The Washington times., 1909-08-20
-By-
R. K. THOMPSON

Anything come to light-pin or
pursef' l questioned, hoarsely.
Not a sign OF eitheTl'' she pulled.
"Oh, this is the most wretched affair
that ever happened Think OF the dis
graCe-to Us!''
Think c. the cost of replacing the
stun-tO mel' I grunted, exploring the
shadow under a chair. Unless that
Confounded pocSetbook and pin turn up
IN the corner over there, I'll give up
and admit they're lost. Which is prac-
ucaliy the same as admitting to myself
that I'll have to dig down into my
pocket for their costl' / added, ruefully.
"OhP'
fen forward on my hands and
turned my head to look up at my wife's
What Is ttG' I whispered.
49,, What is thatg' cried my wife.
"ListenI"
I strained my ears. Outside the door
stealthily. Som one was coming M
The sound. I'll confess. sent a cold shiV-
er cascading In anything bat pleasant
1pples down my arohed vertebra. food
ing my brain with the fearsome
thought; It was the burglar coming
back
Maybe it's the thief returning" NY
wife put the thought into words. "fIen-
~, don't let him come in hereT'
| scrambled silently. and with a pain
L.
Ny breath was quick, my nerves
strained as I listened 10 the ever-near-
ing sound OF the creaking on the stair
way. Ny wtfe's hand touched and
closed around my arm. I jumped as
though her fingers were electrically
charged.
Henry-rm afraid" she breathed IN
to my ear.
might truthfully have answered that
/ understood her sensations perfectly
/ Instead of which. witt a laudable de-
sire TO soOthe her fears, / expanded the
muscles Of my arm under her trembling
clutch. I drew in deep. self-bolster.
| ing breath
And then I laughed aloud.
Jack Rogers voice sounded from the
stairway. "GO easy, folks" ne muir
| mured, the burglar is still there-I car
hear him inside the nursery"
The breaking OF the stairs that had
startled US with the fear that II was
/ the thief returning, came from our
/ guests progress as they mounted to-
| ward us-and they thought, having over
heard our stealthy movements in the
room that we were the thieves.
At my laugh, they burst In upon US
headed by Rogers. And the next in
slant they were rumma ging WILDLY
/ among their Wraps-each searching tc
7 discover a possible loss.
| My solid gold haI-pins"
At the feminine cry Of distress,
shrank back. Had somebody else lost
! something?
They're gonef' repeated the same
voice. My beautiful, solid goii hat
And my marabou stole?" shrieked
another. That's gone, tool"
I began a problem in rapid mental
arithmetic, subtracting the guessed-at
/ cost Of each article announced as miss
/ ing from my bank balance
Ny silver vanity bag - fits been
stOienr'
C'Twenty-Gve dollars from six-eighty
/ leaves-'')
And my HJcney-the money I put into
the pocket of my coRt-it's goner'
/ III hastily substituted another totat)
/ toot''
And mine, tooT'
| "And mine-and minep'
/ In another moment, the result OF my
| subtraction told me. I should be hank
rupt And then the inventory fortu-
| nately ended by the only woman present
| who had made known ne loss announc-
/ ing:
"The ven has been stolen from my
was saved-but at what a tremen-
dous costi
/ I hesltated to think Of what I had
/ gone through in my mental expenditure
/ Of my savings-the narrowing nearness
/ to the brink of ruin that had so narrow
/ " been avertedi
/ For the thief. whoever he was. had
made q clean sweep. Everything OF
value in the nursery had been stolen!
/