The Washington times., 1912-09-21
THE TINES DAILY SERIAL STORY
AWHITE STREAK OFDISASTER|
BY EDGAR FRANKLIN
FIankA Munssyc
EDGAR FRANKLIN
copyright. 1872 Frank A. Munssy Co,

your office buildings. your stocks. the
very roof that shelters you--are every
over there. waiting eH % for % taa the felIoW % S who
is clever enough to get them and put
then to the best,-or tie worst-use." i.
NOW. II nsa Sas nls possibYe sSRse that Elsford,
man not more than moderately success
ful, may have cherished a trace of un-
| millionaire, and that he was made irri-
table thereby; or 1t is possible that his
| really cautious nature was becoming
wrought up over the apparent inseeur-
might have guarded rather more care
fully; or II Is possible that both men
We're somewhat tired from an evening
going and introductions.
BE that as II may, something of
greater warmth than a mere friendly
discussion was growing up in the ninth
| ton, perceiving It quite suddenly and
| feeling a trifie foolish that such a thing
| should have Occurred at all, withheld
the exasperated remark which was on
his lips and smiled In his own irresis-
| I'VE needn't fight about It," he laugh.
! ed. but don't lose any sleep over the
"1'll try not to-" said Elsford, more
gracefully. -" =
"If thieves should break through and
steal. and the whole $1,000, 900 should ny
! away together, we'll simply have TO
But they won't. Even assuming that
anyone could steal the papers, / can't
TIM tnink s, OF a person who would be able to
The matter Of the Colson notes was
closed, and to seal It little more Sc
Gnureiy' Grafton suddenly turned out the
iigghtsS,. iighhtS or his private office. Chatting
lightly, the two men left the abode OF
business elegance and walked down the
nan to the elevator. The car dropped
10. 10 the ground floor, and they stepped
And there's the finishing touch, :" nh:
served the proprietor, pointing to the
Watchmans clock at the rear. 'Par-
kers making his hourly tour of the
thuiloing now; Come over. and within
he is.'' o" ""e'e
Together they stood before the printed
olaL Perhaps quarter of a minute
Pdssed' %isse' then clear. LOUD tick sounded
pesrsd upon the printed sheet OF paper.
The familiar apparatus in its latest
1orm, observed Grafton "At pre-
ciseiy seventeen minutes past II on the
this building And" he Concluded
can you conceive a safe being cracked
Orr or blasted and the contents removed
Elsford. smiling. kept clear of the
dangerous topic.
The outer door closed softly. and the
Two men passed down the deserted
At the corner the electric sign of
the Hotel Grande was visible down
the intersecting avenue.
and @e sil' bo}b bt9mborroT rreS business day.
@ reSt We ima oU,a n,ne meed al an hour hour or two OF
jim, and I'm thoroughly glad to have
seen you again.
And l sha'n't see you in the morn
Good gracious, man. cried the
other. I'm not up nowadays when
the 6:l5 passes through town. Good
night and good by, and when next you
intend to come this way send word
aheao and make a stay Of il at the
house, ~
Elsford shook his hand and turned
down toward the hotel. Grafton paused
watching for the glare on the rails
which should have heralded the com
ing Of an electric car.
WE'LL they've hardly worked around
muttered. "I'll walk"
He struck out briskly for his home
at the other end of the town, and as
he walked the loneliness of the streets
set him to thinking aloud.
How Internally nasty Elsford was
and then walked ahead % at a DM more
rapid gait. "Pshaw! There isn't one
chance in a million Of anything hap
And still - we'll, his mind seemed
bent upon working in queer channels.
What If anyone should try to enter
the office? Bosh!
little later a new phase confronted
his ever-acting imagination; what II
some one had entered the office that
evening? What had given birth to the
idea he could hardly have said. and
yet the notion began to take a grip on
Grafton.
Small things which had been cast
aside at the time took to looming up
before him in a grotesquely threaten
There was that odor of Turkish to-
bacco,. mentioned by Elsford when
they had entered, the office. Grafton
the odor really existed, he could hard
ly have detected IT, And II it did ex-
list. whence had 1t come? Parker did
not smoke.
lively low temperature of his private
den.
AS he turned this last fact over and
over, 1t was borne in upon him more
and more strongly that even, his
vaunted ventilating system could hard
ly have been responsible for that ac-
cess of fresh, cool air. But II some one
had had the window open?
FOR the moment IL seemed undenlaDle
that some one had done just that, and
If so, who was it, and why had he been
there?
Surely Parker had not been the man,
for the watchman's instructions to dis
turb absolutely nothing in the room
were most strict.
And supposing that the place had
been entered in his absence. what of
the Colson papers-the notes and bonds
which represented the splendid fruit of
his ten years hard work?
Was 1t not very possible that the safe
manufacturers might have overestimat-
ed the burglar qualities of
their product-that the safe-cracker.
sufficiently expert. might break through
even that ball of solid steel, with its
intricate door and remove ALL
Beads Of cold perspiration started to
Grafton's brow; once more he came
nearly to a standstill. Then, with a
muttered word of annoyance he took up
his way again.
Confound Elsford. anyway! This nerv-
Gus, irresolute mood was the direct work
of his silly croaking. In his heart Graf
ton felt never doubt of that fact.