Tombstone epitaph., 1915-08-22

dividing the stAge; it ID the garden wall separating their court from the miser's. The man. being an acrobat. climbs up to the top so skillfully that the dog lying below on the other side hears nothing until . skin full of liquid bursts on one of the pointed studs of his collar. a big stone drops at the same instant on his head and stuns him. he opens his mouth and gags for breath with which to bark. sucks in the chloroform and succumbs.
 The man gives s!sna! to the won- an: she climbs to his side. together they drop over into the court: the man in his dog-skin suit unsnaps the Great Danes chain. and attaches it to Q duplicate collar about his own neck.
 He has no sooner attached the chain and dropped to all fours when the sharp click of key in the front gate announces the approach of the watchman on his regular fifteen-minute round. The woman darts to a rear win- dow they have examined from their room with a glass and found to be . weak point. guarded only by the dog. and she works quietly while her bus band leaps forth boldly. snaps at the watchman. initiates the dogs bark ex. sctly. and rages back and forth angrily in the moonlight to convince the watchman that all Is well and the house perfectly protected. He had practiced the part for weeks. you see. and was ietter-perfect in 1t. I saw the sketch when 1t was produced in Lon don. and could not tell him from the real dog. This scene occurs at that fearfal moment, the darkness before dawn; the watchman notes that the dog is a bit fercer than usual, and draws a deep sigh of relief as he reaches the gate. The stage is dark ened and the audience hushed.
 Before the watchman makes his next round the trick is done. The nervy. desperate woman has chloro- formed the miser and rified his mat tress. The real dog is fast revivins from the effects of the chIoroform. The whole thing has been nicely timed. and the pair just disappear over the wall with their booty in a black apron like that in the corner there. when the dog, whose collar has been reattached 10 the chain by the man when through with his little impersonation, leaps out and barks at the watchman, who Is just arriving on his rounds. The ami nal. maddened on his recovery. lunges at the watchman. and barks so furious ly that the noise brings the old miser out Of his stupor; the dog leaps in the air and breaks his chain as the miser throws up his window to cry for help. As grand finale the dog is shot just before he leaps on the watchman. thus giving tangible proof that the animal had been on guard all the time. and covering up the real entrance and exit of the burglars. Then the curtain goes down amid great applause"
 There was dead silence as Christo- pher Poe finished and stood up, his eyes darting beneath their bushy brows from one to the other of the Twirley Twins.
 I'm afraid you've missed the six. fifty" ne said in a hesitant tone. T thought you'd let me into the room to sort of prove an alibi If you needed one T mean in skipping your board bill or some other crime you may have committed-so I cccmmodatingly set my watch back half an hour to cover the minutes during which the crime might have been committed. I knew you would both be relieved to near me announce that 1t was only five-thirty.-
 Neither spoke. Suddenly Mrs. Twir. ley swung around and demanded:
 Well. how the devil did they prove the crime on the team in your precious sketch?"
 "Oh. there wasn't any crime at all The couple reconsidered their action, decided they could make moro money on the stage with the sketch. and re- beating the crime in acrobatic panto- mime every night for five or six years at fifty dollars a night with perfect security Of physical and mental free dom. So in little third scene in the sketch they called a messenger boy, and sent him round to the miser with two suit-cases packed with his money. That pleased the audience and" Mrs. Twirley stared at him as though he were unreal. and threw her hands to her head in a frenzy, scream. ing:
 How in heaven did you ferret out all this, you-you weasel?"
 I've got a room looking out into the Dubois court myself" smiled Poe turning toward her frankly, now that she had given in. Its just next door I've heard Dickie bark in imitation of Alert to entertain the landlady. I've seen you both examining that Dubois window with the telescope. was more or less prepared, and being some what of night-prowler myself. I just happened around with a skeleton key or two and gathered a bit of material for a-vaudeville sketch. I can get you booked either way you like, at Billy Ryan's Vaudeville agency or the station house. It's up to you!"
 The woman looked sharply from Pee to her husband, and then furtively at the two suitcases which she had left | unguarded in the corI'er
 Hes only bluffing. Dickie." she ! cried.
 T know it," Twirley answered. But it sort of stands to reason I'd rather 1ot GFt, , x,aotr .ro f-z-u rp1tt-x