Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-30
X1.-Continued.

| A1.-Continued.
Blue cloth and brass buttons moved
conspicuously in the van. a grim face
flushed and perspiring. beneath the he'll
NETS vizor. revolver poised menacingly
in one hand. locust as ready in the other
| Behind this outward and visible manifes-
| tation of the laws majesty bobbed a
rusty derby. cooked jauntily back upon
he red. shining forehead OF a short and
| thick-set person with a black mustache
O'Hagan's agitated countenance doomed
over dusty shoulder. and the battered
silk hat Of the nighthawk brought up the
! rear.
Come in. everybody" Maitland greeted
them. cheerfully. turning back into the
study and tossing the revolver. shreds Of
smoke still curling up from it's muzze.
! upon divan. "O'Hagan" he called. on
second thought Jump downstairs and
see that al! New York doesn't get in. Let
nobody in!''
As the janitor unwilingly obeyed,
tongues. A volley Of questions. to tho
general purport of What's tn meanin' of
all this here?" assailed Maitland, as he
rested himself coolly on an edge Of the
| desk. He responded, with one eyebrow
slightly elevated:
| "A burglar What did you suppose?
That was INDUCING In target practice at
this time of night?'
Back of the fat-through the window
| to the fire escape. I suppose. took
couple of shots after him, but missed.
| and iaasmuch as he was armed l didn't
! pursue"
Hickey stepped forward. glowerng I'M
| pleasantly at the young man. ''Yeh go
| along" he told the uniformed man. nd
see f he's tellin the truth. Ill stay here
| nd KEEP him company"
| His tone amused Maitland. In the re-
action from the recent strain upon his
| wits and nerve he laughed openly.
And who are yOu?" he suggested, smil-
| ing. as the policeman dumped heavily
away.
Hickey spat thoughtfully into a Satsuma
| jardiniere and sneered. II s'pose yeh
| never saw me before?'
Maitland bowed animation. I'm sorry
to SAL, that that pleasure has heretofore
! been denied me-
"Uh-huh." agreed the detective. sourly.
II guess that's a hot one, too He
Ecowled hlackly in Maitland's anna zed
face. and seemed abruptly to swell with
he Informed him. venomously. land don't
| yeh lose sight OF that after this. It's
| somethin it won't hurt yeh to remember.
Guess yer mem'ry's taking a vacation.
huh?''
my dear man. said Maitland. "you
speak in parallels and-if you'll pardon
my noticing it-w;th some uncalled-for
spleen. Might suggest that you mod
eTdte your tone. fOT. he continued,
| facing the man squarely. 'Yf you don't it
| will be my duty and pleasure to hoist you
into the street.
II got a photograph of yeh doing IT."
srowled Hickey. Still. seeing as yeh
never saw me before, I guess it won't do
| no harm for yeh to connect with this"
And he turned back his coat uncovering
| the official shield Of the detective bureau.
"Ah!" commented Maitland. politely.
"a detective? How Interestingly!
"Erre-eSCape winder's broke all right ~
This was the policeman. returned. And
some ones let down the bottom length
of ladder, but there amt nobody in
sight
NO" interjected Hickey. end there
wouldn't We been IL you'd been waitin' in
the back yard all night
Certainly not" Maitland agreed. bland
ly: especially If my burglar had known
| 1t. In which case ] fancy he would have
| chosen another route-by the roof. pos
sibly."
"Yeh know somethin about roofs yeh-
self. donchuh?" suggested Hickey. We'll.
| guess yeh'll have time to write a book
about it while yel1-''
| He stepped unexpectedly to Maitland's
side and bent forward. Something cold
and. hard closed with snap around each
OF the young mans wrists. He started
up. face afiame with indignation. forget
| full Of the girl hidden in the alcove
What the devil!' he cried hotly, jung
| ling the handouts
All, CONne OH. hickey ADVISED MIN.
''Yeh can't bluff 1t forever you know
Come along and tell the sarge all about
! 1t, Daniel Maitland, esquire. alias Hand
some Dan Anisty. gentleman burglar.
All. cut that out: young fellow;
yeh'll find this amt no laughin matter.
Yeh're foxy. all right. but yeh've pushed
yer run of luck too hard
Hickey paused, perplexed. finding no
| words wherewith adequately to voice the
disgust aroused in him by his prisoners
demeanOr. something far from seemly, to
his mind.
The humor of the situation had just
| dawned upon Maitland. and the young
| man was crimson with appreciation.
60 on. go or!' he begged. feebly
Don't let me stop you. Hickey. Don't,
please. let me spoil II all. Your
Sherlock Holmes. Hickey. is one Of the
finest characterizations I have ever wit
messed. 1t is a privilege not to be under
estimated to be permitted to play Raffies
to you. But seriously. my dear
sleuth!" with an unhappy attempt to wipe
his eyes with hampered fists. don't you
think you're wasting your talents?"
By this time even the policeman seemed
doubtful. He glanced askance at the de-
tective and shuff1ed uneasiy. AS for the
cabby who had clustered in at first with
intent to demand his due in no uncertain
terms. apparently Maitland's bearing.
coupled with the inherent contempt and
hatred of the nighthawk tribe for the
minions of the law. had won his sympa-
a
door jamb. quite at home. he genially
puffed an unspeakable cigarette and nod
ded appreciation Of Maitland's every other
word.
But Hickey-Hickey bristled belliger-
emily.
Zine" he declared. acidly: Zine and
| dandy. 1 take off my hat to. yeh, Dan
Anisty. may be bad actor. all right.
but yeh Sot me beat at the post"
Then turning to the policeman, II got
him right. Look here!" Drawing folded
newspaper from his pocket. he spread 1t
open for the offlcer's inspection. "Yeh
see them pictures? Now. on the level,
| Is It natural?"
The patrolman frowned doubtfully.
| glancing from the paper to Maitland The
| cabby stretched a curious neck. Maitland
groaned inwardly; he had seen that in
| famous sheet.
Now iisten.' the detective expounded
with gusto. 'Twict today this here Matt
land. or An:sty. meets me. Once on the
stoop here. nd he's Maitland. nd takes
me to lunch-see? Next time it's in Har-
lem where I've been sent with hot tip
| from the cmmiss' ner's afflce to find An
isty, md he's still Maitland nd surprised
| to see me. I amt sure then. but I'm dom
some heavy think.n' all right. lets him
| go and shadows him. After a while he
gives me the slip nd I chases down here.
waitin for hing to turn UP. Coming down
on the car buys this paper. md sees the
| pictures and then I'm on. See?"
| "uh-huh.' grunted the patrolman. scowl-
| ing at Maitland. The cabby caressed his
nose with a soiled forefinger, renectively.