The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-10-27
RAFFLES, ;.
.MATEUR CRACKsMAN
Nv E. W. HORNUNd.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE %
By E. W. HORNuNd.

and u" sail to be seeking high ana
la'd -. unstable. we learned, had
og, summed only. and from the mo mo.
feeh ,bat brought him an evening
mem With the news Raffies spirits
1pale' height inconsistent with his
rose y tomnerament and as unusual
elu %n as the sudden impulse upon
ID -, ~" no had acted with such effect
WIZ ann itself appealed to me no more
lIe lad done before. Exquisite it
'lian a. no handsome it was, but SO
,St in the hand that the mere gold
hsn' ,rould scarcely have poured three
o. " ont of melting pot. And what
nsu' poflas but that he would never
melt it at all! oeou.o oroins+
:, laws Of the land, Bunny. That is
'iis .,,inr Bpt destroying it would be
nO limo against God and art, ana may
! he spittel or the vane of ST. Mary
,hhot's if / commit it"
Tok such as this was unanswerable.
,nlood the Whole affair had passed the
n r of useful comment, and the one
ronrse left to a practical person was
=. sbrne his shoulders and enjoy the
iOto This was not little enhanced
~ tbe newspaper reports, which de-
.oribod Raffles as a handsome youth
and his unwilling accomplice as an
oIdor man of blackguardly appearance
and low type
"Hits us both off rather neatly, Bun
nv said he. But what none of them
do iustlce to is my dear cup. Look at
n only look at it, man! Was ever
ANYTHING go rich and yet so chaste7
81 Agnes must have had pretty bad
time. but it would be almost worth it
n 90 down to posterity in such enamel
mon such gold And then the history
Of the thing. Do you realize that it's
kOO years old and has belonged to
Henry VIII. and to Elizabeth, among
others? Bunny, when you have me
cremated you can put my ashes in yon-
der cup and lay us in the deep delved
earth together"
sand meanwhile?'
at is the joy of my heart, the light
Of my life, the delight of mine eye"
"And suppose other eyes catch sight
Of it?'
"They never must; they never SHALL"
Rafies would have been too absurd
had he not been thoroughly alive to his
own absurdty. There was neverthe-
less an underlying sincerity in his APP
probation Of any and every form of
beauty which all his nonsense could
not conceal, and his infatuatIon for
the cup was, as he declared, a very
pure passion, since the circumstances
iebarred him from the chief joy of the
average collector, that of showing his
treasure to his friends. At &st, how
ever and at the height of his craze,
Rallies and reason seemed to come to-
gether again as suddenly as they had
parted company in the room Of gold.
Bunny" he cried, flinging his news
paper across the room, "I've got an
idea after your own heart | know
where can place it after all!'
30 you mean the cup?"
81 do"
Then congratulate you"
Thanks
Upon the recovery of your senses.
Thanks galore. But you've been
eonfoundedIy unsympathetic about this
thing Bunny, and l don't think l shall
tell you my scheme till I've carried it
out"
Quite time enough" said /.
1T will mean your letting me loose
Tor an hour or two under cloud of this
very night Tomorrow's Sunday, the
lubllees on Tuesday, and old Theo-
Dalds coming back for it,"
1t doesn't much matter whether
mes back or not if you go late enough"
l mustn't be late. They don't keep
open No, it's no use your asking any
questions. Go out and buy me big
DOx OF Puntley & Halmer's biscuits
any sort you like-only they must be
luelrs' and absolutely the biggest box
they sell"
My dear mani"
No questions, Bunny. You do your
part and I'll do mine.'
subtety and success were in his
lace 1t was enough for me, and
nau done his extraordinary bidding
"ilnLh a quarter of an hour. In an
O'ner minute Rallies had opened the
UoX and tumbled all the biscuits into
'ne nearest chair.
NOW newspapersw
fetched pile. He bid the cup Of
sOiu ridiculous farewell, wrapped it
W IN newspaper after newspaper and
uually packed it In the empty biscuit
NOW some brown paper. l don't
want TO be taken for the grocer's young
man"
a neat enough parcel it made when
ue slFing had been tied and the ends
Su' close What was more difficult
"os 70 wrap up Rallies himself in such
way mat even the porter could not
e.Og.llze him if they came face to
Iave at the corner. And the sun was
nun up But Raffles would go, and
hwy 'aen ne did should not have known
MN myself.
le may have been an hour away.
ma was barely dusk when he returned,
aS NY nrst question referred to our
Oaa ase,ous ally, the porter. Raffles had
boa s'eu MN unsupported in going, but
m M - managed to avoid him altogether
com w return journey, which he had