The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-17

uecessafy. lie mad figured it an out
beforehand; and he found that without
attracting too much attention to HIM
i self, 1t was impossible to swing fhe
thing properly without help. He would
pay them we'll and he would have fo
trust to luck for the rest Constitu-
tional Smith was lucky; to him for
tune mad ever been a gentle mistress.
he lit the argand burner in the den.
II mad a green shade and cast a pleas.
ant light upon the room. On the desk
| tnere was a box Of cigars Constitu-
tlonal Smith reached for this bog. Sc
/ ieeted cigar, lit 1t, and thrust ii he
tween his teeth. Then he threw him
sen INTO the easiest chair in the room.
s.retcneo out his legs and sighed. He
/ signed with relief. For the first time
! IN many weeks-months even-be felt
at ease He was safe, and he was glad
| to know it az e es.
He INDUCED in yeverie for an hour
| or more Finally he reused himself
ana began to think in earnest. He
iilust arrange for the future. That was
important. He east his eye about the
room. .e
IN the wall opposite, Embedded, as 1t
were, In the plaster, there was set a
small safe of artistic design. BY its
looks. though small, it was well made
/ of course oA'
Naturally" soiiloauized Constitu-
tional himself, 81 never saw safe
tnat wasn't burglar proof"
lie rose leisurely and crossed the
room; STOPPING, he tried to turn the
handie 1t resisted all his Efforts
naturally Thought commented
have left it open" -
he ceased his efforts at the handle.
| ana seating himself upon the floor
placed his ear close to the combination
and started to revofve it carefully and
Slowly. He was listening for the clink-
did not hear them.
| Its one of the new kind" he said tn
himself, Il thought as much,
| ne ieIt the safe and approached the
| desk The desk was open. He started
| Ia 10 make systematic search through
l. he found nothing Of value, not even
book containing blank checks. Has
| tlly he ransacked the whole room.
Ihere was nothing Of interest to him.
EVldently everything of value was In
closed within the safe.
| lie touched a button. After a short
pause the housekeeper appeared.
Mrs. Parslow," said Constitutional
Slhtsn' mufiiing his voice slightly while
IN the act Of lighting a fresh cigar. II
! wish you'd send me a pitcher of Ice
your e'.e'' WI
:, sFlrteen minutes later she brought
lnem, They Constituted the regular
mlonlght lunch of Ellington O'Keefe.
And by the way, Mrs. Parslow
went on Smith, as she turned to leave
tne room, If you hear anything queer
I IN here tonight, don't let If disturb
you. You'll know it's me-
All right, SIR said Mrs ParsIow.
m going to try new invention
a Fellows trying to stick me on-that's
q l. ~ to ffac,f
| you see?" '-'
Mrs. Parslow evidently saw, for she
bowed once more and. left him alone.
on small table was a decanter of
sherry. He poured out a liberal In
stallment of this and drank it slowly
as ne ate his lunch. Constitutional
Smith had eaten few lunches With<so
much relish as he ate this one.
lie finished his lunch. finished his
cigar, and then sat in silence until
the house was quiet. Then he rose
stealth1ly, left the small room, crossed
IN the dark to bedroom-that of
Ellington O'Keefe-end without strik-
ing match or turning up the light,
ne pulled from the bed the blankets
which rested upon it. Bearing these
across his arm he retraced his steps
and once more entered the little
smoking room. Then he shut and
| locked the door, -
With the remaining ice water he
slightly softened piece of thin soap
which he carried with him, and with
the soap carefully filed up all the
cfev1ces In the little safe Once he
had done this, he produced a small
drill and drilled a hole into the plates
in front that constituted the door.
This took some time, but made little
noise. Later he adjusted a small af-
Ialr, which resembled a bicycle tire
a1r-pump. to the small drilled hole.
In remarkably short time he had
exhausted most of the air within.
While the pump still held to the iron
door by force Of the suction, and while
the moist soap was slowly disappear
Ing within the cracks and crevices
by virtue of the same force, he RAPIDLY
attached to the tube of the pump a
small cylinder. turned little valve
and the thing was done. There was
a rush or air and rush of something
with it that was sucked into the safe.
ThatIl be Just enough, / reckon"
SAID Constitutional Smith. Just
enough and not too much. I don't
want to bust the thing for I'll want
to use it later
Removing the pump and the small
cylinder, he thrust into the hole two
copper wires connected at the ends
by fine platinum filament These In
turn 1t was his prpose to connect
passing through the platinum finds so
much resistance that it heats the plat
mum to bright red glow He did
not yet connect them. Having thrust
blankets which, he had brought in
from the bed, folded them into several
thicknesses and pressed them tightly
against the little safe, holding them
there by the weight of his own body.
This might seem risky, but in reality
it was not. Constitutional Smith knew
almost to an ounce the amount of
force necessary to break open the
safe, and he had placed just sufficient
powder in 1t to be effective and no
more.
With his back to the safe, leaning
heavily against the blankets, he con-
nected one copper wire to a little
pocket battery.that rested on the floor.
Having done this, he hastily made the
connection with the other wire and
braced himself against the door,
There was a duh thud, and the house
shook almost imperceptibly. There was
little or no noise. Smith had not been
moved more than an inch by the ex-
plosion, and he had not been injured In
the least
He removed the blankets and gazed
upon his work. 1t exceeded his Wild
est expectations. The hinges to the
safe were intact and the explosion had
merely broken off the bolts. They had )
csrr1 -NIr> -