,c',n trsSfl desperate uo, Jont miser and rilled hu 8 c,1fo4sl dog 1S fast rev v 1 y"nM tho chloroform 'i? frm been nicely timed, J& X51 appear over the w.a M In n black aprufi n'.fWEl there, when tli" th3.1 11 been reattachc to , ?' when throuq " i n Vfe 71 tlon. Inipa ui t u fcSl man. who ,, j,.,. "Hs iW The animal,' S,, W"'-SI hinges at the uYiV ?l1 n m furiously that fi1'!"?4'" 4 miser out of his u?& m minor throws un m 3 m I'OIP. As a '; a '"n8 !"!o Jiihi before & "tk thus giving ian3Vn 1 mal had been on S?aJW' 4 covering p fm all 3 of the burglarl' Thinl down amid great iP. thsl There was 3 5P1,hlat poe finished nK al Ing beneath "heir 'fi to the other of ' thS SLhssl , "1 m a f raid Vo,S Mi ty." he said In a ,..? ml$i vou'd let me fnft8 l provo au alibi If y0"e. in skipping yonr crime you may ha aceomodatlnBi s'"iil an hour to cover ft1 which the crlm mii?. mIlsi milled, i SZ? 'nIit hxM 'Oh, there wasn't anvJl couple reconsidered "fiftil they could make more "Mb the sketch, aml'rll five or six years at hm .VM feet security of phij g, M dom. So In a lltiu im$JB akotrh they caWa"Cm5 sent .ilm round to theiS suit-cases packed w MB Pleased the audience M There was a .-tiddn iflZtifl the woman snatched a nihH ler from the table andnfl bul her husband canehl L hand" P0C knoc ff fefl "Listen! He's got 'it a be a fool! You didn't aolf. It was Just the only flH The woman lurched fJB arms, and clawed fr.mtlau3B Poe picked Up a niafazbSH back to them and wt nSH minutes. At the rjd oltM woman, red-faced and (3 cried defiantly: "There's a mcsacnccr cdB hall. Go ring for joiinCsB Iso thanks. I'd rather aS lliere Jsn t any such bell km looked as 1 entored," annul gufdly, not taking "ia tytffS Mrs. Twirley stared at sS he were unreal, and fhrtrM her head In a frenzv. PctiH "How In heaven did In this, yon you weasol?" mU "I've got a room loolriftmfl Dubois court myself," sH lag toward her frankly, Hmm given In. "It's Juki tM heard Dickie bark In ImHI to entertain the Inndladr.tjH hth examining that DdlH with the telescope. I triTH prepared, and being somerrtsV prowler myself. I ' just hsjH with a skeleton key or tiFtjB a bit of materlnl for .i-V4.aB I can gel you hooked Wmm like, nt Rllly Ryan's ViMf or tin- station house. IfitH The woman looked ftiarrtM her husband, and llfen twmm two suitcases which she H guarded In the corner f:H "He's only bluffing, DidsH "1 know It." Twirley lH It sort of stands to u gel fiftv n wcok clean than got fifty thousand tkH mud to my fingers every tB to spend It-" JMm "Bully for you!" cried OsSI "I've got a skeleton pUsrppj in my pocket here. I'll tSfl a set of props. Your ifcpB over the sketch, Dickie, JmM out and call a mEsaengtrB Mrs. Twirley, with a burst into a flood of semsBJ "Yes," she said oftlf.M Dickie, he's got Ilia real mm (Copyright, 1913, byWGjM I (Next weokjTfijjH |
