Evening star., 1914-02-10
New National.

Stop Thief" Il three-act 1arcic;l con-
coctiol KEEP; the audience at the Ne"
National Theater last evening shaking
with laughter from the time it began until
triple wedding ceremony brought 1t 10
close. 1t was Suprenely ridiculous and
improbable. but it made people laugh,
and there is tilne-honored saw about
laughing. which. ii JUSTIFIED. promises 10
add many pounds avoirdupois to the
pay going community.
William Carr, a mild-mannered old gen
tleman. and the rather OF three grown
daughters. has just spent S1,"o 1of
pigeon ruby ring as a bridal present LOT
one of his girls, who is to be married the
Same day. He is one of the Sentiest OF
men and would not Intentionally wrong
any one. But previous to his ARRIVAL AT
home. new maid servant, with a ioVtr
who has promised to go straight" after
"c.ean,ng up the v;luables in the house
with which to make an honest start IN
life has been hired by Mrs. carr as
maid to the bride-to-be. William Is very
absent minded. and he is also klepto-
maniac. He proves both by hiding his
wife's jeweled ear trumpet in his desk
drawer in the belief that he is putting
piece of garden hose away for safehcep-
ing.
This affords the opportunity to the maid
who during his absence from the room
abstracts the pigeon ruby ring from
his overcoat pocket and TO prevent de.
lection hides the box in the pocket OF
the bridegroom-to-be who. it seems, had
an uncle who was Il kleptomanlac also
When the ring is missed and in the search
the bridegroom finds the box III his own
pocket he begins to doubt himself. espe-
cially when call for the police prompts
the maid to replace the ring in tn. box
and leave ii just where the ODD man after
ward confessed he had left it--on his
o discovery
trumpet in his desk drawer at once cstab-
fishes his case as hopeless.
Meantime the bridegroom has begun to
worry about his own iailings. in which he
is assisted by his intimate friend, when
the maids lover appears upon the scene.
is tipped off to the situation by the maid
and subsequently poses as detective
sent for by the bridegroom to watch him.
This much of the tale sets the ball rolling,
1t would require a volume to tell now
II rolled, but every new direction which
it took was surprise and roar of
laughter. until the theft and the maid
were unnasked, confessed that the thefts
were committed by them and the stolen
articles returned from time to time only
to be stolen again. So relieved are the
minds and conScienceS Of the supposed
kleptoman.acs that in the abundance OF
their own gratitude they forgive the
offenders, and a minister who has been
called to offciate at the wedding and IN
whose pockets were found a roll of bills
placed there also by the thieves. event
uaIly marries not only the original couple.
but the thief and the maid. as we'll as
the youngest Of the Carr sisters. whose
sweetheart. the original bridegroom S
friend. feels he cannot wait for her
longer. The whole thing happens within
the brief space of two and a half hours
of a single day.
Frank Bacon. as William Carr, was the
laai fur at
a competent actor. Percy Ames, as the
bridegroom, and Sam Hardy. as the thief
were first-rate assistants in keeping the
laughter going without a jar. James c.
Marlowe, as the greatest detective on
the force" and Thomas F'indlay, as the
sergeant of police, also figured promi-
! nently in the good work.