The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1918-04-26
girls must iock the door after me, and

girls must lock the door after me. and
stay right here"
The little ones screamed again. and
Fairy said: Don't be silly, Prue, il
you 60 I'm going with you. of course.
Wen leave the kiddies here and they
can lock the door. They'll be perfectly
safe In here"
But the children loudly objected to
this. II Prue and Fairy went, they
would go! So down the stairs they
trooped. a timorous trembling crowd.
phone. and called up the residence of
the Allans. their neighbors across the
street. After a seemingly never-ending
wait, the kind-hearted neighbor left
his bed to answer the insistent tele-
phone. Falteringly Prudence explained
their predicament, and asked him to
come and search the house. He prom
ised to be there In FIVE minutes, with
his son to help.
"Now," said Prudence more cheer
fully, "welr Just go out to the kitchen
and wait. It's quiet there, and away
from the rest Of the house, and we'll
be perfectly .safe." To the kitchen.
then, they hurried, and found real
comfort in its smallness and secure
ness. Prudence raked up the dying
embers of the fire. and Fairy drew the
blinds to their lowest limits. The
twins and Connie trailed them fear-
fully at every step.
Every breath Of wind against the
windows drew startled cries from the
younger girls, and both Fairy and Pru
dence were white with anxiety when
they heard the loud voices Of the Al
lans outside the kitchen door. Pru-
dence began crying nervously the mo-
ment the two angels of mercy ap-
peared before her. and Fairy told their
tale of woe.
"Well. there now." Mr.. Allan said
with rough sympathy, you just got
scared, that's all. Everything's sus-
picious when folks get scared. l told
my wife the other day I bet you girls
would get a good fright sometime. left
here alone. Come on. Jim. and we'll
60 over the house In a jiffy."
He was standing near the dining
room door. He lifted his head sud-
denly, and seemed to snifr a little.
There was undoubtedly a faint odor
of tobacco in the house.
"Been any men In here tonight7" he
asked. "Or this afternoon? Think,
now!"
"No one" answered Prudence. II
was alone all afternoon, and there has
in
He passed slowly through the din
ing room into the hall, closely followed
by his son and the five girls, already
much reassured. AS he passed the
dungeon door he paused for a moment,
listening intently. his head bent.
"Oh, Mr.. Allan" cried Prudence,
"let's look in the dungeon first. want
to see II the money is safe" Her hand
was already on the lock, but he showed
her away quickly.
"Is there any way out of that closet
besides this doorT' he asked.
mo. We call 1t the dungeon"
laughed Prudence. her self-possession
quite recovered. 1T is right under
the stairs, and not even a mouse could
gnaw its way out, with this door shut"
"Who shut the door?" he inquired,
still holding Prudence's hand from the
lock. Then, without waiting for an
answer. he went on. Lets go back in
the other room a minute. Come on, all
of you" In the living room he hur-
ried to the telephone. and spoke to the
operator in a low voice. Call the po-
lice headquarters. and have them send
two or three men to the Methodist par
sonage, right away. We've got a bur-
glar locked In a closet, and they'll have
to get him out. Please hurry"
At this, the girls crowded around
him again in renewed fear.
Don't be scared" he said calmly,
"we're all right. He's in there safe
enough and can't get out for . while.
Now, tell me about 1t. How did you