The Washington herald., 1914-03-18
THE BOY AT BEEcHEHBRooK
BY M. QUAD.

Il
house a few miles outside Of Manchester
At the time of my story 1t was occu-
pied by the man who built II. a large
manufacturer of the famous manufact-
uring town. It stood in the middle OF
thirty acres Of ground. and house. barns,
lawns and gardens required the serv-
ices Of about fifteen servants. In the
book store In which I was employed in
London I was said to have excellent
taste and judgment in the arrangement
of country libraries. even though I was
only a boy of sixteen, and a few weeks
given us an order ! was sent up there
to put away the volumes. On the day I
arrived the owners wife and daughter
started for Scotland on a visit. while Mr..
Markham, himself, departed for Paris
to attend to certain business.
He had departed so suddenly that plate
and all other valuables were left in the
house. though he hired a private watch
! man to look after the house at night.
This man was named Haynes, and al
| most a: once / learned that he was a
drinking man and had made up his mind
to take things very easy. Something had
gene wrong with the drainage. and the
pipes had been uncovered at the back Of
the house. Repairs had been made, but
INC ultCH was IOl " bt HlltQ III
Mr.. Markham returned. / was q stranger
to all the servants, and saw very little
OF them except ut meal time. and some
times / did not see the watchinan when
he came Mt night.
Things went along all right for a
week, and II any of the servants feared
a visit from burglars, nothing had been
said to ne about II. About half-psst
ten one night / suddenly awoke IN a
frs. M mn har
that ] had dreamed OF anything, nor
could / say that my sleep had been
broken by a noise. My room was dark,
and outside there was mcnotonous
pour of = September rain. / had to
taunt myself with being a coward be-
fore / dared to get up and light my
candle, and. though l had little cour-
age to spare, even when i found moth
ing wrong. / determined to go down
stairs and have a word with the watch
man. / laid my hand on the door. to
find It locked. / had never locked my
door at night, and had never seen a
key on either side of ii. To find that
some one had locked me in while
slept frightened me badly for a few
minutes. / had been given maids
room, and there was a door leading
into another bedroom. This second
bedroom was an inside room, and
door led into a third. which cornered
on the hall. The hall door of this
last room was not locked. l left my
candle on a table. and pns ssed out into
the dark hall to listen at the head of
the stairs. thought I detected soft
footsteps and whispers. and, waiting
until I was sure of II. I began to creep
downstairs.
To the right as you entered the big
house was the family parlOr. and behind
that the dining room and pantries. In
one of these pantries, which was de-
Tended by an iron door. was the family
plate. 1 hitched myself down the stairs
an inch at n time. and then on hands
and knees I began creeping across the
parlor. / had been in this room dozen
times and knew the location of the
various pieces of furniture. had an
idea that the Waterman used this room
as his headquarters. as leather-covered
lounge had been wheeled into il from the
library. AS l crept across the room 1
heard a snore from the direction of this
lounge. and deviating from my course
made for 1t to find the watchman
stretched out at full length and fast
asleep. That is. ] should have believed
him in a natural sleep but for the strong
odor Of wine which permeated the atmos-
phere and an empty bottle found under
my hand. l knew he had a pistol, and
feeling over him, ! soon found IL in a
rear pocket and took possession OF IL
Who was beyond me in the dining room
could not say. but / knew that the
women went TO their rooms at 9 o'clock.
and that neither gardener nor grooms
had any right in that room at that hour.
As / held my breath and listened de-
tected foctfalls. and l moved away a.
few feet behind a large chair. Presently
the dining room door opened and three
men entered. One of them was carrying
a light, and I instantly recognized him
as the second groom. The others were
strangers to me. but tough looking fell
lows. They went straight up to the
lounge. and the groom said:
Il tell We it's no use worrin' over him |
He's downed a whole bottle. and II will
be daylight before he opens his eyes"
Yes, he's gNt a jacket full said one |
OF the others. as he bent over the |
But We might as well take his shoot |
er." added the third. as he searched |
around him for IL.
1 had il as I told you. and Of course |
they did not find it. This fact didn't |
raise any suspicion. however. and after |
sure that the man would stick |
10 the lounge by tying his legs fast to |
Il they went back TO their work. The |
door was left open about an inch. and !
az soon as ! heard them at work on the |
plate room / crept up until l could look
in. lamp and two candles had been
lighted. and they were trying the door
With false keys. On the dining-room
table were five or six large. coarse sacks.
and these / at once inferred were to
larry away the plunder in. II there We're
50 many sacks there must be a large
amount Of plunder. and | found myself
wondering If there were not more than
Re three men in the plot.
l decided 10 get out of the house and
,rouse the gardener and get the police
rom the station, two miles away. 1
.rept back to the hail. across into the
and at the far end of
he big room ! raised the window and
tepped to the ground. Once out / made
ny way 10 the stables. but there a sur
rise awaited me. found horse
litched to a cart. and the gardener
md head groom standing beside the We
licle. Had the two men not had their
acks to me and been so earnestly en-
aged in conversation they must have
cen and heard my approach. I had
ny lips parted to speak. when I sus-
ected something wrong. The plunder
ras to be carried Off in that cart, and
hree men servants were in league with
he robbers. It came to me like a flash.
nd in time to save myself. and I drew
ack and wondered what l should do.
was out of the house and could hide
safety till morning, but that idea
ever came to me. I was all for pre-
enting the robbery. and pretty soon I
xulked back to the open window. In