The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1911-05-04
he had known only two days-was @

he had known only two days-was CO
pable Of anything. .
Kit has only been q little keener
than the rest Of u.s." Lollie said. "Shs
found him out yesterday"
upon my word" said Anne indig-
nantly, preparing to go. IF | didn't
know you girls so well, I would think
you were crazy. And now, Just to on
set this, / will tell you something.
Flanagan told me this morning not to
worry: that he has my pearl collar
spotted, and that young ladies Will
have their jokes!"
Yes, as / said before, II was a cheer
full, reproducing situation.
/ sat and thought It over after
nounced downstairs. y Things were
closing In; I gave the situation "a
hours to develop. At the end Of that
time Flanagan would accuse me open.
ly Of knowing where the pearls were:
| would explain my silly remark TO
him, and the mine would explode
under Aunt Selma.
| was sunk in detected reverie when
some one came on the roof. When he
was opposite the opening In the tent,
] saw Mr.. HARRISON, and at that mo-
ment he saw me. He paused uncer-
tainly, then he made an evident effort
and came over to me.
you are-better today"
Quite well, thank you"
Il am glad you find the tent use
ful. Does 1t keep off the wind?"
q ut is quite a shelter"-frigidly.
He still stood, struggling for some
thing to say. Evidently nothing came
to his mind. for he lifted the cap he
was wearing, and, turning away, be-
gan TO work with the wiring of the
roof. He was clever with tools; one
could see that. II he was a profess
sional gentleman-burglar. no doubt
he needed to be. After a bit, finding
1t necessary to climb to the parapet.
he took OF his coat. without even a
glance In my direction, and fell TO
work vigorously.
One does not need to like a man to
admire him physically, any more than
one needs to like a racehorse or any
other splendid animal. No one could
deny that the man on the parapet
vas a splendid animal; he looked
quite big enough and strong enough to
have tossed his slender bridge across
the gulf to the next roof, without any
difficulty. and coordinate enough to
have crossed 1t with a flourish to
safety.
Just then there was a rending, tear
ing sound from the corner and a NUT
tered ejaculation. ! looked up in time
to see Mr.. HARRISON throw up his
arms, make a futile attempt to regain
his balance, and disappear over the
edge Of the roof. One instant he was
standing there, splendid, superb; the
next, he corner of the parapet was
empty, all that stood there was a
broken, splintered post, and a tangle of
wires.
/ could not have moved at first; at
least, 1t seemed hours before the full
significance Of the thing penetrated
my dazed brain. When l got up I
seemed to walk. to crawl, with ieaden
weights holding back my feet.
When | got to the corner / had to
catch the post for support. knew
somebody was saying: "Oh, how terri
ble!" over and over. II was only after
ward that / knew 1t had been myself.
And then some other voice was say
ing: Don't be alarmed. Please, don't
be frightened. I'm all right"
| dared look over the parapet final
ly, and instead of a crushed and un-
speakable body. there was Mr.. Harbi-
son. sitting about eight feet below me,
with his feet swinging into space and
a long red scratch from the corner
of his eye across his cheek. There
was a sort of mansard there, with win
dows. and just enough coping to keep
him from rolling off.
Il thought you had fallen-all the
way" gasped, trying to keep my
lips from trembling. "I-oh, don't
dangle you feet like that"
He did not seem at all glad OF his
escape. He sat there gloomily. peer
ing into the gulf beneath.
IF 1t wasn't so-er-messy and gem
orally unpleasant" Se replied without
looking up, Il would slide off and go
the rest Of the way
You are childish" I said, severely.
See If you can get through the win
dow behind you. If you cannot I'll
come down and unfasten It." But the
window was open, and ! had a chance
to sit down and gather up the scat
tered ends of my nerves. To my sur.
prise, however, when he came back
he made no effort to renew our con-
versation. He ignored me completely,
and went to work at once to repair
he damage to his wires, with his back
to me.
CTO BE CONTINUED1