The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-10-27

that's ALL said Ratfies airily. but
| seriously. officer, is a valuable thing
like this quite safe in case like thatT'
SAFE enough as long as I'm here"
replied the other between grim jest
| and stout earnest. Rallies studied his
face. He was still watching Rallies.
and | kept an eye on them both with
out putting in my word
you appear to be single handed"
observed Rallies rs that wiser"
The note of anxiety was capitally
caught. II was at 0nce personal and
public spirited-that of an enthusiastic
savant, afraid for a national treasure
which few appreciated as he did him.
self. And. to be sure, the three of us
now had this treasury to ourselves.
One or two others had been there when
we entered but now they were gone
I'm not single handed" said the
officer comfortably "See that seat by
the door? One Of the attendants sits
there all day long"
'Then where is he now?"
Talking to another attendant Just
outside. If you listen you'll hear them
for yourself"
We listened and we did hear them,
but not just outside. In my own mind
| even questioned whether they were
in the corridor through which we had
come. To me it sounded as though
they were just outside the corridor.
you mean the fellow with the bill
lard cue who was here when we came
in?" pursued Rallies.
''That wasn't a billiard cue. II was
a pointer" the intelligent officer ex-
planned.
ut ought to be a iavelin," said Raj
nes nervously. ut ought TO be pole
ak! The public treasure ought to be
better guarded than this. | shall write
to the Times about it. You see if
don'tr
All at once, yet somehow not so sud
denly as TO excite suspicion, Rallies
had become the elderly busybody with
nerves. Why | could not for the life
of me imagine, and the policeman
seemed equally at sea.
Tor bless you, sir" said he, Pm
all right Don't you bother your head
about me-"
"But you haven't even got a trun-
cheon!
Not likely TO want one either. You
see, sir, it's early as yet. In a few
and there's safety in numbers, as they
say"
"Oh, it will fill up soon, will it?'
"Any minute now, sir"
"Ahw
at isn't often empty as long as this.
sir It's the jubilee, suppose"
Meanwhile what if my friend and
had been professional thieves? Why,
we could have overpowerd you in an
instant, my good fellow"
"That you couldn't; leastways not
without bringing the whole place about
your ears"
"Well, shall write to the Times all
the same I'm a connoiSseur in all this
sort of thing, and I won't have unnec-
essary risks run with the nations
property. You said there was an at
tendant Just outside, but he sounds to
me as though he were at the other end
of the corridor shall write todayr'
For an instant we all three listened,
and Raffles was right. Then saw two
things in one glance Raffles had
CHI, i,,nl,n- ho oly 20 nd n nd
stood poised upon the ball of each
foot, his arms half raised, light in
his eyes, and another kind of light
was breaking over the Grass features
of our friend the constable.
''Then shall | tell you what I'll do?'
he cried, with sudden clutch at the
whistle chain on his chest. The whistle
! few out, but it never reached his lips.
There were a couple of sharp smacks
like double barrels discharged all but
simultaneously, and the man reeled
against me so that | could not help
catching him as he fell.
swell done. Bunny! I've knocked
him out! I've knocked him out! Run
you to the door and see if the attend
ants have heard anything, and take
them on if they have"
Mechanically | did as | was told.
There was no time for thought, still
less for remonstrance or reproach,
though my surprise must have been
even more complete than that of the
constable before Raffles knocked the
sense out of him Even in my utter
bewilderment, however, the instinc-
tive caution of the real criminal did
not desert me. ran to the door, but
/ sauntered through it to plant myself
before a Pompeiian fresco in the cor
ridor, and there were the two attend
ants still gossiping outside the farther
door, nor did they hear the dull crash
which heard even as I watched them
out of the corner of each eye.
1t was hot weather, as | have said,
but the perspiration on my body
seemed already TO have turned into
a skin of ice. Then / caught the faint
reflection of my own face in the cas-
ing of the fresco, and it frightened me
into some semblance of myself as
Rallies joined me with his hands in
~