Los Angeles herald., 1907-07-21

RrVan WOnQeTtu IL IN hy
ont making noise enough to be hearo os
the burglars. -, ,,eod and the
4,on-door was likely to creak on the hiiiees
but there was an oil-can under Sne III III h.
,v;tb which BRYAN did the best ne couio ~
r.,uove tb;s nossibility He emptled IL upu,i
the irons. and then waited for the OIL W "o'A n
its way down to the pivots' ..;. in,o
Rut what was he to gain by gettihe ~ -
the basement? There was no way out ny
tbe street from the lower floor. ne nigne
Cne t ~ tbe stars in the rear, come 'up INTO
E,e bac, store. and pass out by the 9oor
;nto Sne the tbe side street. Probably Peach hun
ter was bound in his bed, and secured en- more be
carefully than the younger waCchnddh' waCcd ,oi +ha ny
was an older person, ant anu Sefender Of The
burglars as more dangerous
p'BPr Brvan thought it possible to release ms
fellow-w watchman, and together, they mght act
more effectively than on one nocEet one was aSaia
o"t ore it1 70 the trap door. Taking hold of the
ring rims in the -scuttle, he applied his strength
in the lifting process. . ,,h,t ov+en+
One who has not observed 70 wnaS ,S daral'
oped has but little idea of the power 1t con
tains. The professors son had pounoeo sa1iu-
baos until he could give blow more tnan
double the force OF an ordinary unIraiheu
Ills father had the reputation Of being the
stronpest man of his weight in Boston; but
BRYAN was not professional or even an
amateur athlete. The instructions OF the
professor had rather turned MS mind away
from such accomplishments, and he never
used his strength or his skill except Tor prac-
tical nurposes Strangers never suspected MIN
of being an athlete.
But no great strength was required TO open
+ha tran-door. BRYAN lifted it by fractions
Of of an inch. The oil had done its work well,
and the scuttle moved without NOISE under
bis careful management. He set 1t back
AGAINST the woodwork under, the great win
dow A short ladder was kePt I'm ander the M
opening, and there was no dlfflcuity In oe-
scending to the basement.
BRYAN realized that the slightest accldent
such as the fall of any article on the noor'
would reveal his movements, to the Durgiafs.
AS be looked down into the basement, ne
found that it was as dark as Egypt, his
work had never been in that part OF the es-
tablishment, and he was not familiar with the
position of things there. He had merely seen
that there were alleys and passages among the
piles of cases and crates and ne was aonotIal thn
dark to the rear of the basement. >, =,
While he was considering the matter, the
burglars suspended their work, perhaps out OF
breath with the violence OF their exertions
Bryan heard the % ad not tones Ga ane
what they said, he, was confident that they
were engaged in dispute.
Probably the professors son had as much
curiosity as the average boy and ne desired to
know what they were talking about. Such
knowledge might be of service. to him. The
safe was behind the counter, while Bryan was
in the body of the store: .!Crouching down so
that the counter should fully conceal him from
the view of the operators, he crept like a cat
toward the middle of the store.
"If YOU don't work we shall get nothing"
nrotesfed one of them, angrily but in voice
hardly above whisper; though Bryan had
secured a position near enough to hear all that
was said In the stiffness of the night.
at can't help it; l am not used to such
work and am all worn out, replied anoth-
er, in a less cautious tone.
The speaker was not one OF the two who
had come to Bryan's berth; but it sounded
even al@ more familiar to the listener
.fYou have got US into pretty fx!,, con-
+;nued the first speaker, whose voice Bryan
recoonized as that of Lon Blinker,. which was
necn1;ar enough to be remembered and iden-
t;fed "You were to open the door at
O'clock: but you kept us waiting till 3. You
made us lose two hours' ana you must make
81 81 didn't wake up till 3, or nearly that;
ond 7 could not let you in while was asleep"
muttered the other, who was painting from his
exertions with the tools.
BRYAN was utterly confounded as he recog-
nized the voice of the last speaker. Was it
nossible that Peach Hunter was one of the
Generators. though it appeared that he was a
very unwilling one? There could be no doubt
Roth his voice and what had been said by Lon
Blinker proved that Peach was one of them.
There would be no occasion to cut his bonds
"You had no business to go to sleep at such
n time" continued Lon. "Do you think we
shall give you share of the swag if you
don't do your part of the work.? Not a dol
lar of it if you don't stick to the tools till