Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1914-05-23

opened the door he closed it again.
Then he shot his hands into his
coat-pockets, and dropped the two
brass weights he had taken from
Shaughnessy's fiat through the iron
grating into the cellar. He had
Strengthened up again, and appeared
as if he had not moved, when the
door was jerked open from the in
side, and Lieutenant Holderness
rushed out, followed by Detective
Sergeants Marine and Baxter.
But they did not seize him, as they
had evidently intended to do. There
was an indefinite something about
him which was always dangerous. 1t
awed crooks as well as policemen,
and both, without understanding it,
held aloof from too strenuous con-
tact with the man.
Crewe stood with his hands care
lessly inside the pockets from which
he had tossed the two weights to
temporary safety. He was thinking
rapidly. The blotched side of his
face showed under the light above
the door. He wasn't pretty to look
at just then, because he was frown-
ing, and a scowl impaired sinister
aspect to that blemish.
But the three men grouped them
selves around him so that he could
not get away, and he passed on in
side the barroom. 1t was deserted,
save for the bartender. The officers
followed him inside and closed the
door, locking it. He appeared not to
notice.
"Time to close up" Crewe said to
his assistant. Then he performed
the same coup that he had executed
once before that same night, and he
did it with the agility of a cat.
He touched the bar with one hand
and vaulted it, and dropped behind it
out of sight, all in the same instant.
Then the lights went out, ard Hold
erness swore, and Marine called
Crewe a bad name, and Baxter
ducked in the darkness that fol-
lowed, although his companions did
not know that.
Holderness had gone there pre-
pared for lights out. He pulled a
fiashlight from his pocket and ran
around the end of the bar. He felt a
draft of air and he heard a sharp
click, but he saw nothing. Neither
Crewe nor his bartender were there.
With the aid of his flash, Holder
ness found the switch and turned on
the electrics. The three officers
were the only occupants of the
room.
"Well, what do you think of thatv'
the lieutenant exclaimed. Get out
side, in front, Mari. The yard in
the rear for yours, Baxter. Who'd
have thought of the beer-trap be-
hind the bari" he added, addressing
himself.
But there wasn't any beer-trap
there, he discovered. The beer was
drawn direct from the cellar through
lead pipes, and the stairway was at
the rear end of the barroom. Hold
erness was several minutes deciding
get to it in the brief darkness, and
then he went into the cellar. 1t was
as deserted as the barroom.
Holderness returned to the saloon.
He looked around him, grinning and
scowling at the same time, amused
and annoyed. Then he shouted
"Hey, you! Crewe! Come out!
What do you think? That we was
goin' to pull you ?"
The only reply was that the lights
went out again, and this time, when
Holderness found the switch, it had
not been touched. He was swearing
with thoroughness by that time.
Marine and Baxter stepped to their
respective doors and asked what had
happened.
"You might as well come inside"
Holderness told them. There's a
candle behind the bar. III light
that" He found it with the aid of
his flash.
"Crewe don't scare worth a cent"
said Baxter. IL told you that. 1t
wasn't the way to work him at all.
Now he's bea. it. We might as well
go back"
T've a good notion to send for the
wagon and rip this place inside out"
Holderness said savagely.
"And get yourself broke for do
in it," said Marine. whats the
use? Crewe's better feed for us
here than if he was sent up. We
didn't want him, anyway. We only
wanted to throw scare into him."
Holderness had gone to the upper
end of the bar and seized upon the
telephone. He slammed it back upon
the counter with a bang. That's
cut off, too" he said sourly.
There was a rushing noise Of
wheels and sharp, grating sound Of
brake applied in the street. Heavy
footsteps crossed the sidewalk A
bulky figure doomed in the open
doorway against the lights outside,
and halted, peering uncertainty into
the darkness The three men inside
the room recognized their colleague
Shaughnessy.
what the" they heard him be-
gin, and stop.