Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-03-14

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brother, who never failed at asserting
his superiority over a mere girl and the
superiority Of the men folk" in gen.
eral, insisted that she go first into the
yawning blackness Of the big safe:
! Surely she must maintain the tradi-
tions of the fearlessness Of her sex as
she knew them and take the dare
which Bobby forced upon her.
Slowly into the steel bound shadows
she went her waxen faced dolly
clutched tightly against her throbbius
bosom-yet in she went. Suddenly the
huge door scraped shut. All was black
she heard the click of the metal bars
as Bobby playfully turned the han
dies. Then all was silent, save for
the means of the little girl as she
lurched blindly toward the door of the
safe and scratched the metal thick
nesses 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 IT'S life support
ing qualities. Not many minutes
oh hn oil
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:
60 get one of the clerks to run for
some sandpaper. Pumice stone is too
soft for this job. My fingers are not
in shape for trick like this. Go!
Rum"
Red turned and darted away on his
urgent errand. Well he knew just how
necessary it was for Jimmy Valentine
to have sandpaper to rescue Kitty if It
were true that the skin on his fingers
had grown calloused or had reached
even it's 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 it 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, Bob
by, Bobby!"
Valentine bent over the combination,
peered sharply at it, 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 we'll 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.
Think you can make it, jimmy"
he gasped.
Guess so; never failed on a lock
like this. Why, in Gods name, don't
that fool come with that sandpaper?'
Valentine was desperate at the delay.
He's gone to a-here he isl" 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 it here. What is it?" exclaim-
er Valentine as Red ran to him.
mo. a."
That's best. Is the bank empty?'
Yes. thank God. Mr. Lane has gone
There's no one here to pipe what we're
doin'-and even if there was we'd just
materially have to go through with it
for that girl Kitty
Shut up" cried Valentine nervous
ly. He bent over and rubbed his fin
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 fin
gers scraping back and forth across
the face of the 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 a story of his old grand
mothers, when a young lad, that Of
ten when a person was going to die a
mysterious tick, tick, tick, tick would
he heard in the fated house, the sound
coming as though from a mysterious
watch concealed in the wall-the
death tick" AS the sound of the
scraping fingers continued the zip, zip,
zip, zip echoed from the walls and
smote into Reds ears and into Reds
brain-an uncanny reminder of that
long forgotten tale.
And, strangely enough, Reds pre-
monition of the presence of an unseen
menace was not without foundation
in fact. 1t may be that this active
career in the underworld had devel-
oped i'm him that sixth sense Of the
habitual thief which sometimes gives
him warning of approaching dangers.
As Red stood there fascinatingly
watching the rapid play of Valentines
fingers the door leading into the mar
ron, bollwov noispleSSlv onpned--Oupn- =