The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1908-11-12
IN THE DEAD
OF NIGHT
Copyright, by shortstory Pub. Coz
By EDGAR WELT0N COOLEY

the street, it began to rain dismally
This pleased him, for it added to the
blackness of the night and had q ten
dency to drive away any late pedes
TRAN.
He was not hanpered by luggage
Such tools as he reeded-a bar o.
soap, an air-pump, a can Of nitrogly
cerine, some fuse, a Jimmy, a darl
lantern, a reVolver-he carried In his
pockets, and, under his coat, a folded
grain sack.
Without pausing, without hesitating
he glanced searchingly up and dowr
the street. A smoking oil lamp stood
upon a post on the corner Of the mair
street Of the village, its feeble rays
struggling ineffectively in the mist
No living creature was stirring; nc
other glimmer visible.
A few strides took him to the side
window of a building. The sill was OF
a level with his head. He tried t
raise the sash, but, as he had eX
pected, it was fastened. So he tool
the jimmy from his pocket, and, sliE
ping it's thin edge under the frame
threw all his weigh suddenly upoI
the handle.
With a report like that of a pistol
the lock slapped. For five minute
perhaps, the burglar crouched in the
shadows under the window, watching
listening. But not a sound, save the
patter of the rain in the gutter, did he
hear; not a moving object did he see
Then carefully, nOiselessly, he
pushed up the sash and climbed in
He was in total darkness, but knew
exactly where he stood. He could
have drawn an accurate, detailed plan
of the interior of the building-knew
| precisely how many feet it was from
the window to the safe; from the safe
to the front doors; from the window
to his horse and buggy, standing in tbs
alley at the e a
So, although he could not see his
hand before him, he turned confident
ly to his left and walked six PAGES
Then he circled to his right around
the end of the counter, and took four
steps more. Pausing, he reached out
his hand and touched the safe.
The burglar moved his hand glee-
fully over the door and laughed. The
bank was not provided with a vault.
A good vault costs as much as a build
ing, and this was a small bank In a
country town. So the funds were en-
trusted to the protection OF this burg
lar-proof" safe. He wondered what
the citizens would say about burglar
proof safes while gathering up the
pieces!
Without losing a moment, he filled
the cracks around the door of the safe
with soap, leaving n small opening.
To this opening he attached his pump
and exhaused the air on the inside.
Closing the opening, he cut a piece
off the bar Of soap, and, rolling it be-
tween his palms and molding it with
his fingers, soon fashioned it into the
shape Of a small cup. This he fastened
at the bottom Of the door and filled
with ni~troglycerine. Then he at
tached a fuse.
Ten feet from the safe, a door
opened into the rea Office Of the bank,
and In this room the safe-breaker had
planned to seek refuge while the ex-
plosive was doing its work. Not de-
string to tarry unnecessarily in close
proximity to a charge Of ni~troglycerine
about to explode, he concluded, before
lighting the fuse, to satisfy himself
that the door of this inner room was
not locked or bolted.
He turned the knob, the door opened
readily, and he took one step across
the threshold. Then he paused. In
the intense darkness he could not see
an object; in the perfect silence he
could not hear a sound.
But neutrality-suspicious., in
stinct, some indefinable sixth sense
Something sent a chill through him,
and he trembled as one who suddenly
becomes conscious Of the presence of
unseen spirits. Without the power to
move, he stood, staring into the dark
ness, the perspiration standing in icy
drops upon his forehead.
With the desperation that fear In.
spires, he drew his dark-lantern,
slipped back the slide and threw the
searching glare around the room, light
ing first the most distant corner. Slow
ly he moved the lantern, bringing the
round spot of brilliant light towards
him across the carpet. Suddenly he
uttered a low cry and shrank back as
the light fell fiercely upon an object
almost nj hiS feet
So near that by STOPPING the burg
lar could have touched him, a dead
man lay. his waxen face and sightless
eyes turned upward! The carpet,
where his head and shoulders rested,
cleaned scarlet with his blood; the
~nerveless fingers Of his right hand
clasped a pistol; In the center of his
forehead was a CHASTITY wound.
With a strange weakness in his
knees the burglar bent over the dead
man, brushed back his matted hair.
took the pistol gently from his fingers
and folded his hands across his breast.
In the corpse the craftsman recog-
nized Frazer, the bank cashier.
On the desk beside him vas the fol-
lowing letter, unsealed:
Being no longer able to conceal my
shortage, to hide the fact that the safe
does not contain the amount OF money
that IL should, and being a coward. ! have
chosen q towards method of paying my