The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-06-22

IRONING house, just one flight up. where
they could daily see across a high brick
wall q courtyard containing a big beast
shackeled on running chain to protect
a miser's gold.
Zone day the woman. the cleverer Of
the two. goaded to envy and despair by
the sight OF professional women finely
clad and at work. suddenly thought Of
the great dependence that old miser had
on his man-eating dog"
| The Twirley Twins were drawing I'M
| consciously nearer together. as though
for protection. and the hush was leaving
their faces. slowly fixing into awed, gap
ing blanks as Christopher Poe continued:
! The money OF that miser worried the
woman. She couldn't sleep She couldn't
eat, and finally she worked out scheme
A good scheme-a shrewd scheme. She
told 1t to her husband in a wild mood,
never thinking of 1t as a@practical mat
ter. He. poor devil. urged by debt. took
practical view OF 1t and they were
about to execute the scheme when sud
denly the idea came that while the
chances were that their careful plan
would work they might be caught later
on. and the thought came. too. that they
might not enjoy the misers gold after
they had it,
Mrs. TwirIey tossed back her head and
laughed sharply. artifcially. as Poe
paused He fixed his eyes on her and
\ continued
so the woman suggested that since
the idea for robbing the old miser was
so completely figured out as to almost
defy detection. and since they were let
ter perfect in rehearsing the act that II
would be better to play a sure thing.
So she sat down and worked out the
practical plan of the robbery into a
twenty-minute vaudeville skit for herself
and husband. and they had already got
into the spirit of the thing So well from
considering 1t as possible crime that at
a try-out before a good manager they
were offered 500 a week and a bonus IL
IT went big"
Sounds goodr' remarked Mrs. Twir-
ley. breathing fercely. But are you
quite sure you know the plot of that
sketchg'
Her husbands fists clenched till the
knuckles shone stark and white. His
small black eyes pierced to the core of
the raconteur before him. Yes, are you
quite sure?" he breathed vieiously.
''Oh, the plot" said Poe lightly ayes,
II was SO simple. I'd most forgotten.
7
preceding that dumb darkness before
dawn. The vaudeville pair is disclosed
in their room; the man Is dressed in a
fine dogskin. a good makeup a hide the
exact counterpart OF the miser's Great
Dane. The woman Is dressed in black
trousers and coat, carries a jimmy with
which she has practiced. a dark lantern.
a revolver like this'-as he picked up
the one from the table by way of Illus
tration the Twirley woman sank back
against the wall, a low cry escaping her
"and Harlequins bladder filled with
chloroform and tightly tied. A seconi
scene shows the man and wife together
on one side Of a high wall dividing the
stage: II is the garden wall separating
their court from the misers The man,
being an acrobat, climbs up to the top
so skillfully that the dog lying below on
the other side hears nothing until a skin
full Of liquid bursts on one of the pointed
studs of his collar, a big stone drops at
the same instant on his head and stuns
him; he opens his mouth and gags for
breath with which TO bark. sucks in the
cholcroform. and succumbs.
The man gives a signal to the woman;
she climbs to his side: together they drop
over into the court: the man in his dog
skin suit unsnaps the Great Danes chain
and attaches il to a duplicate collar about
his own neck.
He has no sooner attached the chain
and dropped to all tours when the sharp
click of a key in the front gate announces
the approach of the watchman on his
regular fifteen-minute round. The woman
darts to rear window they have ex-
amined from their room with a lens and
found to be weak point, guarded only
by the dog, and she works quietly white
her husband leaps forth boldly. snaps at
the Waterman. initiates the dogs bark
exactly. and RACES back and forth angrily
in the moonlight to convince the watch
man that all is well and the house per-
fectly protected. He had practiced the
part for weeks. you see, and was letter
perfect in II. i saw the sketch when II
was produced in London. and even could
not tell him from the real dog. This
scene occurs at that fearful moment. the
darkness before dawn, the watchman
notes that the dog is a bit fercer than
usual and draws a deep sigh of relief
as he reaches the gate. The stage is
darkened and the audience hushed.
Before the Waterman makes his next
round the trick is done. The nervy, des-
perate woman has chloroformed the miser
and robbed his mattress. The real dog
| is fast reviving from the effects of the
chloroform. The whole thing has been
| nicely timed. and the burgling pair just
disappear over the wall with their booty
| in black apron like that in the corner
there, when the dog, whose collar has
been reattached to the chain by the man,
when he was through with his little i'm
personation, leaps out and banks at the
Waterman. who is just arriving on his
rounds. The animal, maddened on his
recovery, lunges at the Waterman and
tarks so furiously that the noise brings
the old mser out of his stupor; the dog
leaps in the air and breaks his chain as
the miser throws up his window to cry
for help. AS a grand finale, the dog is
shot just before he leaps on the watch
man, thus giving tangible proof that the
animal has been on guard all the tim,
and covering up the real entrance and
exit of the smooth burglars Then the
curtain goes down amid great applause"
There was dead silence as CHRISTOPHER
Poe finished and stood up. his eyes dart
ing beneath their bushy brows from one
to the other of the Twirley Twins
I'm afraid you've missed the six-fifty,"
he said. In a hesitant tone II thought
you'd let me into the room to sort of
serve an alibi II you needed one-I mean
in skipping your board bill, or some other
crime you may have committed-so / &C.
commodatingly set my watch back half
an hour to cover the minutes during
which the crime might have been COM
mitted. i knew you would both be re-
| lieved to hear me announce that 1t was
only five-thirty.''
Neither spoke.
Suddenly Mrs. Twirley swung around
and demanded: We'll. how the devil did
they prove the crime on the team In YOUR