Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1903-02-12

and with nerve to face anything. Sev-
eral years OF labor with the pliers had
given him a finger grip which caused
his chums to avoid shaking hand with
him. He could make an insulator tie
with a No. iron wire with apparent
ease. This remarkable power of con-
traction in the finger muscles once
saved him from probable death.
In 1893 local company in Layton
had installed a telephone exchange.
Several of their wires paralleled the
telegraph wires along the tracks and
also those of the lighting and power
company in the streets. The result was
bad case of induction, that mysteri-
Gus transference of electrical impulse
between wires where there is no direct
connection.
So great was the influence of the tele-
graph and power wires on the wires
of the telephone company that the rat
tie and clicking of our instruments
could be distinctly heard in the tele-
phone receivers, and the singing snarl
Of the dynamos at the power house an
noyed every one trying to use the
| phone.
The manager angrily declared that
some enemy of his company had
thrown threadlike copper wires across
~.,om wire to wire, thus tangling up the
currents.
Prindle "went over" the wires care
fully twice and reported that he could
ind Of I,of In
kept studying and inspecting the mat
ter, because the telephone managers
daughter was a very good friend of
his.
Emerging from the managers house
one night near the hour Of IL, he no
ticed dark figure stealing down a
side street. Touched with suspicion,
Prindle followed after the skuHzing
form, the malicious enemy" theory
suddenly alive in his mind
Presently the figure crossed moon
lit street and entered an alley leading
between two business blocks. Through
the alley ran the wires of both the tel
ephone and power companies, and
Prindle crept carefully forward
through the shadows at the base of
the buildings, keeping his eye on the
man ahead of him. Suddenly, and to
the lineman's astonishment, the man
began walking up one of the telephone
poles.
"'Pon my SOUL" gasped Prindle, ''if
he hasn't got spurs strapped on his
shoes! guess Manager Towne must
be right; some ones tampering with
the wiresi I'll nail the rogue when he
comes down."
With tingling nerves he crept near
er: but, to his amazement, the climber
stopped before reaching the cross arm
and skillfully threw the iron hooked
end of rope ladder over the sill of an
open window in the side of the build
ing, some six feet away. The other
end Of the ladder he strapped to the
pole, then carefully crept across the
bridge thus formed and disappeared
through the window.
Prindle fetched a low whistle and
looked all around. "Wheww he half
whispered. 'sThis is interesting and no
mistake! That chap has gone into a
room above the bank! Must be he's
figuring on getting down into the vault
roomw
He stood in silence looking up at the
window and listening. The slow, soft
rasping of some sort of instrument
came to his ears. Placing his hand on
his hip pocket to see if the little pistol
he carried when out late at night was
there, he slipped off his shoes and be-
gan climbing the pole. Slowly and
carefully he drew himself up until his
hand was on the strap Of the ladder,
then he paused. The rasping noise had
ceased.
eff that fellow hears me, he will like
ly come to the window and shoot me in
the face" was Prindle's thought. He
hung perfectly motionless for time,
hearing nothing louder than the strong
beating of his heart. Then the rasping
sound began again.
Immediately the lineman drew him.
self higher. Then, taking the pistol in
his hand, he crept warily across the
rope bridge and in at the window.
Letting himself down on the floor. he
stood still. The rasping sound came
from closet at the back end Of the
room.
sHe is saving through the floor with
the expectation Of working his way
through the brickwork covering the
| top of the bank vault" was Prindle's
mental comment.
With pistol in hand he began step
| ping craftily toward the closet, but
board in the floor creaked and the muf-
fed noise of the saw suddenly ceased.
The lineman held his breath. A misty
kind of darkness filed the room, the
moons radiance being reflected dimly
from the opposite wall Of the alley. An
instant later he saw the door of the
closet pushed open and the outline of
human form rising in the opening.
To the burglar the dim and immova-
BILE figure in the middle of the room
must have seemed frightful. Had
Prindle not spoken it is possible the
robber would have fallen on his knees,
thinking he was confronted by spirit,
but when he said quietly, though with
| a distinguishable tremor of excitement,
'Throw up your hands, mister, or I'll
fire." a sudden fury of energy moved
| the man. He came across the room in
| one long leap and struck against Prin-
die like a bolt The lineman went
against the wall with thud, and the
| pistol struck the ceiling and exploded.
The burglar whirled round and disap-
peared through an inner door leading
into the passageway.
Prindle hastily felt about the floor
for the revolver, but the weapon not
meeting his hand at once, he rushed
after the burglar. His blood was on
| fire with anger. Listening an instant,
he heard feet flying up the stairs above
Co roeeo