Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1905-03-04
MODERATED III
a HEROES. III

There was no denying that Mrs.
Hubert had nerves" in an aggra-
waited form. When there was abso-
lutely nothing TO worry about It
worried her most of aH--and when q
woman gets to that stage she is hope
less.
Therefore the state she was in when
she decided to join some friends at q
summer resort and to shut UP her fat
can readily be imagined. | would be
left alone. at the mercy of house
breakers and thieves. To be sure,
there was Mr.. Hubert, but as he was
a travelling man and home only at
brief intervals he did not count in
the least
Mrs. Hulbert's imagination being
good she saw her fiat In various forms
OF topsy-turviness Immediately after
her departure, rified of bricA-brac
and rugs and completely despoiled
of valuables. She had no doubt the
eager burglars were even then hover
ing around near corners feyerishly
waiting for her to get out of sight
before pushing in to seize the spoils.
She bent all her energies to foil them.
The silver she took down to the
bank, hiring cab at the cost of
SO.
Her furs were stored and she de-
seconded ON two friends in the build.
ing with petition that they would
take charge of her oriental rugs dur
ing her absence. Several choice
pieces of pottery also she distributed
about the habited part of the building
and when she had finished If marau
ders had succeeded In getting in they
would have been confronted by a
choice between the gas range and
heavy furniture.
With her temperament, however.
this was not the slightest comfort to
Mrs. Hubert. She thought of all
sorts of schemes which she confided
to every one as each struck her. The
back windows had burglar catches and
could not be raised. OF course, the
glass might be cut out, but she must
chance that. After boiling the back
door she moved the refrigerator
against that No one but a human fly
could scale the front wall and enter
by the parlor windows, but the front
door bothered her. 1t could not be
bolted, as in that case she herself
would be reduced to departing by a
rope ladder, which was out of the
question. She concluded to leave the
window shades up and made every
one promise II he or she saw the hint
of a light in her fiat to investigate
at once. And ten days after she left
the woman across the hall saw light
in the Hubert fat. She rang up the
janitor and flew to tell the woman
on the floor above In the hall the
three sreconnoitered and agreed 1t
was indeed the light from gas jet
in the inner bedroom which was re-
fiected through the ground glass of
the front door.
1t took about three seconds for the
news to spread through the building
that burglars were in the Hubert fat.
Every one surged down to the second
hall landing. The men coming home
from downtown added themselves
one by one to the crowd. Somebody
suggested to the janitor that he use
his key and go in. The look of in.
dignation which greeted this was a
work of art.
"An wot would | do wen I got In
there?" he inquired majestically. I'll
go and telephone the police" he add.
ed, and departed hastily. Then a
small man appointed himself captain
of the fiat jewellers and put them
whore they would do the most good.
Three men were sent around to the
back porch to intercept the thieves
should they attempt to escape that
way. The women were ordered away
and forthwith crowded into the fiat
across the hall, where they took turns
peeping through the crack in the door.
One man was sent down to the side.
walk to guard the front of the build
ing and departed amid the envious
glares of those who had to stand
watch over the door of the Huber.
fat.
In fifteen minutes squad of blue
coats advanced on the building AT.
ter deep consultation 1t was decided
to carefully unlock the front door
with the janitor's key, make a rush
and surround the Desperate Excite
ment among the fatters approached
hysteria at this. The scheme was
heartily approved of by the men ON
guard, who withdrey in haste on the
arrival of the policemen. With
trembling hands the janitor produced
the key, the cleverest mindon Of the
law worked 1t and the door skung.
There was an intense instant and then
tremendous rush on the part of the
heroes.
The only drawback to its triurn-
plant conclusion was that the rush
was checked in the middle OF the
Hulberts' parlor by the appearance
In the bedroom door of no less a
person that Mr.. Hubert himself. He