The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-03-11

!
and kept an eye on them both with
out putting in my word.
you appear to be single handed, y
observed Raffles. as that wise?"
The note of anxiety was capitally
/ caught. It was at once personal and
public spirited-that Of an enthusiastic
savant, afraid fora 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 We're 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 nowY
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
1 even questioned whether they were
in the corridor through which we hatI
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 Raffles.
''That wasn't a billiard cue. It was
a pointer" the intelligent officer ex-
planned.
1T ought to be javelin," said Raj
4 -, l.
ak. The public treasure ought to be
better guarded than this. I shall write
to the Times about it. You see If
DON'T"
All at once, yet somehow not so sud-
denly as to excite suspicion, Raffles
had become the elderly busybody with
nerves. Why could not for the life
Of me imagine and the policeman
seemed equally at sea.
"Lor' bless you, sir" said he, 'T'm
all right Don't you bother your head
about me-"
But you haven't even got trun-
cheonr'
mot likely to want one either. You
see, sir, it's early as vet. In few
minutes these here rooms will fill up,
and there's safety in numbers, as they
say"
"Oh, it will fill up soon, will ltT'
"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
1 had been professional thieves? Why,
we could have overpOwerd you In an
instant my good fellow"
"That you couldn't; Ieastways not
without bringing the whole place about
your ears"
'Well l shall write to the Times all
the same. I'm a connoisseur in all this
sort Of thing, and 1 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 f,-e corridor 1 shall write today!'
For an instant we all three listened,
and Raff1es was right. Then l saw two
things in one glance. Rafiies had
stepped a few inches backward and
stood poised upon the ball of each
foot. his arms half raised, a light in
his eyes, and another kind Of light
was breaking over the Grass features
Of our friend the constable.
"Then shall l tell you what I'll do?
he cried, with a 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 l could not help
catching him as he fell.
''Weu 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 l 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 RaffieS 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 1 heard even as 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 1 caught the faint
Of my own face in the cas-
ing of the frescO, and it frightened me
into some semblance Of myself as
Raff1es Joined me with his hands in
his pockets. But my fear and indig-
nation were redOubled at the sight OF
him when a single glance convinced
me that his pockets were as empty as
his hands and his mad outrage the
most wanton and reckless of his whole
career.
"Ah, very interesting, very interest