The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-10-03
BURGLAR AT BROWNS
ny EDWARD b. CLARK.

There was absolute quiet in the detectives
squadroom. Pinochle had been given over
and the eight officers on duty at the agency
were sitting Yankeelke with their feet
above their heads, and were blinking at the
sunlight through the curling tobacco smoke.
Suddenly bell rang sharply. Eight pairs
OF feet were drawn instanter, and the pipes
and cigars went to table and floor. 1t was
the alarm bell denoting the presence of bur-
glars in the great silver house Of Brown &
Go. The detectives made for the door in
mass and scurred down the stairs. To one
who is accustomed to the ordinary move.
ments of the agile men of this particular
agency when burglar alarm is turned in,
the movements on this occasion, quick
though they were, seemed to hack something
both of the ust,al-spirit and swiftness. The
men jumped into two hacks kept at the en-.
trance Of the headquarters building for just
such emergencies and were soon whlrling
away foF the great house Of Brown& Co.
There was half growl from big fellow
on the back seat of the second carriage.
"That's eight times that bloomin' bell has
rung for burglars in Browns" said the
grumbing voice, "and til seven times we've
been fooled. III bet there ism. . a crook with
in four miles Of the place.
1t was Saturday afternoon and half holi.
day at Browns. The detectives found every
window intact and every door fastened as
tight as drum. The whele interior was in
plain view They did not attempt to break
in, but seven of them distributed themselves
so that every door and window Of the base
ment and upper floors could be watched.
The eighth man jumped into hack and was
driven post haste to the hotel residence of
Brown 4 Co.'S western manager, who had
been transferred recently to Chicago from
The east. The manager was out, and no one
in the hotel knew of his whereabouts: The
detective left message asking the manager
10 60 at once to the store on his return.
Then the officer went to the telephone and
called up the submanager of Brown q Co.,
who lived on the North side. The subman.
ager was in, and said he would make for the
store as fast as cab could take him. Now,
it was the submanager who had gone to the
store on seven different occasions when the
burglar alarm had rung and had opened up
the place for the detectives to make their
search. Nothing had ever been found in the
shape of burglar, and the ringing Of the
alarm had been put down to rats or to
faulty installation of the electrical appara-
tus.
The submanager, however, felt heavy
responsibility, and he knew that it wouldn't
do to take any chances on the thing. So he
gave the cabman an extra dollar to get him
there quick The submarager had been
superseded by the new manager from the
east only few lays before.
The submanager reached the store. TAX
ing out his bunch Of keys he let the watch
ing detectives into the great silver treasure
house. They searched the place from base.
ment to roof, but ne'er burglar did they
get. There wasn't trace of thief. Every
thing was intact, and the submanager and
the detectives agreed that il was the eighth
case of false alarm Then the sub went
home, and the officers went back to bad
cigars and pinochle,
Half an hour passed. The eight men in
the squadroom were watching the~lock, In
Is minutes they would be relieved. There
was a click, followed by the tattoo Of bell
hammer 1t was another burglar alarm
from Brown & Co. This time the detectives
put on their coats leisurely, walked out the
OOOT anu Weul uoWL tlS std'e WIN uoii
laggard steps. They climbed into the car
riages and told the drivers to go to Browns
again, but not to kill the horses on the way.
Arrived there they tumbled out hastily, for
the front door was ajar and inside they saw
a man standingnear the safe The officers
pushed their way in and the man advanced
to meet them. He wore frock coat and
silk hat He met the detectives half way
to the door, and then without further intro
duction he said: "Im the new manager
of this place. I got your message at the
hotel and came over here too late to find
you fellows, if you have ever been here at
all. l Just now pulled the burglar alarm
myself to see if you Chicago sleuths have
any life in you. find you haven't.
You're a worthless, good for nothing lot.
It's taken you FIVE minutes to answer my
call. III see to it that your agency loses this
Job tomorrow, and III tell your manager
that his loss of the place is due to your lazl-
ness and you'll all lose your jobs, too.
You're lot of ncompetents. You call your
selves detectives. Bah! you're lot of dubs.
Now get out of here and let me lock up"
A flush of anger came into the face OF
each officer as he listened to the TRADE. Sud
denly the rear1nost one of the group pushed
his way through and laid heavy hand on
the shoulder of the man who had just heaped
abuse upon them. You're pretty good
buffer, Slinky," said the detective, but l
knew you the minute laid eyes on your
evil face. You can put on a plug hat and
swell clothes all you want, but l can tell |
that sneaky look Of yours anywhere. Its
pretty near Is years since l sent you to !
Joliet last, but it'll be less than month
before You go again. Come along, now,'
and he started to pull the man who was
found in the store toward the door.
The victim drew back with face like
a thunder cloud. "How dare you" he said; |
'I'm the new manager of Brown Co. |
Here's my card. Here are my keys and let
ters addressed to me. How dare you call me
Slinky."
Between the two burly detectives the vic
tim was led to one Of the waiting carriages, |
expostulating and eAtreating all the way. |
IT tell you I'm the manager of this place.
Take me to the house of the submanager,
Mr., Barton; he'll identify me-" Into the
carriage the prisoner was hauled. The de.
tectye who had dubbed him Slinky whis-
pered something to the driver and the car
riage went north across the river.
"Say, Slinky, what job have you been
doing recently? / haven't heard from you |
since YOU came out Of the pen. Hang on
to him. Bill, there; Slinky's slippery cuss,
and perhaps we'd better put bracelets on
him. and the detective dangled pair Of
handouts before the victims eyes. The
prisoner suurmed and nearly burst into |
nv L II Iup thop ba |