The herald., 1913-01-02
A THIEF'S
RUSE
By L. RICE

charge, brought into court, tried and ac-
quilted for want of evidence. While
waiting for the papers in his case to
be made out he heard the prosecuting
attorney say to n messenger:
Go TO my house and ask my
daughter to look in a tin box marked
Schneider & Co. In the vault, get out
a deed she will find there, give 1t to
you and bring it back to me-"
"Are you In a hurry. sirT" asked the
messenger.
"Why do you askf'
Because I'm to go on another errand
that's very important"
every well. You may do that m
first. l won't need the deed before
this afternoon"
Pete knew the name Of the p%rosecut-
ing attorney very well. Indeed, he had
been made familiar with it by the fact
that Mr.. Wilkinson had arranged for
his lodging In prison on divers occa-
sions. Moreover, Pete had great per-
ceptive faculties.
As soon as Pete left the courtroom
he sought a drug store and In a few
minutes was turning over the leaves
Of a directory hunting for Mr.. Wilkin.
sons home address. Upon finding II
he proceeded to that gentleman's
house, rang the doorbell and called
for "MIss Wilkinson" A young lady
came into the hall and asked Pete
what she could do for him.
your father SEM me for a deed In
a tin box marked Schneider & Co. In
the vault. miss"
"Oh." said the young lady. II sup
pose he means the silver and jewel
vault. l believe he keeps some law
papers there. I'll go and find them"
Miss Wilkinson tripped upstairs to a
recess in the upper hall and began to
turn a knob on a vault door with q
view to getting inside. Pete's original
idea was while the young lady was of
looking for the deed to help himself to
any article Of value In small bulk he
might see and get away with It. The
mention Of the silver and jewel vault
opened up new possibilities.
Peter was hesitating whether to fol-
low Miss Wilkinson and force his way
into the vault when his heart was glad
dened by hearing her call from the
landing above.
81 find two deeds in the box. Did ia
Their say which one he wanted?"
II think" said Pete, I'D know it IL /
was to see it."
Come up, please"
Pete sprang up the stairs with alac-
rity. Here was the chance of his life,
the jewel and silver vault standing
open with no protection except a girl.
He might not have to do any open
work at all. His wits were sharp. and
1t was quite possible he could make a
pretext to go into the vault and slip a
few gems into his pocket without being
detected. He found Miss Wilkinson
standing by a table on which was an
open tin box full Of papers. She show
ed him two deeds and asked him which
he thought her father wanted. He ex.
amined both very knowingly, when the
girl, noticing the name on the box, ex-
claimed:
This isn't it at all. This is marked
Parker & Treusdale Co. I'll get the
other one"
Couldn't do it for you. miss?"
81 wish you would. It's dark In
there. and I have trouble with my
eyes. There are several boxes on the
shelf. Look for the one marked Schnei-
der & Co. and bring 1t out into the
light"
"Yes, miss. My eyes are first rate"
Quite beside himself with Joy at this
unexpected advantage. Pete went to
the vault. entered and. instead Of look
ing for the boxes, cast his eyes about
for the valuables. There was nothing.
so far as he could see. but a lot Of tin
boxes and musty papers. But before
he could quite take In the situation he
heard the door of the vault shut, the
knob quickly turned, and he was a
prisoner.
Mr.. Wilkinson, sitting at his desk in
his Office. heard his telephone bell ring
and took up the receiver.
Papa. did you send a man for a
deed In the vaultY'
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Whom did you sendT"
Edward Beam"
Edward Beam didn't come. But
another la came, and from the mo-
ment I laid eyes on him I knew he
was a hardened criminal"
"Great heavensr'
"How did such a man know what
you wantedT"
81 don't know. Tell me what has
happened. Anything stolen2 Are you
safer"
ooh, it's all right"
"Whats become of the man?'
"He's here"
Here! What do you mean?"
give locked him in the vault"
"In the vaultT'
YES"
"How in the world did you get him
there?"
81 enticed him."
"Tell me all about II. quick"
"Well, I told him the deed you want.
ed was In the jewel and silver vault.
Then I purposely took out the wrong
box and sent him In for the right
nnay