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Show THE LOVEJOYS' I BURGLAR 1 Mr. and Mrs. Lovojoy wero sitting with tho rcmnlus ot their evening meal between them. Mrs. Lovojoy, wltli her elbows comfortably on tho tablo, was sipping a'cup of tea and wistfully looking across tho tablo at, nor husband, who waB Immersed In ;ho evening paper. Yes, thoy had been married long onough to got used to jaoh othor. Mrs. Lovejoy, after bo-(ng bo-(ng shut up In n flat all day, was ?razy to talk, but sho had already ioarnod better than to ask hor husband hus-band any questions whllo he was dcop in a newspaper story. Finally, however, how-ever, as she saw his eyes switch to another story, Bho daro to break tho sllenco. "Well," sho bogan tontatlvoly, "what was going on downtown to-day?" '"Thing m'ch,' camo Indistinctly from behind tho paper. Thoro was a short sllonco and thon sho tried again. "Havo a busy day down at tho of-flco?" of-flco?" "Mm," replied her husband. Thore was a longer sllonco, and Mrs. Lovojoy sot her teacup down In dosperatlon. "Honry," sho said, "havo you got a revolver" Mr. Lovojoy "toll" for this all right. Ho crumplod his papor up and stared at her In astonishment. "Havo I got a rovolvor? No, I havo not. What mado you ask such a question?" "Bocause," said Mrs. Lovojoy, putting put-ting her chin down on hor folded hands, "I think wo ought to havo ono In tho flat here." "What aro wo gotng to shoot with It?" said Mr. Lovojoy, picking up his paper. "Durglars," said Mrs. Lovojoy decisively. de-cisively. Mr. Lovojoy dropped his paper dgaln. "Durglars!" ho oxclaimed. " Why, havo you scon any roconnoltorlng around hero?" "No, but they aro moving up In this direction. Somo tlmo ago tho papers pa-pers said thoy wero robbing houses' in this neighborhood. Thon thoy moved up In tho next block and frightened an old lady nearly to death. Thon I saw yesterday whoro a house only a fow doors away was entored, so noxt thoy will land up hero," sho ended triumphantly. tri-umphantly. "So you think wo ought to havo a gun horo to ropol posslblo burglars," said Mr. Lovojoy, looking amused. "Yes, I do," she answered with conviction. con-viction. "I know I should feel much safer If I knew thoro was ono In tho house. Somotlmcs I wako up In tho night and hear all sorts ot croopy sounds and noises, only sometimes you enoro so loud I can't hear them distinctly." "Well, I guess I can handlo any burglar that butts In hero," said Mr. Lovojoy confidently. "I suppose you could If you wakod np In tlmo," said his wife, who failed to sco tho humor In hor husband's boast as contrasted with Ills ofllco-brcd physique. "Oh, woll, then," said Mr. Lovojoy, with an indulgont air, "If it will mako you .foel any hotter I'll got a gun and keep' it hero. Anything to avoid an argument," and ho went back to his papor. Though Lovejoy would not admit it oven to himself, his wifo's arguments argu-ments had mado an Impression on him. Ho had novor ownod a revolver in his lifo, but ho decided that ho himself him-self would feel safer at night hereafter If ho had a weapon wea-pon within roach. So on his way homo tho next evening ho bought a second-hand rovolvcr in a pawnshop nnd carrlod It homo. Ho showed It to his wlfo and spoko boastfully ot "making "ma-king nny Raffles that poked his hoad in tho room look like a pepper box." Mrs. Lovojoy declared horsolf delighted de-lighted and that horoafter sho would bo ablo to slcop in pcaco. However, sho was dreadfully afraid of the weapon, weap-on, nnd beggod hor husband to lock it up whoro sho couldn't stumblo ovor It nnd accidentally flro It off. So Mr. Lovojoy laughingly shovod tho rovolvor ro-volvor Into a bureau drawor and turned tho koy on it. It was a Sunday aftornoon a week or two later that Mr, and Mrs. Lovojoy Lovo-joy lott tholr flat for a vIbU to frlonds. Tho frlonds Insisted on their remaining remain-ing to dinner, so thoy did not reach homo till 11 o'clock that night. Mrs. Lovojoy preceded hor husband up tho stairs. "Why, Honry!" sho exclaimed. "Wo torgot to lock tho door!" "Did wo?" said her hUBband, only mildly interested; "why I am suro I locked It." A shriek camo from Mrs. Lovojoy, who had gono within. Her husband ran to her. Sho pointed in dumb horror. hor-ror. Tho eldoboard in the dining-room dining-room had boon swopt clear ot all port-ablo port-ablo silverware A hurrlod Investigation Investiga-tion rovealod that the bedroom had also boon ransacked. Tho trail ot tho snoak-thlof was overywhoro evident. Mr. Lovojoy sprang for tho bureau drawor In which tho pistol had lain forgotten over slnco ho had put it thoro. Ho fumbled In his pockots and thon sat down weakly on tho odgo ot tho bod. "My koyB aro In my othor trousers pockot," ho moanod. "Wo didn't lock tho door aftor all." Mrs. Lovejoy snatchod at tho draw, or. It camo opon readily, It was quite haro within. "And, by aoorgol" groaned hor husband. hus-band. "They got tho gun. too." |