Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-07-06
aptiste held the drin while bis co

oaUG15D6 Wt1S bO L4Cu bL1xtb uC uIOppcu the drill.
 'tIt is ghost" he said.
 Baptiste was for throwing up the job uncompromisingl on the spot, but this proposal met with obstacles. His fellow workman, who was of stiffer courage, rejected it with scorn, as savoring too much of the superstitious. Pierre had a large family to support, he argued. He spoke frankly. They could not afford to throw away the opportunities of provi- dence. To his friend and colaborer the burden of his remarks was: "Lachel Go honI You make me tired wiz yer ghosts an tings. Let's not have mence. Allonsr'
 The upshot of this was that Pierre and Baptiste went back to work. At the third crack of the drill Pierre crossed himself and said:
 "Baptiste, dere's man in dat safeI' Both men grew pale as death at the very suggestion. Baptiste, for instance, was so frightened he couldn't utter 8 syllable. His tongue claye to the roof of his mouth. However, Pierre, as usu- al, was the first to recover. He applied his ear first to the lock and then to the drill hole.
 { "Hey, in derer' he cried, yet not so loud as to be heard on the sidewalk. To this there came faint resp lnse-a very ! faint shout indeed. It sounded as if it were 8 mile away:
 "For Gods sake, give me airI I am locked in here. Try and burst open the safeP'
 The two burglars did not stop to talk, 1,~,G ,A &r,- .1- &I. | lives depended on the result instead of the life of the mysterious occupant of the vault. In less than four minutes they had a hole somewhat smaller than the business end of a collar button knocked into the panel of the vault.
 Thep Pierre and Baptiste paused to wipe the sweat from their brows. The man inside breathed.
 It was now that the pair began to muse on the denouement. Could this be a member of the firm or an employed | This hypothesis jeopardized the succes | of the nights adventure unless whe
 they had permitted the prisoner
 emerge they bound and gagged him int, | silence.
 On the other hand, this course would have an ugly look. If he resisted, ii might mean murder in the end; where as, if they did not let him out at all, they would stand no chance of profting by |, the pecuniary contents of the safe. Be- i sides, as the man could scarcely live thus till morning, they would be responsible for his taking of. Thus reasoned Pierre and Baptiste. These were not comfort | ing reflections, but there was still an- | other and better in reserve. What if, | after all, the man were himself felon? | Might he not be companion cribcrack- CT? In that case they would merely have | to divide the spells.
 "Hey, in dere," cried Pierre, suddenly
 struck with an idea. "What is de com
 bination hof de safe?'
 ree-seventy- -threer' came back in sepulchral tones.
 It was evidently growing harder and harder to draw breath through the tiny
 aperture. Thus it transpired that at the expira- tion of 15 seconds the lock of the vault | gave back the same resonant click it had rendered eight minutes previously. | Thanks to the timely advent of Pierre | and Baptiste, it opened as lightly, as air fly and as decisively as it had closed 4s0
 seconds before on the unhappy account | ant.
 The head bookkeeper gasped once or twice, but without any assistance step | ped out into the free air. He was very | pale. and his dress was much rent and disordered when his feet touched the floor. But this pallor quickly made
 way for Q red flush at perceiving the two burglars with the implements of their profession strewed around them. | Meanwhile Pierre and Baptiste them
 selves stood transfxed by the sheer nov city of the situation.
 Without any kind of speech or warn-
 ing or without making any attempt at
 brayado, the bookkeeper walked delib-
 erately to his desk and rang an electric call for the police. Simultaneously, it
 seemed, for so rapid and quiet was the
 action, he opened a drawer, took out a
 small revolver and covered both bur
 glars with fatal precision. As he did
 30 he uttered these remarkable words:
 "Gentlemen, would indeed be the
 basest of men If did not feel profoundly
 grateful for the service you have just
 rendered me. Ishall always regard you
 as any right minded man should regard
 those who have saved his life with immi-
 nent peril to themselves or, which is inst
 the same, to their liberty. Any demand
 in reason you make Of me shall make
 an effort to perform. But my duty to
 my employers regard as paramount. I
 have accumulated a little money, and
 with it propose to engage the best
 counsel in your defense, which Is cer-
 tainly marked by mitigating circum-
 stances. If, on the other hand, you are
 convicted"-
 Here the officers of justice entered,
 having broken open the door with a
 crash.-Strand Magazine.
 The Action of Fsuit on the Teeth.