The Springdale news., 1915-02-26
:. All Foreign Rights Reserved.

by this amazing master criminal was enough to cause panic. Already he had engaged detectives prepared for whatever might happen. and they hal advised him to leave the diamonds in the counter, clear the store and let the crooks try anything, if they dared
 Just back of us, and around the COL her, as We came in, we had noticed limousine which had driven up Three faultlessly attired dandies had entered doorway down the street, as we learned afterward, apparently going to fashionable tailor's which occupied the second floor of the old fashioned building the first floor having been renovated and made ready for renting Had we been there moment sooner we might have seen, l suppose, that one of them nodded to a taxicab driv- CT who was standing at a public hack stand few feet up the block. The driver nodded unostentatiousl! back at the man.
 In spite of the excitement. Kennedy quietly examined the showcase, which was, indeed, veritable treasure store of brilliants.
 Slowly the hands of the clock came nearer together at noon
 We all gathered about the showcase, with it's glittering hoard of wealth. forming circle at respectable dis tanee.
 h deep-lunged tones the clock played the chords written, believe, by Handel Then it began striking.
 Nothing had happened
 We all breathed sigh of relief
 Well, it is still there.e exclaimed Martin. pointing at the showcase with forced laugh.
 Suddenly came a rending and crash +. sound. It seemed as if the very floor Oh which We stood was giving way.
 The showcase, with all it's priceless contents, went smashing into the eel. lar below.
 The flooring beneath the case had been cut through
 All crowded forward, gazing at the black, yawning cavern.
 Down below, three men, covered with smocks and their faces hidden by masks had knocked the props away from the ceiling of the cellar, which they had sawed almost through at their leisure, and the showcase had landed eight CT ten feet below, shiy cred into thousand bits.
 A volley of shots whizzed past us, and another. While one crook was hastily stuffing the untold wealth Of jewels into burlap bag the others had drawn revolvers and were firing up through the hole in the floor des perately
 Look out'" cried someone behind us before We could recover from our first surprise and return the fire.
 One of the desperadoes had taken a bomb from under his smock. lighted 1t and thrown it up through the hole in the floor
 Ii sailed up over our heads and land cd near our little group, on the floor the fuse sputtering ominously.
 heard an exclamation of fear from Elaine
 Kennedy had pushed his way past us and picked up the deadly internal machine in his bare hands.
 I watched him, fascinated. As near as he dared, he approached the hole in the floor still holding the thing off at arms length. Would he never throw it9
 He was coolly holding it. allowing the fuse to burn down closer to the explosion point.
 It was now within less than an inch of sure death.
 Suddenly he raised it and hurled the deadly thing down through the hole.
 We could hear the imprecations of the crooks as it struck the cellar floor, near them.
 Leave the store-quick. rang out Kennedy's voice.
 Down below the crooks were beat ing hasty retreat through !. secret entrance which they had effected
 The bag, The bag,' we could hear one of them below.
 "The bomb-run," cried another voice gruffly.
 The explosion that followed lifted us fairly off our feet.
 As the smoke from the explosion cleared away, Kennedy could bo seen, the first to run forward.
 Meanwhile Martins detectives had rushed down a flight of back stairs that led into a coal cellar With coal shovels and bars, anything they could lay hands on, they attacked the door that opened forward from the coal eel lar into the front basement where the robbers had been.
 A moment Kennedy and Bennett paused on the brink of the abyss which the bomb had made, waiting for the smoke to decrease Then they began to climb down cautiously over the piled-up wreckage.
 The explosion had set the basement afire, but the fire had not gained much h |, k11r, ohoL