Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-01-13
HIS LAST CRIME.

HlO IAOl ChlME.
Frank Fairman, alias Freezeout Fair
mount, Fancy Frank, etc., was a burglar.
In every great city of the land the law
offices either knew him or of him, and by
ten years patient endeavor at getting 9TH
er peoples property between the hours of
midnight and 5 a. IN. he had gained wide
spread notoriety. As a rule, whenever he
made his appearance in any metropolis the
police either arrested him On general prin-
ciples or "kcpt tabs on him." So now in
these days London, Liverpool and other
cities began to know him less and the
small towns more. Though exiled, his
glory did not suffer by operations in more
restricted fields. Rather he added consid-
erably to his laurels by continually avoid
ing arrest, or, if arrested, aided by skillful
lawyers, conviction. There seemed for
this king Of the Jimmy no day of retri-
button.
What awakened the admiration of his
ancient enemies, the detectives, more than
anything else was the fact that Fairman
invariably worked alone. So far as known,
in no single job had he ever been aided by
a confederate. Neither did he seek to gain
advance information of the ''lay" of d
house by pumping servants, and, in short,
rejected all the conventional methods of
the average h~ousebreaker, apparently Sc
Letting u residence to rob and then de-
pending ON a high order of cunning and
intelligence to enter it and overcome all
obstacles that might arise.
This system of work made Fairman
more dangerous by far than the ordinary
burglar, and not a police chief in the king
dom but would have gone to great lengths
to put him behind the bars. What his his
tory had been prior to a warm spring
night years before when he had entered the
home of a merchant in Bradford and swept
it Of every valuable without disturbing
the family cat no man could claim to
know. Certainly he was not of the slums.
On the contrary, on the few occasions
when he had faced the bar of justice his
remarks revealed tho possession OF a good
education.
But just then, while the snow falling
outside seemed a bencdiction from heaven
Oh the Christmas festival that midnight
would usher in, burglary and theft and
murder and crime seemed so utterly out
of harmony with the glad spirit of the
day that to no mans mind in Paxton
village did thought of them even suggest
itself.
Least of all did old MAJ Davis, the vet
eran "chief'' of the little towns three po-
licemen, fear visitations by evildoers. Had
he known that the tall, richly dressed
stranger passing his window at that very
moment was the noted and dreaded GRIM
inal, Frank Fairman, his visions of the
morrow's Christmas tree, plum pudding,
etc., would have been rudely dispelled.
But he did not, and his wrinkled face,
like every other face in town, wrinkled or
otherwise, was beaming with expectant
happiness.
Fairman was in hard luck. He had
been EN- route from Manchester to London,
where he tried to spend every Christmas,
but an energetic detective had followed SO
fast and hard after chat he was forced to
dodge off into the little village. He was
not even sure now that he had shaken his
pursuer, and the fear, combined with the
certain failure to eat turkey in the west
end of London, filled him with wrath.
When he struck the town, such a thing
as burglary never entered his head. He
had made a big haul in Bristol and did
not contemplate q raise" for some
months. But whether it was a strange
vanity to startlo the unsophisticated
townsmen with a daring robbery by tho
prince of housebreakers, Frank Fairman"
he fancied he even now saw the black
type heading In the village paper-or
whether he felt q desire to revenge himself
on the town for the delay he had suffered,
is immaterial. He had suddenly resolved
on a "job."
BY daylight he could catch an express
to town. There was the house he wanted,
it's windows staring down upon him now
through the curtain of snowfakes-a
large, handsome residence, whose exterior
bespoke an alluring plenty within. Fair
man did not even appear to glance at it as
he strobe by.
His mission was one of extreme danger,
but the prospect only made him more
eager. Any one Of half q dozen children
might be lying awake to watch the advent
OF Santa Claus and betray him, but he did
not draw back. While all the world should
dream of peace on earth, good will to
men" he would try to steal, and try hard.
Here Il there the houses, by which he
aimlessly wandered, sent forth CLEANS of
CHEEKY light, and laughter and song float.
cd out to join the old church bells il glad
rejoicing. 1t was a time in which old
hearts became young, and a dozen times
that memorable night Fairman hesitated.
But mingled with the sweet influences
that shook conscience and heart wore Bit
ter memories, and so he went on jeering
Qf his ~ ~ n Wv kjch coyti1no,oA ~ orn,, ,cL.Jo
tears dimmed his eyes.
At last midnight came and making all
preparations for leaving by the s a. m.
train Fairman left the hotel equipped for
the expedition. He effected an entrance
into the dining room window Of the house
he had selected to plumber just as .
O'Clock doomed from several public clocks.
To n of his long experience the collec-
tion Of the exposed silver and it's arrange
ment in q compact bundle were short work.
Then he went up stairs, feeling his way
and occasionally darting small disks of
light into the gloom from a dark lantern.
He should, ordinarily, have been content
ed with his seizure of silver plate, but
tonight the spirit of daring was strong
upon him and he would not turn back.
Entering o small door to the right of the
landing at the top of the stairs he was as
cending, Fairman walked softly into a
small passage. In tho quick radiance of
his lantern g momentary exposure he noted
a heavy door at the farther end and this
he opened with SO firm q wrist that no
sound whatever followed.
When he faced the door, there had been
CLEAN Of light at either the keyhole or |
chinks, but when it opened, to his horror, 4
stepped into a brilliantly lighted libra
~, occupied by an old gentleman whose
face was toward him.