Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-06-21
! The Daily Short Story
}Another Laugh at Locksmiths. !
BY JOHN Il. RAFFERTY,.

The Eberles forbade company in the
kitchen.
Mr.. Eberle's chief domestic worry
was caused by continued inability TO
account for the mysterious disappear
ance OF much hard coal that was not
burned in the furnace, the occasional
/ evanescence of whole cakes not eaten
| by the family and n constant and mex
| plicable leak" from the family store
| OF pie, canned goods, wine. coffee and
/ fruits. He was so worried about II
that he had given Brannigan, the po-
liceman, and Hyer, the private watch
| man. several Intermittent pieces OF
money to keep watch on the servants
| as they left the house to see whether
some OF them were not carrying Off his
| substance. They had maintained this
watch for nearly year, but always re-
ported that the Eberle domestics were
above suspicion. Then the man of the
house put Il paddock on the front and
back doors of the brick barn which
served as a laundry and coalhouse and
grew thin worrying over the leaks in
his domestic economy.
Then came a crisis with the stimuli
taneous disappearance of a canvas COW
cred. sugar cured ham, three bottles
Of fine port, n box OF kippered herring
and some lesser stores. Mr. and Mrs:
Eberle were frantic. They secretly
notified the policeman and the private
Waterman and began to sit up till 10
or IL o'clock at night TO watch in the
dark for any suspicious movements on
the part of the servants. But their
watchfulness was not rewarded. and
they soon resumed their habit of ear
" retiring. Confidence in their en-
pIoyees was restored. and the Eberles
reasoned that as there was no thief in
the house and that as their system of
accounts between the pantry and the
dining table was simply perfect it must
be that their grocer. their butcher and
their coal dealer were in n three cor
nered plot to gouGe them.
Monday evening, however, Mr.. Eberle
began to feel the first twinges OF his
spring rheumatism. He went to bed at
o'clock as usual, but he couldn't sleep.
After tossing about for awhile he de
cided to take n smoke, but as the rules
of the house forbade smoking any
where except in the conservatory he
put ON his clothes and slipped down
stairs in the dark with his pipe and to-
bacco. 1t must have been nearly IL
o'clock when, as from across the alley
at the rear of his home, he heard the
tinkle Of china and the sound of talk
and laughter. 1t was moonlight night, |
and he began to think that il would he
an easy matter to detect hOusebreakers |
on such n night. His eyes wandered |
over the dead wall of his laundry barn, !
with its one padlocked door. the only |
mode of egress to the alley. Then he |
saw, or thought he saw, dim ray OF |
light shining under the stable door. VI |
sions of coal thieves raiding his pile OF |
"hard egg at 81 per tom rose before |
him, and he gently raised the window.
Sure enough, the now muffled voices |
seemed to come from his own barn. He |
buttoned UP his coat, made his way to
the street and began a search for Bran
nigan, the policeman, or Hyer. the pri-
vate Waterman. OF course he failed to
find them, so he scampered over to the
drug store and telephoned to the police
Then he went back to his house and
sneaked into the kitchen. where the
household keys were hanging each on
its labeled hook. He found the two
keys to the stable. each IN its proper
place. took them down and went to his
front door to intercept the police. They |
came in a wagon, six of them, and aft
er a whispered consultation sent the
sergeant with key to the back door Of
the barn, while Eberle with three po-
licemen slipped through the house to
attack the yard door of the same cita-
del The utmost quiet was observed
by both parties. and the signal for IN
locking both doors was TO he n low
whistle from the sergeant. Three big
blue barreled pistols were looming over
Eberle's shoulder as he slipped his key
into the paddock and quietly unlocked
IL. His hand shook when he heard the
low piping from the other side of the
barn, but he pulled away the paddock
and jumped aside to give the brave po-
licemen chance to swoop down on the
Throw up your hands, in n chorus
was followed by an instant's silence.
Then the loud outlaws of the police
men gave Eberle courage to peep I'm.
A stable lantern swung from the raf-
ters showed the robbers, four of them,
sitting in pairs upon the laundry
benches at either side of n sumptuous-
ly laden table. Policeman Brannigan