The Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 191?-19??, 1919-05-03

knew how to manage some species o.
burglar, or thought he did, but thlI
particular specimen baffIed him.
Please. I'm sorryt" She raised
pathetic face to hID--an extremel,
pretty face. with very large brown
/: eyes, and very red lips. For a mo
ment the lips trembled and strange to
say it seemed as though she was
struggling to suppress laughter rather
than tears.
"Hysterical," concluded Bob, though
1t was hard to explain TIE odd twinkle
which he felt sure he ctpld detect in
her eyes.
please don't send for the police"
she said.
"Oh, don't explain. 1 think I'M
derstand-you were poor and discour-
aged, and tempted"
yes that was the reason. I'll
was so poor and-tired. But now will
you let me goT
"Of course, in a moment, hut won't
you let me be Of assistance to your"
He disappeared Into his rcom and
when he returned held out TO her a
bill of as large a denomination as he
had felt he could afford
Please accept 1t, and try not to
steal again"
He felt that he. was handling the
situation admirably. He possessed no
great amount of wealth. but what he
I, did have he would use to help the un.
fortunate, and, incidentally, the beau
tiful. "a {
THANK you" replied the fair bur
glaress. after brief moment of hesl-
tation, and she took the .profrered
I-gift. -iYou-are very GOO" Tho
sentence was left unfinished as she
buried her head in her arms.
Absolutely overcome" thought
Bob. with much sympathy. Some time
later, when she seemed to have recov-
cred and had promised to lead q
worthier life, he led her to the door,
and sent her away, then returned to
his disturbed slumber, lnwardly re-
GREETING that girl. with such a love
ly face, should be mere thief Of the
slums. All that night, and all the next
day he thought Of her. He was dis
gusted with himself for not getting
her address and managing to see more
of her If only to be Of pencuniary as
sistanee- then the unexpected
happened. A letter came from Betty.
Betty was Bob's sister, who lived some
distance away with the rest of his
family. but who was In the same
town, with friends, at, the present
time, on visit. AS he opened the
envelOp, rather crumpled greenback
fiuttered out of it and as 1t was a
bill of the same amount that he had |
made gift of the night before, he
fastened to read sister Betty's letter
for an explanation.
Dear BObbie-it ran, am return |
ing the inclosed, with much praise for
your generosity and many thanks from
my friend, Margaret Allan, a perfect
dream of girl, whose acquaintance
sou have made under strange circum-
stances. They have a perfectly de- |
lightfuI club over here and last night |
they initiated Margaret-Q suggested
the Initiation as you probably suspect,
for you remember had key to your
apartments)-a that's why she |
played burglar. Bobbie, dear.
slope you won't be crossl Mar
garet was a good sport, anyway, for
1t was a daring thing to do And she
carried it off fine, even if you did dis
cover her. will tell you that she
was very favorably impressed, If you
won't get too conceited, and, of course,
can arrange a meeting If you wish.
But oh, Bobby, what will happen to
you II l introduce you to Margareti
Love, from Betty"
II hardly needs to be said that, at
his eager request, Betty soon arranged
for the meeting, and Margaret, with
her Irresistible smile and altogether
charming manner. was even more
wonderful than he had pictured she
would be.
The acquaintance ripened into
Friendship. and the friendship grew
deeper and stronger. until one day
Bob said, very tenderly, to Margaret:
''Don't pretend you're a lady, Mar
garet, for you're only little burglar
after all. Margaret, dear. do you
know you have stolen my hearty"
But Margaret, her eyes beamlng
with love light, answered: ooh, no,
Bobbie. dear have not stolen your
heart It is only q fair exchange
fCopyrieht. 1913. by the Mcclure News
paper syndicate.)