The Topeka state journal., 1906-06-25
TIE EVENING STORY
Found by FIash.
~ James HenseLI ]

his mind run back over the incidents
of the last few days.
A week ago he had hoped to pc able
to marry Mabel Logan, for he was en-
the track of the Burlington BANK ROD
bers and could he land such an I'M
portant capture the returns Woulu os
even greater than the reward OF $o,VVV
1 offered for the arrest. It would esraD-
lish him as one of the leaders Of his
profession and make It possible 10
start the private Office he had for so
long looked forward to- Instead OF
that the police had made the capture
and the firm for which ne was man
ager had discharged him.
Now he was writing to Mabel that
he would have to delay the marriage
until he could secure another connec-
ton. and for his life he could not com
He found himself at loss for words
which would describe his regret, SO he
tipped back in his desk chair ana
watched the smoke clouds drift out OF
the window
Across the rectangle of back yards
a small boy on a fire escape was play
ing with a bit of mirror, flashing the
reflection against the walls on MS slde
Of the oblong. Hunting watched him
irritably. Once or twice the dazzling
spot of light had flashed IN his eyes
as he had been writing; probably the
boy was trying to see how many per
sons he could annoy
he was just contemplating leaning
out Of the window and shouting at the
youngster when he suddenly sat up in
his chair. If he remembered anything
of the old days with the signal corps
in the militia the boy was sending
Morse It was crude and uniformed,
but 1t could be read. and that last
word sent was vault" He raised the
paper in the machine a couple OF lines
and slowly took down the sentences.
It was plain to be seen that the re-
--4r~ re Il
ing on his own side of the row, and it
was evident that the boy across the
way was telling of the capture of the
Burlington Bank gang.
An hour later Hunting was on his
way to Burlington, and that afternoon
he went into consultation with the
bank officials.
He found a scant welcome from these
men, for his failure to land the robbers
had prejudiced them against him, but
after he had told his story they were all
attention.
The bank vaults had been robbed by
tunneling, and one of the most remark
able aspects Of the case was the small
size of the tunnel. From the first this
had puzzled the detectives, but Hunting
had found the explanation, and that
afternoon when he left the bank, in
stead of writing Mabel that the we'd
ding must be postponed. he telegraphed
: her that everything was going we'll
message that considerably puzzled the
young woman. who had read in the pa
pers that the police had beaten the pri-
vate detectives in the case.
There were two or three good chaps
Hunting knew, and these he gathered
about him that evening. One of the
bank officials had come to town with
him, and the five of them hid in the
vault of one of the private uausoleums
in the cemetery of a suburban town.
1t was a grewsome watch, but it
promised to be a profitable oneS for after
a long wait the grating of wheels on the
gravel path was heard and three men
and a boy appeared. seated in light
road wagon.
They drove up to the receiving vault
Just across from the one in which Hunt
ing's party was hiding. Little care was
exercised. for the vault was some dis
tance from the road and hidden from
observation.
The vault was built into the side Of
a hill and at the top was q ventilating
shaft projecting above the earth. The
men went to this, and while two of
them removed the slab from the top
the boy slipped down into the vault.
Rapidly the others unloaded the
wagon, passing small packages
through the opening until at last
they had cleaned out the wagon and
were making preparations to hoist
the boy back.
with a rush Hunting and his men
were upon them For an instant su-
check as they saw three figures, most
of them in light overcoats, rushing
at them from the tomb, and that in
stant gave Hunting the advantage.
There was short, sharp tussle, then
the three were manacIed and hung
into the wagon. A rope was passed
down the shaft and presently the
boy appeared savagely striking out at
his captors. He was added to his fell
lows in the wagon. and while three
oF fId ,rs-txr q r.
the vault Hunting and the bank officer
drove to the village.
The following morning Hunting
strolled into the Office from which he
had been so ignOminiously dismissed
the day before.
"I suppose you saw that I got the
Burlington gang" he remarked by
way of salutation- LAS was not in
the employ Of this Office I keep the
reward myself. I guess there will be
a lot of the other members of the
Protective association glad to hear
that they are safe for a while from
the depredations of the gang"
What gave you your cue?'' asked
the chief with interest sI thought
the police had the leader Of the
gang"
My cue was a bit of looking glass"
was the astonishing reply. you see,
pened lately it has been proven that
a clever boy must be member of
the gang. It has been he who has
dropped through windows and things
Ike that
There was a boy out on the fire
escape yesterday playing with bit of
looking glass. I found that he was
using it as a helfograph and flashing
: telegraphic words. Now a little boy
} who can telegraph is a mighty clever
kid and will bear watching. so I sat
! back and took the message off, too.
There was enough to show that
they were alarmed about that cap
ture yesterday, and while the man was
/ not. one of the gang but merely a
sort Of half wit, with a craze for news
paper notoriety, he had made out a
nrettv rood case and had come Close