Evening star., 1911-06-03

was no likeness to anything joyful or
classic Life to him seemed to be one
disaster after another. Perhaps he was
justified In his point Of view. but he
blamed the entire stretch Of gloom upon
the fact that he worked for the govern
ment. Somehow. they all do.
The Black Hand.
Mrs. Caramel. as usual. was In tears.
IT'S come. it's come she walled, as
her arms went lashing around his neck.
''and know we'll all be blown up
Mr.. Caramel had q vision OF an ex-
plosive can Of beans left by some secret
enemy. and wondered why they had not
thrown 1t away. There was nothing In
this momentary theory, for Mrs. Cara
mel dragged him to the bedroom OF
Gladys Caramel, aged ten. and pointed
to one of the pillows.
Look
Mr.. Caramel looked.
"A black hand"' he whispered.
Yes. a black hand
The Caramels looked at each other and
there was an eloquent fear in that mo-
ment. 1t was q gaze OF mutual horror,
for each Caramel knew then that the
Camorra had landed on them at last and
that KIDNAPPING would be the least Of the
| atrocities.
w nlCn Cnllu uO lncy NChtui 60
Mr.. Caramel.
.They want them ALL walled Mrs. Car
amel, while the tears rained upon her
face. Only the night before she had or
fered to sell the entire Caramel quartet
for ten minutes of silence, but the price
evidently had gone up.
Not for a million dollars would I lose
them. Oh, don't you suppose those Black
Hands would take money instead"
Mr.. Caramel was of the opinion that
they would, but had misgivings as to
their willingness to accept the balance of
the $54 81 which rested in the bank. with
a rent check Of $4O.5O on Its way to the
agent. The Black Hand perturbed Mr.
Caramel, the thought of his children in
the grasp of banditti melted his heart
but the thought of his $14.32 steeled his
nerve and made man of him;
"I'll buy gun he exclaimed, go
They'll kill you," suggested Mrs. Cara
Never. I'll shoot at them from be-
hind the door,. explained the tactician
of the Caramel family. and Mrs. Caramel
then understood why her husband re-
minded her of Napoleon.
The Caramel children stay up late. All
| were at dinner. There was Black Hand
for the meal and scarcely anything else.
made himself unpopular by saying that
the Caramel carving knife was not SO
sharp as the Black Hand stiletto: For
| that observation Mr.. Caramel banished
u. y. Grant 10 Dcu. DuI COuiu Hol ~
vail on anybody to take him UP the dark
stairs A gas lamp broke. front door
slammed and a cat yowled all at the
same time. and the ensuing fright mad
to eat a thing, and the dinner was all
saved for the next day. Yet economy
was lost sight Of In the confusion which
followed the discovery OF another muir
derous and mysterious symbol
This time Mr.. Caramel found 1t himself.
1t was the black imprint OF palm and
fingers upon a pair Of white trousers
hanging in a closet. 1t was bed time Tor
the children, but none dared go. Mr.
Caramel wanted to go right down town
and buy a gun, but Mrs. Caramel shrieked
at the thought of being left alone
Send for O. policeman, she cried in her
agony. Mr.. Caramel said he would. and
| did SO by telephone;
message. Send good man, and strong
one please, quick" Those were the clos
| ing words Of his telephone G.. Q. d.
Policeman Solves Mystery.
The good man" was Policeman O'Hara.
| who reported to the Caramels with more
leisure, perhaps, than was justified by
the crisis, although his matter Of fact
bravery in the face of death undoubtedly
| had its moral effect. Mrs. Caramel nearly
kissed him. Policeman O'Hara examined
| the two messages from banditti. and made
| a careful examination OF the house. While
he was traipsing through the halls and
rooms, Cleo De Merode Caramel set out
about her favorite occupation Of watering
the lawn No matter whether 1t was
daylight or not. Cleo De Merode could
| be counted on to water the lawn in dull
| moments.
The Caramel hose is leaky and dirty.
The place where IT is kept In the cellar
is dirty. too, for they kept the coal there
last winter. And Cleo De Merode Is a
dirty child She wipes her hands on the
cellar floor several times a day. She did
| II then, and ascended the cellar steps.
O'Hara was in the kitchen. eating q piece
| of shortcake, reward for prompt services,
handed out by Mrs Caramel. His sum-
mer uniform blouse was thrown open, ex-
posing a perfectly clean white shirt. Cleo
De Merode saw the shortcake and made
grab for IT. O'Hars raised 1t out OF the
child's swooping grasp. but did not step
aside quickly enough. for the hand OF Cleo
De Merode smote. him on the white shirt
And as the hand fell away, the Cara
mels. father and mother, and the com
bined quartet Of little Carameis gazed
upon the smeared shirt Of the great
O'Hara Cleo's little black hand had left
its imprint
The culprit is discovered" announced
Policeman O'Hara.
Little Cleo slept upon her face last
night.