The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-04-09
IN the 18th of July at two o'clock
in the morning Little 1talye
Wkasa startled by 4 sound that


Wass startled by 4 sound tha
sent, its. constituent parts tum
bling out of bed and scampe.
ing a66ut'1 as IFS demehte'lE. 1T was
the report Of an explosion, like tina
of a gun. discharged suddenly IL
the silence'df the night While Momer
In nightclothes ran wildly here anG
there, squalling babies in arms, and
men nearly naked vociferated excit
eddy and rushed for weapons, three
things happened in front of No. III
with the suddenness Of flash OF
lightning. A first-foor window vom
tied a policeman to the sidewalk, the
door flew open disclosing another pc
liceman in the entry, and the near BY
alley emitted . a GREATNESS third
Meeting at the foot of the stairway
these three officers: regarded each
other blankly.
He took: the stairs-where is he
Murphy" gasped the one who had
come by way d the window
What" cried Murphy. "You must
be bughouse. was right here all the
t'n 81 Is &.s aeF|a 95 s|'aa by ms~"n he
You don't say you've let him slip
after alFthe"3na plant We put =up?.
TheNfir officer, .who~ WAS iR~rplaiu
clotheE; $eeted at 11is,colle&gues jh BE-
wilderment, chagrin and cOndemna
ton ar str>ig glitg for expression in
his face.
"We!" exclaimed the two in a
breath. And Murphy continued, &C.
cusingly: Where was you. Mr.
Birsch? He must have climbed in
your way, for he didn't mine, and here
was Ffnnegan right on the landing
A mouse couldn't squeak by. us. Did
you hear anything, Finnegan?"
mot zip. till the thing went of; -
Nnnegan responded, regarding the de.
tective with disfavor He said no
more, but it was evident that he had
placed the blame for the miscarriage
of their plans. The plain-clothes man
saw this and answered with heat:
well, 1 wasn't" asleep either, II
that's what you're getting at. I was
right under the fire-escape and not a
cat could purr in the whole alley with
out my hearing IT. It's somebody
from inside that's turned the trick,
that's what. But" he added, as he
hurried to the first floor, followed
closely by the others; what did you
tumble out for, Finnegan, instead of
getting into Tony's? We don't know
even what has happened yet
why" said F1nnegan, las soon as
the door of Tony's room opened and a
man waltzed out on the fly and down
the stairs scooted through the win.
dow to head him of. ~ - ..'
But you knew Murphy was in the
lower hail"
my orders was to nab the Black
Hand" Ffnnegan interrupted CURLY.
II didn't figger that I could put up
any brilliant service finding out what
the damage was while the murderer
was doing the vanishing act down the
stairs"
But there was no one on the
stairs, and he" didn't come down."
cried Murphy. ,,, $500
Man, tell you I saw HIM" con.
tradicted Finnegan. "He banged open
Tony's door and hit the landing in
two jumps and down he went was
looking right at him. And heard
him on the stairs. He was in his
stocking feet, by the sound.'''
Il heard sounds all right, and that's
why opened the: door-to let; the light
In from the street lamp so could see.
But nobody showed up"
Detective Birsch said nothing. but II
the darkness had been less dense they
would have seen that his face was set
and grim. In the hall 4 thin line of
light ran beneath door, from behind
which came sounds of sobbing and
moaning, and entering without cere-
mony they 'beheld, through little
wreaths of smoke, a woman sitting on
a bed, holding in her arms a young
fellow down whose face the blood
streamed, and man onahis knees in
the middle of the floor praying We.
hemently with uplifted hands.
Tony" he said then to the praying
man sharply, ''anybody but him in
jured?" motioning towards the bed.
"None-a bud da boy" he answered,
and in the. same breath continued his
screaming applications.
While the two policemen gave their
attention to the apartment, which con-
tanned only two rooms, Detective
Birsch leaned over the bed. The VIC
tim was one of those very handsome
youths SO often seen towering the soil
of our Little Italys," about 10 years
OF age, with nothing in the way of
clothing on but an undershirt, blood
streaming down his face The mother
looked up appealingly as Birsch ap-
preached, holding the limp form still
closer, as if to protect it from further
harm. But. the youth, though he an
peared half swooning, smiled, nodded
and put out his hand. The detective
shook it warmly.
Good boy" he said 'encoturaeinsity.
you've got the right stuff in your in
side. 1t takes more than a little
thing like this to, knock you out, hey!
Now, tell US about lev =
II don't think know much" the
boy returned in a weak voice, but in
good English. II woke up and saw
somebody outside my room on the
tire.escape, and I asked who was
there. Then something struck me on
the head, l heard q big roar, and l
suppose fell out of bed, for when I
came to myself my mother was drag
ging me across the floor"
>"Well, but say" cried the aston.