The Yale expositor., 1917-01-11

Wilkens sleeps stood open little way
and l caught the glim of a flashlight
near where she keeps her jewel case.
showed my hand just inside the door
and pushed the light button. And
there we was face TO face with
couple Of the most surprised and
toughest lookin' crooks that / ever
met up with. Miss Wilkens was lynn
there in the bed sleepin' like baby"
"Them two housebrealin' agents of
Legar's was as full of fight as cou-
pie of Kilkenny cats. They whipped
out their guns, and one of them tleshed
me in the shoulder while the other
fetched Joe crack over the head
that put him 10 sleep for a minute. BY
the time Miss Wilkens had got her
eyes open an let out a scared screech
they was through the winder and
climbin' down the latticework."
"Wait a minute. Jenkins" Captain
Bracket interrupted. "Your story
may be very interesting, but what has
this part of it got to do with the
Laughing Mask|
81 was just comm TO that" his sub
ordinate replied in n somewhat ag-
grieved tone. 1--WE got out the front
door just as the thugs was maxim
tracks for a racin' car they had hid
den off to one side of the road. Old
man Parker tried to stop 'em, hut he
got a wallop on the jaw that knocked
him stiff. They jumps into the car
and sends her off with the self-starter
We thought they was gone all right,
when that automobile stops up with a
jerk that pretty near put them motor
bandits over the glass front. We was
Johnny on the spot then, an we col
Jared our men in a hurry. An say,
what do you think put the kibosh on
that Joy ride getaway?'
"The thing that brought them
crooks to Il standstill was a rope as
thick as my arm, with one end tied
to the rear axle of the automobile
and the other end made fast to a big
tree. The wheels was buZzin' round,
hut they wasn't gettin' nowhere. An
the man who rugged up the contrap-
tion for stoppin' those crooks must
have been that Laughin' Mask ye're
after. We found those iailbirds had
pretty bad records an the commsh
said I was likely to get some good
news in a couple of days. Perhaps
this feller with the mask amt as bad
as you thinl. chief"
"Wky doesn't he come out into the
open. then, and explain these charges
standi1' against him, instead of
sneakin' around like masked safe
/ blower?" he demanded with consid-
/ erable heat.
81 didn't know you wanted me to
| begin backwards" he said in rulIled
tones. 'Ive got somethin' worth
talldn' about all right, if you'll give
me chance to tell it,"
"Please tell us everything that hap
pened, Jenkins" Margery interposed
"Well, It certainly was some scrap
Miss Golden" answered the thief
catcher, addressing himself exclusive
ly to the diplomatic girl, "an' the
strangest part of the whole thing hap,
pened after / got the bracelets on
them crooks and left Joe TO watch
them, while went up to the house to
see If anything was missin'."
"Just as / reached the house." he
quickly resumed, "the moon broke
through the clouds an / stood lookin
into the garden, for / had a hunch
that one-armed desperate might be
hangin' around to superintend that
job his men tried to pull off. Then
all at once, / seen Miss Wilkens
dressed in a kind of lace wrapper
standin' like a ghost down at the fur
ther end of the garden. An she
wasn't alone by a long shot. Talkin
to her, free and easy as if he'd known
her all his life, was that daredevil
Laughin' Mask. I felt sort Of obliged
to him for tippin' me off about lie
gar's second-story workers, but
knew you was anxious to have q little
talk with him, so l commences tC
sneak up on them night providers like
an old Tom would go after n couple
of sparrows. 1 had covered about
| 0ilI llle ulSluuNt Nlltl llidL nldShtN
Romeo grabs Miss Wilkens in his
arms an commences to kiss her like 9
happy bridegroom. An she keeps
comm right back for more. 1 was
that surprised / must have let m!
foot down heavy, for they broke apar
and he goes through the hedge like 6
shot. When / comes up on the rur
there was only Miss Wilkens an wheI
l told her she was harborin' a maj
wanted by the law, she froze me vi
with naughty stare.
"'You must have been drinkin', of
flcer,' she says. Il Just came out for {
minute TO calm my nerves after nj
that excitement an the only person
I've seen is an extremely rude police
} man..
II don't believe q word of the las
part Of your story" Margery cried II
voice perilously close to tears. ''
don't believe the Laughing Mask wa
promenadlng about that garden Will
a strange young woman at midnight.
"We1l settle that when the tim