Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1915-08-13


The young fellow dropped limp In
the seat indicated, as Christopher Poe
dropped to the edge of a straight
backed chair, and tilted 1t to a com
Portable angle against the door of the
room. Mrs. Twirley sat on the suit
case, one cheek drawn up. In a hard
ened. sarcastic smirk, her eyes smol-
dering suIlenly.
How long have you folks been out
Of work." asked Poe sharply.
Seven months" said Twirley in q
hollow tone.
Il see. That's long time" unused
Poe. And you've been living in this
room two months"
ION credit" put in Mrs. Twirley
with twist of her lips.
Stranded" added her husband.
TOO bad. You must have been dee-
perate." continued Poe thoughtfully,
switching his gaze to Mrs. Twirley.
mo clothes-nothing Hard luck" he
said. Damn hard luck. Clever people
you were. too-too many acrobatic
teams though-that was your trouble"
yes, we used to get good money
we stayed stiff-necked a while, and
then when we was ready to take cheap
bookings nobody wanted us; other
head-liners had come down first an
| filed in"
Tough luck. But why didn't you
use your brains? Why didn't you beat
the conditions, adapt yourselves to a
new act?" asked Poe In high-pitched
earnest tone. Il can't see why the
devil two clever people like you should
ever get stranded. You've been in this
roor. two months, and right through
that shade behind you, Mrs. t., you
saw the house of Armand Dubois every
day, and you couldn't have missed
hearing the rumor that he kept his for
tune in cash In his mattress. You
heard, too, the barking of that big
beast that protected his wealth. With
your clever mind why didn't you work
out sketch for you and Dickie to do
in vaudeville?"
He stopped, and looked squarely at
the pair. their eyes glancing shiftily
about. their fingers fidgeting. Nov,
you were interested in this harlequin
bladder that smells of chloroform,"
continued Poe. What If were to tell
you that 1t was used In an act by a
clever young couple once knew in
well, in Paris? What if"
"Oh, don't beat around the bush,"
cried Mrs. Twirley sullenly, then blaz-
ing up. whats your game? What
are YOU trying to get at? What"
Christopher Poe held up his hand
for silence as Twirley, his eyes bdlging,
his mouth panic-set. leaned toward
him, fingers and eyelids twitching.
Nov wait-wait! Here's a sketch
idea Ter you folks. Listen to it," con-
tinued Poe. You can pull down three
hundred a week with it easy with your
acrobatic ability and cleverness.
Once upon a time-in Paris, you
observation-disclosures was a clever young
couple like you kids. Stranded team
of acrobats; pantomime people. They
lived in q rear room OF cheap the
atrical rooming-house, Just one flight
up, where they could see daily across a
high brick wall a courtyard containing
a big beast shackled on a running
chain to protect a miser's gold.
"One day the woman, the cleverer
of the two, goaded to envy and despair
by the sight of professional women
finely clad and at work, suddenly
thought of the great dependence that
old miser had on his man-eating dog"
The Twirley Twins were drawing
unconsciously nearer together, as
though for protection, and the flush
was leaving their faces, slowly fixing
into awed, gaping blanks as Christie
pher Poe continued.
"The money of that miser worried
the woman. She couldn't sleep, she
couldn't eat, and finally she worked
out scheme-a good scheme. a
shrewd scheme. She told it to her
husband In wild mood, never think
ing of 1t as practical matter. He,
poor devil, urged on by debt, took a
practical view Of It, and they were
about to execute the scheme when sud-
denly the idea came that while the
chances were that their careful plan
would work they might be caught later
on; and the thought came. too, that
they might not enjoy the miser's gold
after they had it"
Mrs. Twirley tossed back her head,
and laughed sharply. artificially. as
Poe paused. He fixed his eyes on her.
$50 the woman suggested that since
the idea of robbing the old miser was
SO completely figured out as to almost
defy detection, and since they were
letter-perfect in rehearsing the act, 1t
would be better to play a sure thing.
So she sat down and worked out the
practical plan of the robbery into a
twenty-minute vaudeville skit for her
self and husband, and they had already
got into the spirit OF the thing so we'll
from considering 1t as a possible
crime. that at q tryout before a good
manager thew were OfYered two hun.