Washington telegraph. (Washington, Ark.) 18??-1940, 1909-08-27


cerned only to proflt by it. Never Do
fore had the long arm of the Jaw
s'retched hungry fingers so near ms
collar. He went. springing down the
nail IN long. soundless strides, VANISH
ing into its shadows.
AS he disappeared Maitland stepped
TO the door, raised his revolver ana
pulled the trigger twice. The shots
detonated loudly in that confined space
and rang coincident with the clash ana
CHATTER OF shivered glass. A thin eiouu
OF vapor obseured the doorway, sway
ing on the hot. still air, then parted
and dissolved. dissipated by the en-
trance of four men who, thrustlng the
door violently open, struggled INTO the
hallway
Blue cloth and brass buttons moved
conspicuously in the van, grim race
flushed and perspiring beneath the neil
NETS vizor, a revolver poised menac-
1ngly in one hand, locust as READY III
the other. Behind this outward anu
visible manifestation Of the III"
majesty bobbed rusty derby, cooked
Jauntily back upon the red, SHINING
forehead of a short and thiek-set per
son with black mustache o'Hagah 5
agitated countenanee loomed over
dusty shoulder. and the battered SILK
hat of the nighthawk brought up the
rear.
Come in, everybody" Maitland
greeted them cheerfully, turning PACK
into the study and tossing the reYol-
yer, shreds of smoke still curling up
from its muzzle, upon a divan.
"O'Hagan," he called, on second
| thought, Jump downstairs and see
that all New York doesn't get in, Let
nobody inl'
AS the janitor unwillingly obeyed,
policeman and detective found their
tongues. A volley of questions, to the
general purport of whats 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 I was in6ulging in target practice
at this time of night?9
(Which wal'd he go?'
Back of tie flat-through the win
dow to the fre-eseape, I suppose. l
took couple of shots after him, but
missed, and inasmuch as he was
armed, didl't pursue"
Hickey stepped forward, glowering
unpleasantly at the young man. "Yeh
go along" h told the uniformed man,
nd see T he's tellin' the truth. I'll
stay here nd keep him company"
His tone amused Maitland. In the
reaction frot the recent strain upon
his wits andherVe, he laughed openly.
And who are your" he suggested,
aaniIid as policeman dumped
Hickey . dFightfuliy= INTO a
Satsuma ja3liniere and sneered. "I
s'pose yeh meyer saw me before?"
Maitland bowed affirmation. 'Tm
sorry to say that that pleasure has
heretofore Aeen denied me-"
"Uh-huh,"( agreed the detective,
sourly, Il GUESS that's a hot one, too"
He scowledl blackly in Maitland's
amazed face and seemed abruptly to
swell with mysterious rage. my
names Hickey" he informed him, ven
omously, and 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 par
don my noticing it-with some I'M
called-for spleen. Might l suggest that
you moderate your tone? For" he
continued, facing the man squarely, "if
you don't, it will be my duty and
pleasure to hoist you into the street"
Il got photograph of yeh doing
1t" growled Hickey. Still, seeing as
yen never saw me before, | 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.
AM" commented Maitland, polite
~. "A detective? How Interestingly"
"Ftre-escape winder's broke, all
right" This was the policeman, re-
turned, And some ones let down the
bottom length of ladder, but there amt
nobody in sight"
NO. interiected Hickey, md there
wouldn't We been if you'd been waitin'
In the back yard all night"
certainly not" Maitland agreed,
blandly; especially if my burglar had
known it. In which case fancy he
would have chosen another route-by
the roof, possibly
"Yeh know somethin' about roofs
yehself, donchuh?" suggested Hickey
We'll, guess yehll have time to write
a book about it while yeh-"