The Washington times., 1906-09-09


entirely exposed and easy Of access,
That they had been robbed OF the most
OF their vaIuable contents was at once
apparent.
Furthermore. indicating the violence
of the explosion the counter was
thrown awrv. and the glass Of the rear
window was scattered in fragments
over the floor. leaving only the secured
iron shutter. through the round aper-
ture in which entered beam of SUM
light from the rear area or ward.
On the broad siI ~ this window lay
"a large reading glass. similar 90 that
which Dickson carried ol his person;
bat cf Dickson himself or - the
knayss guilty Of ueruetratinE this MID
day burglary. there was not sign.
"Whew,' whlstied Coleman. the i'm
stanI mis- gaze fen upon the scene.
Here's mess. A burglary in broad
daylight.
Burglary. lndeed,' exclaimed Boyd.
"Th- crooks have made a clean sweep.
This wiu settle me In Dicksoas opln-
i0u That patchwork letter Of his aad
a wicked meaning. after all.'
81 should say wicked cried Cole
man, hurr.edly opening the rear shut
ter. and slrluE.ng out ~ the window.
-I'u s.r what 1 can find out here,
Felix.
eco ahead cried Boyd I'm ex-
anime things 10 here
Coleman returned in about five min
usas. bearing m bis hand a pair of
-r.IeI rulbe-s. w.th which he scraEn-
blcd back through the window, re-
marking. rapidly.
"TEere are footprints in rHe soii Of
tba alley. but mot ~ all dedHi g. Yet
tho crooks must have escaped hE that
way. and one ~ them probably wore
these rubbers. rar D found them under
some refa== rear the aIIev exit
aNerv likely" said Boyd giancing
A. them Burglars frequently wear
tHeu ro muule their steps Indoors.
Size eight areu tlHy2
4 flight of stairs from one corner led
% dlnlv lighted cellar. To whicn
Povd quickly conducted his compan-
ION Al Tho foot OF rae stairs he halt
cd and intad % a narrow door. tho
one coleman vainIy tried 10 force
from outside. Against it was
heavy piece of ioist. one end oi Wh'eA
was securely blocked several yards
from the door
..F4rmrh,r calculated Coleman
..THez vent that way, and the tn-
ber shows how they secured the door
after them II was so adjusted as
~ Can into place when the door closed.
-rrs prevent The immediate entrance
no srvona anxious 10 learn the c>ase
re .be e,znIosfou. The delay gave the
r-ooks chance 20 ger well away.
7-ray have done the job all right
covering their tracks well. and already
have q long lead on the police iheis
no question about that-
how'd nodded ind-ferenuy. ana leo
the way upstairs.
,You had better rush message up
p, Df.Esoo.s wife. Jimmie said ne.
..7ere IS hls city address Have her'
or some Of his family. telegraph 20
Dickson.and bring him here as qulchly
as possible lie should show up py the
middle Of the afternoon
.'I-u do so at once nodded Coleman
resteninr 20 the front door, where ne
NOT only started messenger Tor DICK
sons residence. but also dispate 'ed an
other 10 headquarters t. rep lrt the
extraordinary burglary.
when he returned he found Felix
R5vd on his knees a few feet from the
rginad safe. and between II and the
rear window He was intently enEag-
ed I'm studying with the help ot Dick
s.-.s large reading glass. the hard
nine boards Of the bare floor.
What have YOU discovered thereE
coleman demanded. with immediate
interest.
Nothing much.' muttered Boyd,
alanring up. "OnIv this smutty mark
across me floor. Jimmie. IL begins here
and ends at tie corner cf the safe
What DO yeu make OF il? What
caused ite
,rt was caused by fine fuse. Jim
mil. with which the charge in the safe
,,ae exploded. In burning IT scorcned
the aaor a little making this almost
rr,rarceutfhle dark line Al first sight
thought IL was narrow crack only,
r,r thiS lens belonging 20 Dickson re-
,-as1e its true character. Very sind or
V--tsan 90 have left glass so handy
There was in Bayd's g voice an inton-
stion so vaguely odd that fl brought a
look Of perpleNlty 10 Coleman atten-
tive face. lie could discern no more
shan had been pointed out 10 him.
however. and he growled little inn
patiently
.weH what Of it? What do YOU
mean bv that? We know the charge
was exploded by some means ana
what matters whether fuse OF Oh
electric current was used
III doesn't matter much. Jimmie
re-u-nsd Bsvd. still on his knees
yet thought I would oah your at
tantio7 t. the line. Here az TINS eI''
or 81 is another feature, ton. hafuS
d-s~ern.5le except Uith the glass.
.lybafs thatg" inquired coleman
stoorlu- lower
..rIere are tvo curved lines, parallel
81 scarce a quarter-iuch apart. said
Poy3 with ris dnEer on the spot from
mich Tie zuse apparently had started.
..-rtav are very faint almost like part
4, obiIteratcd pencil marks Can yol
see rbrm Jimmie? Here, take the
glass.
YES I can sec them now, mutIered
coleman. peeriug through the power
rul lens. But what of them
Nothing of much consequence,
s-,,.es Bovd slowly answered They
aonaar To be faint sc0rches, like the
ofbpr It's odd. though that both