Show U I IN THE CLOTHES I OF ANOTHER By LITTELL McCLUNG For a week I had been In a neighborhood neigh-borhood town on business for tho cloak manufactory by which I had been employed for two years Tho first thing I did on my return to the factory that morning was to stopover stop-over to the mall rack to see it any letters had come for mo In my absence ab-sence There were Bovcral and I took them over to my desk and opened them hurriedly for I was anxious to begin work on the report of my trip which had been decidedly successful Nono of the missives was Important and 1 was Just about to relegate them to a corner of my desk for future perusal when my glance fell on a small square envelope which I had overlooked In my hurry The handwriting hand-writing was a womans and with a quick Jerk I tore open tho flap This Is what I read Mr and Mrs Oscar Cramp request tho pleasure of Mr James Hanson at a dance to bo given in honor of their daughter Miss Ethel Cramp at the Hotel Dollford Wednesday evening at nine oclock If this simple Invitation had been a gift check for 1000 it would not have opened my eyes wider Mr Cramp was the president of tho manufactory His wife was tho social arbiter of the town Why should they Invite me to tho dance in honor of their dnnelitpr There must be some mistake yea t ye-a second look at tho Invitation told mo there was no mistake on their part at least DutI could not go I wanted want-ed to accept tho invitation but It would bo Impossible I was racking my brain for somo excuse when Mr Cramp himself came through the room As ho entered his ofllco ho turned saw me and motioned to me to follow him In a moment I was In hla private ofllco Hanson youre coming to tho dance tonight arent you ho asked Why no sir ImIm afraid I cant I stuttered That Is under tho circumstances I think Id bettor bet-tor nosh ho cut In of course youre coming Miss Dorothy Walker is tb bo there you wouldnt mind seeing her would you 7 Mention of Dorothy Walker throw an Illuminating light on the subject This drove mo to speak tho truth Im sorry Mr Cramp I said but the fact Is I havent clothes suitable suit-able to wear I havent a dress suit to my name You can understand now why Ive hesitated Good for you Hanson ho said thats nothing to be ashamed of Why I never owned a dress suit till I was forty years old Put on your hat and go down to Solomons Hell lit you out 1110 tho best of them Youll look fine and nobodyll bo tho wiser Go now and come back and tell mo how you make out e e e e e How did you succeed ho asked Splendidly I declared He gave mo a perfect fit and Ill try to forget that the suits rented and enjoy myself my-self as much ns possible With the selfassurance evening clothes give to a man I presented myself my-self nt tho Bellford shortly after nine oclock Tho big ballroom was all 0 aglitter with lights and decorations After I had become accustomed to the beauty of the scone that continually contin-ually shifted before my gaze lbegan to look l for Dorothy Walker Finally I spied her In a small My heart bounded group then a Jealous chill ran through me She was with Draxton our assistant cashier cash-ier Braxton was rather a surly indl Idual who several times had e snubbed mo at the factory Naturally my regard re-gard was not of high degree O Mr Hanson Im awfully glad to see you she exclaimed extending her hand You know Mr Braxton dont you Yes I know Mr Braxton Good evenlngl sir I said cheerfully Good evening snapped nraxton and ho turned his head to salute some ono who was passing I confined my attention to Miss Walker without further ado Please give me a dance wont you I asked Why didnt you lot mo know you were coming asked my fair partner I Just got back to town today I explained In the maze of tho dance Then under the intoxication of tho moment I said Would you have gono with me If I had asked you several days ago it was a rash question but for answer an-swer she smiled up at me Who knows she parried But then maybe therell bo another dance this winter That was enough for mo I know at that Instant that tho Insolent Drax ton didnt have an advantage over mo so I took courage to request another an-other dance As I left her at her seat I saw nrax ton eyeing me curiously though ho said nothing Several times In the next half hour I found him near mo regarding mo critically After my second sec-ond dance with Miss Walker ho glared to him at me I paid no attention Hanson he said as I half whirled to see what he wanted come out Into I want to sec tho smokingroom you Hanson he asked with a curl of his lip where did you got that suit of clothes What business Is that of yours 7 I demanded he retorted Its lots of my business torted That suit belongs to me I felt my muscles weaken all over but I kept up a show of bravado You must bo crazy Uraxtonl ext claimed In a half whisper I know where I got this suit and 1 know that Its not yours Yes and I know where you got It too he hissed back You took It 1 from the closet of my room down nt the factory a week ago Its my suit Draxton youre wrong I protested protest-ed now thoroughly panicstricken If 1 you must know the truth I rented this suit from Solomons today But I do hope youll be gentleman enough not to jay anything about It 7 Ho laughed fiendishly Likely tale Solomon doesnt buy stolen suits See here Hanson get your hat and duck If I catch you In the ballroom ball-room again you thief Ill tell Miss Walker and nil tho others about you Duck I say duck You can explain to me tomorrow Youd hotter take my advice was his parting shot to me as ho disappeared disap-peared Inside tho ballroom In utter despair I sank down on a 1 chair I would far rather have faced tho cannons lurid breath than Miss Walkers and Mr Cramps eyes after I this contemptible Draxton had said six words to them And the worse of It was that he might bo right I might have on his suit It probably had been stolen n from his office and sold to Solomon I left tho hotel without bidding anybody any-body goodby The first thing was to get off tho clothes I was wearing my flesh seemed to bo burning under their weight I rushed off to my boarding house and went upstairs But I didnt linger to ponder on my feelings I went straight for Solo mons In five minutes I had reached that secondhand shop It was as ilnr1r nR iJnni InRII I rang the doorbell then pounded on tho door There was no noise within Out I knew that the owner was sleeping upstairs and I continued contin-ued to pound and make all the racket I could without arousing tho neighborhood neigh-borhood Just as my patience was about exhausted ex-hausted old Solomon In his night garments gar-ments turned tho knob and opened tho door a few Inches What Is It hequeried In a gruff frightened voice Im tho man you rented a dress suit to today I said Its a stolen suit and youve got to take It back I want you to write mo a statement state-ment nt once saying that I rented tho suit from you I said In determined deter-mined tones That will square mo with the man who owns It He Is tho assistant cashier In tho cloak manufactory Give me this statement and then you two can fight it out All right Ill write It he agreed leading the way back Into one of the rooms He took out a piece of ruled paper from his desk and I dictated while ho wrote a line saying that I had rented tho suit from him and that ho had bought It from a young man with red hair When ho signed tho paper I took It thanked him and hurried hur-ried out of the place My steps led up the street in the direction of the factory As I walked I also racked my brain to think of somo young man with red hair who might have stolen the suit There were three or four hundred men In tho place and tho task of settllng on the thief was like i looking for a wheat grain In a Back nf nrltR As the factory was close I determined deter-mined to go to it and telephone to the arrogant Braxton that Solomon had given me a written statement exonerating exon-erating me from blame I dared not go back to tho hotel In my sack suit for fear of causing comment and possible pos-sible exposure It was dark but I did not turn up tho lights In going upstairs I made my way over to tho desk and In si lence sat down to ponder a few mo ments ovor tho words I would use in phoning and In writing to Braxton Finally I decided Just what to say to him and was on tho oolnt of get ting up to go over to th > telephone when somethlngl dont know what caused mo to hesitate A strange feeling of tho presence of another person In the room sud denly came over me Silently I peered Into the darkness my carps alert for the slightest sound ThenI saw llrht a lighta i round bright light flash out across tho hall through the open door Was It tho night watchman I listened Distinctly I heard soft footfalls not twenty feet away from me The light appeared agalnthls tlmo holding second longer than before a Now i discerned dimly tho figure of n man crouching In tho corridor Then It all flashed I over motho man was close to the big safe that was set on heavy timbers In the hall way That safe often contained ser oral thousand dollars In cash For tho fourth time tho light ap pearcd and now It was reflected tho metal knob of tho safe i on tho hands and wrists of tho man saw held It but I could discern who I know however nothing that ho was kneeling In front of tho safe Instinctively I held my breath i bur I feared that oven my chest expansion might reach his alert ears Outsltlo I heard footfalls on tho pavement but Inside all was as quiet as the tomb I saw tho steel wheel turn as clear 0 ly I as If I had been manipulating it myself All at once tho light switched from the llttlo lantern and fell on apiece a-piece of paper held between the mans fingers Tim robber was reading tho combination as ho worked itI I In a few seconds at most ho would open the safe rifle it of its cash and disappear Into the darkness without over a soul seeing his face Then tho horror of tho situation came upon me and my heart bumped against my bosom I would bo accused ac-cused of tho burglary Half a minute more and It would bo too late Better be killed I thought than condemned for this crime Tho man grasped tho handle of tho door of tho safe and the block of steel swung back My senses were alert now and I tried not to think of tho danger i Quickly I lifted my right foot and ran my hand down to my shoo tops How lucky It was that I had worn buttoned shoes with my dress suit for I could unfasten them easily and with one hand As I felt button aftor button give way under my fingers I gained courago to face death Softly I slipped off tho shoo and set It gently on tho floor Then as cautiously cau-tiously I took off the other one Though trembling for fear of making ma-king a noise I slipped out of my chair and stood on the floor The man at tho safe had worked the combination on one of the Inside boxes Ho was taking out layers of bills Foot by foot I approached the invisible in-visible robber The tlmo seemed to fly though It could not have been a minute until I was at the door Two more steps would put mo within striking distance Every muscle In my body was quivering as I moved forward another yard then another Then there was a flash In my eyes and the lantern light shone full In my face Help I yelled and leaped blindly forward I struck the robber as ho leaned for his pistol and we both rolled over In a heap on tho floor I was fighting for his hands I know If ho ever got his hands on the trigger of his pistol It would probably be all over with me Bang Tho roar was right in my ears but the flash of powder went over my head Neither of us had been hit With strength I never thought 1 possessed I seized the mans arm and give it a terrific wrench A cry ol pain burst from his lips and tho pistol pis-tol fell to the floor My hand groped out after It My fingers seized the hot barrel With one frantic swing I sent the revolver sliding across the floor of the other room It was a fair fight to the finish now A clenched fist struck my face a stinging blow but I kept my fingers open and felt for my antagonists throat He must havo known my In tentlons for a second later I felt his fingers grip down on my windpipe By sinking my nails Into his wrist 1 wrested myself from his deadly grip Help Help I shouted as my breath came back Over on tho floor we rolled The robber was now on top but I clung to him desperately determined to risk my life In holding him Suddenly a I light shone above us and then every I electric bulb in the room went on I caught a glimpse of tho watchmans face Grab him grab him I cried ns the robber pulled himself from my weakening grasp In an Instant the watchman had swung the cane he always carried His aim was true A mans form fell beside mo on tho floor I looked at him He was a young man and his hair was red Its Summers the new shipping clerk gasped tho watchman Ill sit on him while you call the ponce Be quick i struggled to my feet and rushed to tho telephone booth In five min utes the now conscious Summers handcuffed Inncl being dragged off was to a cell In the station house Ho put me up to It ho exclaimed Ho gave mo tho combination and I was going to give him half the money He was tho cause of my doing It 0 Lord why did I over listen to him Who Who demanded a detec live Who put you up to It Youd bettor tell now and save yourself Ho Braxton blurted the thief He put mo up to It I saw Mr Cramp stagger Braxton ho gasped Braxton Then It had come to this Ive been watching him for somo time but to think thatIts astounding tounding simply as Wheros Braxton demanded detective tho At the Hotel Bollford said Mr Cramp weakly Tho detective followed by the liceman po darted out the door But tho telephone had been ing work for when the ofllcors hotel Mr Braxton got to tho bo found was nowhere to Ho had left Miss Walker abruptly and without a planation word of ox Three weeks later ho was one of tho largo cities caught In Developments showed that wanted In ho was the far west for safe live years before robbing a Summers career was that of n 1 petty thief I was In demand who at several police quarters Co head I out Invitations two days to whon our wedding Dorothy had been me a question asked Aro you going to buy a dress for tho wedding dear suit Certainly my dear girl I replied squeezing her hand I buy on can afford to one now Look at this ronennnd an envelope that had roino and took outla blue Just per It was a check for slip of pa 1000 signature was Mr Cramps Thti |