The patriot. (Glenmora, La.) 1918-1955, 1919-04-04
Will-'O-the-
Wisp
III
(Copyright)
BY FRANK coMSTocK


| closure and dipped.
A shadow fled across the lawn be-
meath it.
Ashcroft lowered the forward planes,
the Will-o'-the-Wisp settled, ran along
the grass for a little way, and mo-
ment later he jumped off and came
| over where / stood.
"What do you think of it?" he
queried exultingly.
Il think" 1 replied that you have
perfected one Of the most devilish con-
! trivances ever possessed by re-
spectacle crook. When do we startr'
Half an hour" he said. Come in
side and have a drink"
When we had seated ourselves on
either side of bottle of sparkling
Chablis, he raised his glass and toasted
our coming adventure.
"To the safe voyage of the VIII
o'-the-Wisp and the Honorable Geor-
gia Calendars diamond dog collar"
said he.
And we drank it off with deep feel
ing.
| A month before / had come across
| Ashcroft, or rather he had come across
me, and in q manner that left no doubt
as to my intentions in visiting him.
The fact of it was. that his home
being one of the most snug-looking
villas in the exclusive section of Staten
Island, and I being a gentleman liv-
ing mainly by my wits, cast my eyes
upon it and computed mentally just
! how much / should be in if fortune
should favor me with clear field.
The upShot of the thing was, that
| just as | was about to descend from
his third-story window, together with
what more or less valuable articles
had managed to pick up in the course
| of my visit, the electric lights were
switched on and bullet splattered the
plaster down the back of my neck.
Ashcroft changed his mind after the
first shot, took me in, instructed me IN
what he was pleased to call 1.-THE finer
points of the game" and from that on
we were inseparable.
We distrusted each other most cor
daily and split the profits.
He looked up at me from long and
silent meditation upon the virtues OF
| the wine.
| 1.-The wind will drop in about fifteen
minutes, | should say, and the Honor
able Mrs. Calendars little private roof
! pln
! just make it. Have you a revolver
| got out my automatic and inspected
! its contents. and he nodded in APP
prOval.
LET us pray we shall not have to
use them. Where are the masks?"
We climbed aboard. The Will-o' the
wisp quivered. moved forward like a
living thing Ashcroft tilted the for
ward planes and we lifted.
An immense shadow was fitting
along the ground below us, but pres
| emily the moon went behind a cloud
| and we sailed through darkness. The
country below us was an inky surface.
with here and there twinkling light
| that spoke of a house.
Ashcroft moved the lever trife and
my seat inclined fraction. l knew
that we were climbing.
Presently we righted and slid along
on a level. Ashcroft let out another
notch and the purring of the motor
| increased to q muffied hum. A wind
| ing white ribbon that / knew was the
turnpike was discernibie below us and
a black spot was racing along in our
wake.
1t was an automobile. and a faint
footing of the horn came up to us, but
the men in ii never lifted their faces.
1.-TWO thousand feet" said Ashcroft.
1--WE shall just make It,"
Far below us TO the right one could
make out the varied lights of Coney
Island.
A little north of them the sharp.
knife-like streak Of a searchlight from
| the Navy Yard swept back and forth
across the sky, once heading exactly
in our direction, but we were beyond
its focus.
IOOhcu flhc u 10y NItSs
/ could hardly believe 1t was New
York. that vague wilderness of roofs,
the long strings of lights that were
the streets. the faint glow of Broad
way. the crawling things that | knew
were the trains of the elevated rail-
road.
1t was exactly IL 100 o'clock. Over
Madison Square we circled again and
slid down in a long glide until we
| could have shaken hands with Diana
had we been in her vicinity. Then
Ashcroft shut off the motor and we
nosed earthward in a narrowing circle.
Ashcroft Is nothing If not accurate.
We made our way cautiously across
the two roofs that interviewed between
the Will-o'-the-W isp and the imitation
italian garden that sent soft glow of
light into the night.
Ashcroft softly parted the leaves OF
the arbor wall and we peeped in.
There were long rows of japanese
lanterns and flowers. and at table
that was loaded with enough silver to
make you wish to get away with thai
haul and then die happy. sat five PEG
ole. Three Of them did not know the
faces of the two men and the woman