The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-09-08


We crept very gingerly down the
stairs, which creaked bit in spite of
us, and we picked up our shoes in the
passage; then down some narrow Stone
steps, at the foot of which Rallies
showed his light and put on his shoes
once more, bidding me do the same in
rather louder tone than he had per
mitted himself to employ overhead
we were now considerably below the
level of the street in a small snoce
with as many doors as it had sides
Three were ajar, and we saw through
them into empty cellars, but in the
fourth key was turned and a bolt
drawn, and this one presently let us
out into the bottom of a deep. SQUARE
well of fog. A similar door faced if
across this area, and Rallies had the
lantern close against it and was hid
ing the light with his body when a
short and sudden crash made NV
heart stand still. Next moment | saw
the door wide open and Raffies stand
ing within and reckoning me with a
jimmy.
Door No. l." he whispered deuce
knows how many more there'll be- but
L know of two at least. We wont
nave TO make much noise over them
either. Down here there's less risk"
We were now at the bottom of the
exact fellow to the narrow stone stair
which we had just descended, the yard.
or well, being the one part common to
both the private and the business
premises. But this flight led to no
open passage. Instead a singularly
solid mahogany door confronted us at
the top.
81 thought So" muttered Rallies.
handing me the lantern and pocketing
a bunch of skeleton keys after tam
pering for Il few minutes with the lock.
It'll be an hours work to get through
that
Cant you pick it,"
mo. know these locks. It's no
use trying. We must cut it out, and
it'll take us an hour"
1t took us forty-seven minutes by
my watch, or, rather. it took Rallies.
and never in my life have seen any
thing more deliberately done. My part
was simply to stand by with the dark
lantern in one hand and small bot
tie of rock oil in the other. Rallies
had produced Il pretty embroidered
case, intended obviously for his razorS
but filed instead with the tools of his
secret trade, including the rock OIL
From this case he selected a bit
capable of drilling hole an inch in
diameter and fitted it TO a small but
very strong steel brace. Then he
took off his covert coat and his blazer
spread them neatly on the top step,
knelt on them turned up his shirt
cuffs and went to work with brace and
bit near the keyhole But first he oiled
the bit to minimize the noise, and this
he did invariably before beginning
fresh hole and often in the middle Of
one. 1t took thirty-two separate bor-
ings to cut round that lock.
l noticed that through the first circu-
lar orifice Raffles thrust a forefnger;
then as the circle became an ever
lengthening oval he got his hand
through up to the thumb, and heard
him swear softly to himself.
II was afraid So"
"What is it,"
"An iron gate on the other sidew
"How on earth are we to get through
that?" | asked in diSmay.
"Pick the lock. But there may be
two. In that case they'll be top and
bottom, and we shall have two fresh
holes to make, as the door opens in
ward. 1t won't open two inches as it
is"
l confess l did not feel sanguine
about the lock picking, seeing that one
lock had batfled us already, and my
disappointment and Impotence must
have been a revelation to me had |
stopped to think. The truth is that l
was entering into our nefarious under
taking with an involutary zeal of
which l was myself quite unconscious
at the time. The romance and the peril
of the whole proceeding held me spell
bound and entranced. My moral sense
and my sense of fear were stricken by
common paralysis. And there
stood, shining my light and holding
my vial with a keener interest than
had ever brought to any honest avoca-
ton. And there knelt A. j. Raffles,
with his black hair tumbled and the
same watchful, quiet, determined half
smile with which had seen him send
down over after over in a county
match!
At last the chain of holes was COM
plete, the lock wrenched out bodily and
and q splendid bare arm plunged up to
the shoulder through the aperture and
through the bars Of the iron gate be-
yond.
"Now." whispered Rallies, "if there's
only one lock it'll be in the middle.
Joy! Here it is! Only let me pick it,
and we're through at last"
He withdrew his arm, a skeleton key
was selected from the bunch, and then
back went his arm to the shoulder 1t
was breathless moment. l heard the
heart throbbing in my body, the very
watch ticking in my pocket and ever
and anon the tinkle-tinkle of the skele-
ton key. Then-at last-there came
single unmistakabe click. In another
minute the mahogany door and the
iron gate yawned behind us, and Raj
fes was sitting on an office table, WHIP
;n, bis foce with the lantern throwing