Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-08-12
CHAPTER III.


Once safely in the street. Kenneth
Griswold. with a thousand dollars in
his pocket and the packet Of bank
notes under his arm, was seized by an
impulse to do some extravagant thing
to celebrate his success. 1t had proved
to be such a simple matter, after all
n bold stroke; a tussle. happily
bloodless, with the plutocratic dragon
whose hold upon his treasure was so
easily broken; and presto! the hungry
proletary had become himself a power
in the world, strong to do good or
evil, as the gods might direct.
This was the prompting to exulta'
ton as it might have been set in
words; but in Griswold's thought it
was but a swift suggestion, followed
instantly by another which was much
more to the immediate purpose. He
was hungry; there was a restaurant
next door to the bank. Without think
ing overmuch of the risk he ran, and
perhaps not at all of the audacious
subtlety of such an expedient at such
a critical moment, he went in, sat
down at one of the small marble
topped tables, and calmly ordered
breakfast.
Since hunger is a lusty special
pleader, making itself heard above
any pulpit drum of the higher facul-
ties. it is quite probable that Girls
void dwelt less upon what he had
done than upon what he was about to
eat, until the hue and cry in the
street reminded him that the chase
was begun. But at this. not to appear
suspiciously injurious, he put on the
mask of Indifferent interest and asked
the ~aiter concerning the uproar.
The serving man did not know what
had happened, but he would go and
find out If M'sieu' so desired. "M'sieu'"
said breakfast first, by all means, and
information afterward. Both came in
due season, and the hungry one ate
while he listened.
Transmitted into the broken English
Of the Gascon serving man, the story
Of the robbery lost nothing in its SEN
sational features.
It was very evident that the pluto
cratic dragon did not intend to accept
defeat without a struggle, and Girls
void set his wits at work upon the
problem of escape.
ITS a little queer that / hadn't
thought of that part Of it BEFORE" he
unused, slipping his coffee as one who
need not hasten until the ace is actu-
ally begun. 81 suppose the other fel.
low, the real robber, would have fig
ured himself safely out of tor would
have thought he had--before he made
the break. Since l did not, I've got to
do 1t now, and there isn't much time
to throw away. Let me see" he shut
his eyes and went into the inventive
trance of the literary craftsman-"the
keynote must be originality; l must
do that which the other fellow would
never think of doing"
On the strength of that decision he
ventured to order a third cup of cot
fee, and before 1t had cooled he had
outlined a plan, basing 1t upon a cross
questioning Of the Gascon waiter.
There had been but one man on
cerned in the robbery. and the side
walk gossip was beginning to describe
him with discomforting accuracy.
Griswold paid his score and went
out boldly and with studied noncha-
lance. He reasoned that, notwith-
standing the growing accuracy of the
street report, he was still in no imme-
date danger so long as he remained
in such close proximity to the bank.
1t was safe to assume that this was
one of the things the professional
"strong.arm man" would not do. But
1t was also evident that he must
speedily lose his identity If he hoped
to escape; and the lost identity must
leave no clue to itself.
Griswold smiled when he remem-
bered how, in fiction of the felon-catch-
ing sort, and in real life. for that mat
ter, the law-breaker always did leave
a clue for the pursuers. Thereupon
, arose a determination to demonstrate
practically that 1t was quite as pos
sible to create an inerrant fugitive as
to conceive an infallible detective.
Joining the passers-by on the side.
walk, he made his way leisurely to
Canal street. and thence diagODally