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

Where are the robbers?
"Gone!" cried Dubois. straining his
wrinkled neck forward. and moisten-
ing his throat with an effort as he
spoke.
Are you sure? What did they get?''
Everything! Look!" Dubois had
pushed the Waterman up the stairs to
the second floor, and pointed a shaking
finger through an open door, holding
to the wall for support and gasping for
breath as he spoke. Everything
look! All my money in bills; stacks,
stacks of bills!"
There was a rickety antique Shera-
ton four-poster, Dubois bed, and on 1t
was the cloth-covered box of a bed
spring, gaping open, half filed with a
scattering of crumpled papers. The
bed-clothes were thrown in heap in
one corner of the room. Hopkins
stepped back in surprise. His foot
came down on a wad of cotton; he
picked 1t up, and stood lingering it abb
sently as he stared at the wrecked
bed.
| Then you did sleep on your money
in place of mattress, as people al
ways said?" he queried.
Eyes, yes. There is no use," the
quaking old man stood glassy-eyed,
glazing at the empty spring box, "there
is no use to deny 1t now. kept every
| thing-all-in that box, packed In
among the springs. Stacks, stacks and
stacks Of bills! l did-did-" He
stopped, clawed forward one of his
large Tapping ears, and stood strain
ing to catch the repetition of sharp
sound he had picked from other noises
rising from below.
Hopkins was smiling at the piece of
cotton he had picked up beside the
| bed.
"Chloroform!" he exclaimed, drop
ping it.
"Eh!" cried old Dubois. jerking his
hand from his ear, and thrusting it in
to the opening of his nightshirt.
They chloroformed you, and threw
you into the corner with your shoes
and the bed-clothess while they rifled
| the treasure chest"
"Eh? Yes. II heard them at my
bedside, then l was on the floor, and l
couldn't use my arms, my legs, my
tongue. and knew they were taking
my poor bills, in stacks-stacks and
| stacks of them!" His veinridged hand
shot to his tapping ear, and he broke
| off again: Listen! What's that?
There's somebody fooling with the
front gate"
He rushed to the window, which he
had again carefully locked after recov-
| ering from his faint, craned his cordy
neck toward the front of the house,
and tottered as he shook his quivering
| fist at nondescript fellow in a mod
est business suit and ordinary derby
| who must have clambered over the
locked iron gate regardless of its
pricking points, and was busily at work
stretching out the limp form of Alert.
Leave that dog alone! Get out Of
there, or I'll"
Dubois in an insane moment tore
an antique French firearm tremblingly
from the bosom of his nightshirt
where, to Hopkins surprise, he had
been concealing it.
"Don't!" cried the Waterman, jump
ing forward to grasp the quivering
hand attempting an aim.
I'm protect my place-my right
I'll"
Dubois twitching jaws dropped
open; he stared at the man below
who, aroused by the commotion in the
window, glanced up, picked small
filmy object like sausage-skin from
one of the points of Alert's massive
studded collar. and slipped through the
front gate, which he opened with an
easy twist as though it were not
locked.
You left 1t unlocked?" cried Dubois.
II did not!" Hopkins denied. who
the devil is the fellow? l never saw
him before. Do you suppose he"
II don't suppose anything" Du-
bois thrust out his lower jaw threat
eningly. You're hired to protect me;
why do you let him run away? May
be-"
Hopkins. having leaped to the same
unexpressed conclusion, turned. and
rushed down the stairs, stopped at the
gate, unlocked it. and cried to the
group Of newsboys. neighbors. tamale
men, market boys, and other early
birds collected In front, "Where'd he
go?"
"Where'd he goi"
"Who?"
THE mantle man" Hopkins
strove for some description-"the man
with the black derby"
A boy in front grinned, and glanced
around at the circle of men towering
above him. Every Teller in the bunch's
got on black derby 'cept US kids"
Hopkins stood chagrined. He had
seen the man, front, side. and rear
view for full minute. but was at an
utter loss to describe him.
THE man who just came out Of the