Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1908-12-24
IN THE DEAD
OF NIGHT
By EDGAR wELroS COOLEY

the street., IL Dc6du W ram uioihoiJ
This pleased him, for it added to the
blackness of the night and had ten
dency to drive away any late pedes-
TRAN.
He was not hampered by luggage
Such tools as he needed-a bar OF
soap, an air-pump, can OF nitrogly'
cerine, some fuse, jimmy, dark
lantern, a revolver-he carried in his
pockets, and, under his coat, folded
grain sack.
Without pausing, without hesitating,
he glanced searchingly up and down
the street. A smoking oil lamp stood
upon a post on the corner of the main
street of the village, its feeble rays
struggling ineffectively in the mist
No living creature was stirring; no
other glimmer visible.
A few strides took him to the side
window of building. The sill was on
a level with his head. He tried to
raise the sash, but, as he had ex-
pected, II was fastened. So he took
the Jimmy from his pocket, and, slip
ping its thin edge under the frame
threw all his weigh suddenly upon
the handle.
With a report like that of a pistol,
the lock snapped. For five minutes
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 the
alley at the rear.
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
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 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 one small opening.
To this opening be attached his pump
and exhaused the air on the inside.
Closing the opening, he cut a piece
of the bar of soap and, rolling it be
tween his palms and molding it with
his fingers, soon fashioned it into the
shape of small cup. This he fastened
at the bottom of the door and filled
with nitroglycerine. Then he at
tached fuse.
Ten feet from the safe, door
opened into the rear 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 charge of nitroglycerine
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 at 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 was the fol.
lowing letter, unsealed:
Being no longer able TO conceal my