The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1911-04-22

the means of the little girl a. she lurch.
ca tliaSly toward the deer cs the safe
and scratched the metal thicknesses
with her tiny nails.
The dolly fell to the floor, the ends
Of the soft little fingers began to bleed
from frenzied contact with the bars
that ribbed the interior Of the safe
door. and after a few moments the
wee girls form sank Imply to the bot.
tom Of the vault, where she gasped
convulsively to breathe In the air that
was gradually losing its life support
ing qualities. Not many minutes
would elapse ere she had consumed all
the precious oxygen in the suffocating
interior Of the necessarily air tight
vault.
As Jimmy Valentine dashed into the
vault room he cried to Red Flanagan.
who was at his heels:
go get one Of the clerks to run for
some sandpaper. Pumice stone Ii too
soft for this job. My fingers are not
In shape for a trick like this. Col!
Rum
Red turned and darted away on his
urgent erra&d. Well he knew just how
necessary 1t was for Jimmy Valentine
to have sandpaper to rescue Kitty II It
were true that the skin on his fingers
had grown calloused or had reached
even its natural thickness.
Jimmy Valentine pulled manfully at
the handles Of the vault door. Per-
haps, after all, the combination had
not been turned and only the doors
weight held 1t in place. But the metal
barrier would not move. He pressed
his ear to the hairlike crack. He
heard the sound as Of a little body
falling to the floor and the faint means
of the prisoner calling. Bobby, Bobby,
Bobbyr
Valentine bent over the combination.
peered sharply at 1t, then began to
twirl the cylinders gently. Around
and then back he turned the knob.
No: It was Of no use Nothing could
be done until the sandpaper arrived.
His fingers had lost their sensitiveness
and hence their cunning, and in the
meantime Valentine well knew the
prisoner was consuming whatever of
the priceless air that remained.
The door leading from his Office
swung open, and again Red Flanagan
darted in. He flung himself on the
vault room floor directly below Val
entine's knees and held his ear close
to the crack Of the safe door.
.-rnink you can make it. JimmyY
he gasped.
"Guess so; never failed on lock
like this. Why. in Gods name, don't
that fool come with that sandpaperw
Valentine was desperate at the delay.
Hes gone to a-here he isp' cried
Red as he heard hurrying footsteps In
the assistant cashiers Office. Red
jumped to his feet and out into Val
entine's room. He seized the roll of
sandpaper from the messengers
hands.
what are you going to do with it?"
asked the inquisitive clerk.
Red showed him away and darted
back toward the vault room.
"None Of your business" he cried.
"and keep out Of here"
"Give 1t here. What Is it?" exclaim-
ed Valentine as Red ran to him.
mo. A."
that's best. Is the bank emptyr
Eyes. thank God. Mr.. Lane has
gone. There's no one here to pipe
what we're doin'-and even II there
=.
was we'd just materially have to 60
through with it-for that girl Kitty
shut upp' cried Valentine nervous.
ly. He bent over and rubbed his I'm.
gers briskly across the gritty surface
Of one Of the sheets of -sandpaper
which Red had handed him-rubbed
until the white flesh showed pink
Red stood and watched him breath.
lessly. The sound Of Valentines fn-
gers scraping back and forth across
the face ofthe sandpaper seemed to
his feverish brain the physical demon
stration of an evil being. appalled, him
as sinister omen Of impending doom.
He had heard story Of his old grand.