The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-08-04

NhHAHA % ~ 6FFE
turned lack into the house. He sho,
the boil and put OUT the hall gas anG
thea erspt upstairs 10 Hennessy''
dressing room, when looked over the
! front garden.
One O'Clock came, ind wIdh II a few
p~assers-by from the last tram. The
garden gate clicked and MsFfidew.
looking through the half-closed win
dow--the dressing room was in dark
ness-saw a nan walk nnsteadily up
the path. II was Hennessy. After five
minutes fumbling he managed TO get
his key In the keyhole and uttered an
exclamation OF triumph. On finding
that the door was bolted he changed
his note and Merridew shook with
laughter.
He stumbled over the flower bs 4
and went round the corner OF the house
to the scullery window, 1t was about
six feet from the ground and about two
feet square, but by standing on an In
verted flower pot and going through d
kind OF acrobatie performance it war
possible for a man very much in earn
est to get through. Hennessy had done
so before when the servant girl had alb
sent-mindedly bolted him out. and had
Dragged about the feat afterward.
On this occasion he was half in and
half out Of the window when he was
seized from behind and hauled down
into a potato bed.
Got you this time" said the policc-
man, pinning him against the wall
will you come quietly or are you
going to make a fool of YOURSELF"
90 away, you bloekhead," said Hen
messy fiercely. This is my own house
and I've been locked out. Knock at the
door and you'll find 1t is SO"
The policeman consented to knock,
and after he had knocked six or seven
times there was the sound of the bolts
and chain being Embossed and Mefri-
dew opened the door.
Here, Merridew, tell this fat-headed
i mean tell this active and intelligent
officer that I'm not a burglar"
Says he lives here" said the police
man, grinning. Beg pardon for knock
ing you up, sir"
by Jove! Have you caught the beg
gar?" said Merridew. well done, Off
Ger. Do you want any help to take him
to the station?'
For Gods sake don't play the fool"
said H~ennessy, "Tell him it's all right
and make him let CO."
HIM" said Merrldew, that would
be playing the fool, my friend. Take
him away, officer. This is the mar |
saw hanging about. | recognize ais
~trueulent aspect
At this Hennessy lost his head. He
twisted round with the s~uddenness OF
a catherine wheel and in another mo.
ment he and the policeman were en-
gagged in a catch-as-ca5ch-can wrest-
ling match all over the cherished front
garden. For five minutes Merridew
could not tell which was policeman and
which was Hennessy. Sometimes they
were wallowtng in the garden path to-
gether. sometimes they were trampling
the flower beds and shrubs to ruin,
sometimes they were doing their best
to force each other through the wall
of the house, but all the time they
were devastating something. At length
Hennessy upset the law into a holly
bush and the policeman, with a shrek,
let so. Hennessy leaped the fence and
tore madly down the road.
The policeman did not linger in the
holly bush. He set off in pursuit like
a spurred racehorse, waking the echoes
with agonized blasts on his whistle.
Two other policemen appeared from
nowhere and Joined in the chase, but
Hennessy kept ahead rounw several
turnings and at last, getting back to
his house, rushed through the hall into
the dining room and fell on the carpet
with a crash. He lay there, painting,
without strength to remove the die
IlOltIy WHICH Hdu tdhNh hih III thV
small Of the back and completed Mer-
ridew's triumph.
Mrs. Hennessy returned from the
seaside to find a model husband, Hen
messy never comes down by the last
train now. He spends his evenings
renovating the front garden.
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