Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1909-04-08

anu the VERTICAL p6nndnSllp Taught d
little while ago in our public schools
sticks out all through the letter. The
character and attachments Of tthe
writer of this letter, taken together
with the injured boys testimony,
points with finality to a certain one Of
the persons known to be concerned.
In short, whatever his motive may
be, and impossible as the known facts
alone seem to render it"
The doctor paused as footsteps
sounded without, and then went on
the person who threw that bomb
was"
Master Frank Macalusco," an
nounced the maid, opening the door.
And forward stepped the son Of Tony,
his face bandaged, but wearing a
smile of deprecating good humor.
Detective Birsch stared at the boy
and then looked at the doctor.
you don't mean" he began, and
paused. DR.. Furnivall smiled some.
what grimly.
"Take a seat, Master Frank" he
said. And when the grinning youth
had taken a tentative position on the
edge of the couch, hat in hand, the
doctor continued: "Shall / be com.
PEELED to hypnotic you, or will you
tell your story freely?"
"Oh, it's all off now, and I might
as well talk" the boy answered. Far
from feeling embarrassed, he seemed
to enjoy the situation, grinning i'm
partially at each of his hearers as
he proceeded with his confession.
"You can take it straight" he said,
in schoolboy slang, that it wasn't me
for the priesthood. 1t was my folks
that put up that job for me. 1t is
M for the stage-Im going to be an
actor. 1t wouldn't do to let my father
know that, though-he'd 60 nutty. He
thought it was all settled long ago,
and l let him think SO because it
would be no good to start in fighting
him before | had to. Of course /
knew he had the money saved up.
How could | help getting wise to it,
when they're always whispering about
it to each other, looking mysterious
and acting funny, me right there with
EN- so much? So / fixed up this deal
to lift the money from father. l
wouldn't S it-all | wanted was to
make sure he wouldn't send me to
college. / could not do that this way
without making him mad at me for
not doing as he wished, and / could
give the stuff back to him later. /
knew he was easily frightened, and
thought he would give up right off
as soon as I was threatened, without
going to the police, but when / heard
him in the other room talking with
mother about the letter and the trap
the police had set l didn't know what
to do. At first I thought I'd call it
all off. 1t was too risky. But the
excitement sort Of appealed to me,
and l thought that as l was bound to
be an actor, this was as good a time
as any to begin. So finally I hit on
the thing / did. Last night / got an
old piece of lead pipe and split it, to
make it look like an exploded bomb,
and put it on the rug, which I
scorched with a match, cut my face
a little with my razor, and then
touched off a cannon firecracker. /
had no gun, you know, and these
things wouldn't tell any tales. / had
my door already unlocked, and al
and opened it, and slammed it back
without latching 1t, jumped a few
steps downstairs, and then ran back
again, closing the door softly. / had
meant to unlock my window, to make
believe the Black Hand got in that
way, but l guess | was a little nervous,
and ! forgot it, and so had to say the
man | saw was on the fire-escape out
side, instead of in the room, as / had
intended to say. The situation was
impossible, wasn't It? 1t was funny
the way everybody swallowed such a
stiff as that" He threw the cha
grined detective a sly glance. He
was the Everybody" referred to.
Then the boy, this Would-De actor,
thrilling with d pride over his ex
plot that not even its detection and
failure could materially lower, added:
Il told father in the letter to send the
money to the San Francisco post Of
flee, then I wrote to them there to
forward any letters for John Kill
braith to another post office, and |
wrote that office to forward the mali
to another, and SO on, and the last
one was to forward it to our general
delivery here. where ] could get it,"
He paused, looking at the detective,
who examined him a moment as If he
would like to take him across his
knee, and then turned to DR.. Furnivall.
1T seems plain enough now" he
said, somewhat sheepishly.
80 does everything, when made SO
with a little-psychology," remarked
DR.. Furnivall.
Copyright, by W. @. chaSsianl
Copyright In Great Britain.)