El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-05-05

arouse Sir Titus BIaydes one night and
inform him that we have reason to be
lieve that burglars are in the house
while he is waiting and l am there
to keep him company, you two fellows
make track for the gallery, and when
| you get there you proceed to make up
the statue in the guise Of a modern
burglar by means of coat, trousers
muffier, overcoat, cap, shoes, beard.
whiskers and grease paint, all of which
you can conceal about your persons.
Directly the disguise business il
completed you fire a revolver Hear
ing the report, rush up to the gallery
the burglar, a desperate ruffian, has
will then carry down the supposed
burglar, whose face will be covered
with a handkerchief
Grimes drew a long breath. well
I'm blowed!'' he exclaimed hoarsely
as he knocked the ashes from his clay.
eff that amt the FUNNIEST an the cut-
est dodge as ever / came acrost. Yer
and, gov'nor, yer and. It's pleasure
to commit a fellerney with a bloke like
yer to boss it,
The evening Of Dec. ! was a typical
foggy night. By the time st. Giles
church struck IL, a cab containing
Grimes, Harris and myself was on the
way to Longworth Court.
The dressing of the statue had al
ready been rehearsed dozen times on
plaster Apollo which, had bought in
Euston road, and there was therefore,
little to fear in the way of a break
down unless Sir Titus insisted on &C.
companying the supposed cOnstabIes in Z
search of the maginary burglars.
However, in all probability he would:
do nothing of the sor.; at worst, f he
did so, we would simply abandon the
business and go home.
LongwOrth Court was some Is miles
from London, and it therefore took us
the best part of three hours to reach
Our destination.
We alighted at the end of the lane
leading to the mansion, and babe Flow
ers, one of my oldest and smartest
chums, to wait till he heard our whis-
tie before driving up to the door. This
was taken in case any local
police Glanced to be hanging about the
house while we were engaged inside
We then marched boldly up the drive
and rang the bell. After an interval Of
i've minutes there was the sound Of
heavy bolts being drawn, and the door
swung open, disclosing white haired
Did man whom | took to be the butler.
he gave cry when the light from
lis lantern fell on our faces and mi
'orms.
Calm yourself, my good man."
aid, assuming an official voice You
ave nothing to fear. From informa-
ion received, we believe that burglars
re in the east wing OF this house, and
We have come to catch them. Arouse
our master Immediately"
Sir Titus Blaydes, a thin, pinched UP
title man, appeared quickly. He was
quite as scared as his butler,
nd when we told him our mission he
vrung his hands
BE quick. officers" he screamed, his
ace blanching with terror, "and 1 will
Tait here in the hall till you return
tay, inspector. You might stop with
lie in case the blackguards should
ONE this way
During their absence Sir Titus, with
hattering teeth, conversed with me,
cling me how he had always dreaded
UGH an attack, and now it had come
pass. His reflections were inter-
lpted by a loud report, which rang
ut sharp and clear through the still
ouse.
L darted from the hall and an instant
ter returned. with a gloomy mien.
Il regret to say, Sir Titus" l cried,
that the man has been shot dead
here was only one of them, but he
ade terrible resistance. and in the
ruggle his own weapon went off, the
lllet entering his brain. We win take
i'm away at once"
thought my heart would stand still
hen, after the supposed corpse had
cen brought toward the door, Sir
titus came forward and exclaimed in
quick. hurried tone: stop! Set it
own. Strangely enough, in all my 8S
ears. l have never seen a dead man.
ct me see the face of this one.'
There was nothing to be done but to
the morbid baronet have his way
Id trust to luck and to the deception
wig, paint and beard
The baronet knelt beside the statue
Id raised the handkerchief from the
God stained face. Then look Of dis
list crossed his patrician features, and
rose, having carefully replaced the
lndkerchief.
Take it away, officers" he said "A
ore repulsive and ruffianly looking
| never saw. Crime Is
amped on every feature"
And that was how the millionaire
Hector of the antique characterized
atue for which he had refused $780,
O.-London Tit-Bits.