Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-23

~ was not till he started an examination OF
the walls that he found the probable hiding place
OF the Jewels. Behind the curtains of the great
fourposter bed he found the square outline Of
a small door. Jordison tapped it gently with his
jimmy II gave back a metallic ring. He passed
his hands along the edge and encountered key
hole few inches below the framework Of the
bed. Then he placed his jimmy in the narrow
crack and exerted all his strength TO burst open
the lock- He might as well have tried TO move
the foundations of st. Paul's Cathedral. The
door did not move outward the hundredth part
of an inch The jimmy, wrought of perfect steel,
curved like spring.
Then suddenly he sprang back from the bed
and listened. A low whistle came up from
beneath the window. He walked over TO IL and,
drawing back the blind and curtain, leaned out
over the edge. He could not see Dipp, but
thin shaft Of light from one Of the drawing room
windows fell on the slender form of a young
man walking across the lawn. He was smoking
a large cigar and as he came closer Jordison
could see that he was mere boy. But the
light was too feeble to distinguish his face.
As ill-luck would have it. he came straight
toward the ladder. He did not however, notice
it until he was four yards from the wall of
the house. Then he stopped and glanced at it
with idle curiosity. Apparently it conveyed moth
ing extraordinary to his mind; the mere care
lessness of gardener who had been training
the ivy and creepers on the wall. But, just as
the open bedroom window Jordison, from
behind the curtains, could see the boys face look
ing forward The light streaming through chink
between the blinds and the SASH showed, first
look of inquiry, then surprise, and then the
triumphant expression of one who had made a
great discovery. Jordison instinctively felt that
he was trapped and began to wonder how fast
he could run. Somehow he fancied that this
STRIPPING could give him about twenty yards in
every hundred.
But another and a more practiced eye had
watched the boys face from the shadow of the
wall, where Dipp lay huddled close into the thick
ivy. Before the youth could either move or
speak, something sprang out of the darkness
and gripped him by the throat. Jordison could
see the slender figure borne backward, and press
ed quietly but with brutal strength onto the
soft turf. There was no cry nor sound only
the writhing and twining of limbs. From the
drawing room window came the clear notes of a
pirl's voice. singing Tosti's "Good-by" Jordison
felt that it was time to interfere. He slipped
out of the window and, sliding down the lad
der to the ground, went swiftly to the dark mass
upon the lawn. By the time he reached it moth
ing moved. In the dim light he could see Lipp's
hand still gripping something on the ground.
But nothing moved.
Hands off, Epp," he whispered sternly
The man did not move. Jordison whipped
out his revolver and placed it to the fellows ear.
Hands off, I say, Hpp," he repeated; "you
will kill the boy"
Limp knew well that no sane person would
fire and bring the whole household out on to the
| lawn. But he had already come to regard his
master as on the border line of insanity, and
he was taking no risks. He loosed his hold and
rose to his feet The boys body lay limp and
still on the lawn
| Don't want another term, do yer?" growled
the man in a whisper. 'Tve saved yer that.
Dyer think yer wouldn't get caught between
ere and the wall, if e cried out? Let's off.
Gimme the swag."
Jordson handed him the canvas bag without
word and Lipp began to run across the lawn,
but his master bent down over the PROSTATE
form and for one brief second flashed the cleo
trio light into the boys face.
1t was hard, dissolute face for one so young,
and looked horrible with the diffused blood which
Iipp's powerful fingers had crushed into it,
his hand over the boys heart. 1t had ceased
| to beat.
Again he turned the light on the face, and
strange to say, the thought uppermost in his mind
was not that the boy was dead, but that he
had seen his face before.
| He rose rapidly to his feet and tore through
the darkness, blunderng through shrubs and
park wall In less than ten minutes the motor
was half way along the road to the Red House.
| And all that night Jordison lay awake and
through the darkness, and all that night Jordi-
seen the face before.