The Washington herald., 1915-10-31
By N. QUAD.

Professor Brixton-Lonsbody was a
born philosopher and a logician. They
observed II In him as an infant; AS
| strange questions. At fifteen years old
forty average men combInsd- One
the midnight oil and sharply said 70
him:
Young man you Ought to have been
In bed two hours ago. Is that book
called Nol fssss1 sSfsaio Esn s,i the r.D,v ~, .
work on logic and philosophy"
HImpn, what In thunder is the
Mr.. Green IS. which he is to repay in
six months it Is philosophy that he
he haant paid, ss and Second. % Because Sssepse he
didn't borrow $40 instead Of SIS. II
you are using a sharp knife to whit
Tie with and you draw, the knife to
sooner or later going to cut yourself.
We'll. my son. that's pretty good.
and you may sit up half an hour
Al the age q IS young LOngbody
was appointed Professor Of Logic and
Philosophy at a stats University. He
State. but he Bore himself with dig
nifty and had the wise look of an owl.
He therefore looked to be forty years
he really did. The Professor mad been
tsaching for year when strange
thing happened him. He had never
IeaS Iead a novel in his life: He did not
then never read any of the criminal
news He knew. of course, that there
were such things as murderers, bur-
glars, robberies. and other serious
crimes. but IL was not for him to
ponder over them.
One afternoon the Professor was
Book tha ons omen had De
THE Life of Vidocque." The title.
strangely enough. seemed to strike the
room, and read two or three pages OF
it Never in all his days. had he read
criminal. or detective story. He
for three seconds on such literature
Behold. the time had come. That
night he sat up until past midnight
reading that book. 1t was a new, rev:
thought. 1t is scarcely to he believed
that in a few hours he could almost
imagine that he was a criminal es-
PI" z Would fSn' have @ DONE onIee so and So" he
said TO himself. and then gave a guilty
start.
found himself again saying before ten
minutes had passed.
He analyzed Vidocque's logic and
philosophy. and found fault with
He counted up the number of blum
ders that the average criminal made
in a case. and was amaZed that the
a day. After reading the book twice
over he laid IL aside with a sigh OF:
Dear me. but what pack of idiots:
and how easy TO have been sensible!
great success. As a criminal ! fear
that ! should have been more sue
body could not drive away these |
thoughts. In a couple of weeks, as ne
walked out. he imagined himself |
elIher si a criminal or deteStTe; S Sdt, some
with himself and at other times he
! Certain street the Professor noticed |
house. was half raised. night or /
Two later he passed the same house !
IN hour before midnight and noticed !
Careless people-3yery careless" he
whispered TO himself; That's a plain /
invitation for a robber to enter and !
undr sousSodeGs sss e3ase that are IS such tS blame
hat house. plunder Il and get away
md not leave a clew.
In week more the Professor found
ween three and four O'Clock every
Ifternoon. and again that window was
always up. II obsessed him. II up
'et him. II made him angry with
he owner Of the place. Was II his
luty to teach the man lesson"
Would you believe that the great
argued that IL was? Yes O.
ie did. In addition to the lesson he
would teach. he would also add to
md strengthen his philosophy.
The Professor would enter that
Iouse by night. BY the open window?
80, sir, he was too sharp for that
hat would be the road of the COM
non criminal. and il would be a fear
ul blunder. The owner OF the house
vas inviting n wOuld-be robber 10
limb in that window to get caught
n a bear-trap or lose his life by a
pring-Eun.
The Professor bought a dark-Ian-
ern. He put a few tools in his
'ockets and set out one night to
ommit a philosophical and logical
urglary. He had got TO that point
here he was reckless OF consequences
r, rather, he was sure there would
e no consequence. He would not {
lunder the house. He would take
way with him some article OF no
reat value. but something that would 1
y 4 ,