The Detroit times., 1914-09-21
The Million ass;=
Dollar Mystery

4 served that the Hargreave house had
remarkable menage. There was o
gardener, q cook. and a maid; and
the three OF them reported to Jones
each night before going to bed. They
were all three detectives from one OF
the greatest organizations In America.
Finding themselves unable to lure
Florence away from the enyirQns OF
the Hargreave home, the Black Hun
dred set some new machinery In mo-
taon. They proposed to rid the house
Of every one I'm II by q perfectly logi-
cal device. But the first step In this
now move was going TO be extremely
delicate and risky. II was no small
adventure TO enter the HArgreave
home; and yet this must be done.
90 finally Spider" Beggs was select.
ed for the work. The man could prac-
tically walk over crockery without
causing sound; he could climb q
house by the window lodges; and he
could hold HIS breath Like those pro-
fessional tank swimmers.
Three or four nights after the Pa
ron hasco, Jones started the rounds,
putting out the lights. He left the
one In the hall till the last. for II was
his habit, after having turned on that
light, to stand BY the door for several
minutes, watching. One never could
tell
On the other hand. Spider" Beggs
never approached house TILL an
hour after the lights went out. Per
sons were likely to move about for
some minutes later; they might want
something to eat, q drink Of water.
SO he remained hidden behind the
summer house till long after mid
night When at last he felt assured
that all In the Hargreave house were
asleep, he moved out cautiously. Both
his future and his pocketbook de-
pended upon the success of this ven
ture. II took him 10 minutes to crawl
from the summer house to the YER
pr0ach Jones, had he been watching,
would have needed searchlight.
Beggs Rugged the lattice work for
another 10 minutes and then drew
himself up and wriggled to one OF
the windows. Here was an operation
that needed all his art and skill: to
lift this window without sound. But
he was an old hand and windows
with ordinary locks were playthings
under his deft touch. He raised the
window, slapped over the sill into
the library, and crouched down. He
did not close the window; house
thieves never do. They leave win
dows and doors open, because sooner
or later they have got to make their
escape that way.
Presently he stood up, flashed his
torch, found the library shelves, and
tiptoed toward them. He then Sc
lected three or four volumes, opened
them at random and laid neat pack
ages Of money between the leaves. II
WIS not real money, but only bank
clerk could have told you that. This
done. he moved toward the window
again.
Stop" said Jones quietly.
Spider Beggs gasped, 1t was 90
unexpected; but at the same time al
most instinctively he plunged head
long through the window, and the
bullet which followed shipped a lock
Of his hair He threw himself on
the veranda and scurried across the
lawn, zig-zag fashion. But no more
bullets followed.
Jones turned on the lights and in
vestigated the room, but he could not
md anything disturbed. and natural
ly came to the conclusion that the In
truder had been interrupted before
he had begun his work. He turned
OF the lights and sat up the major
portion Of the night. Nothing more
happened. Florence came down, but
he sent her back to bed. explaining
that some one had attempted to en-
ter the house and he had taken shot
at him.
Spider" Beggs had letter to
write. He was In high feathers. He
had tackled difficult job and had
come away without scratch. But
he had the misfortune to write his
letter to the secret service officials
I'm hotel often frequented by Nor
ton. And SO Jim, on finishing his own
letter, blotted II and casually glanced
at the better. A single word caught
Ibis eye. Being an alert newspaper
man, always on the hunt for stories.
he examined the blotter with care. II