Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1919-04-04
Will-'O-the-
Wisp
~
BY FRANK CoMSTOCK
(Copyright.)

banked, came QoIIly ABOUT as III Heaicu
the poplars at the end of the en-
closure and dipped.
A shadow fed 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
oyef where l stood.
"What do you think of it," he
queried exultingly.
II think" / replied that you have
perfected one Of the most deviliSh con-
trivances ever possessed by re
spectacle crook. When do we start!
Half an hour" he said. Come in
side and have a drink"
When we had seated ourselves on
either side of a bottle of sparkling
Chablis, he raised his glass and toasted
our coming adventure.
"To the safe voyage of the Will
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 I had come across
Ashcroft, or rather he had come across
me- and in manner that left no doubt
as to my intentions III 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 / being gentleman liv-
ing mainly by my wits, | cast my eyes
upon 1t and computed mentally just
how much I should be in if fortune
should favor me with clear field.
The upshot of the thing was, that
just as I 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 "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.
''The wind will drop in about fifteen
minutes should say, and the Honor
oLJ 10 or,c a
party takes place at eleven. We shall
just make it. Have you q revolverT
got out my automatic and inspected
its contents, and he nodded in APP
prevail.
'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 cloud
and we sailed through darkness. The
country below us was an inky surface,
with here and there twinkling light
that spoke of house.
Ashcroft moved the lever trifle and
my seat inclined a 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 Il muffled hum. A wind
ing white ribbon that | knew was the
turnpike was diScern;hle below US aud
a black spot was racing along in our
wake.
1t was an automobile. and faint
footing of the horn came up to us. but
the men in it never lifted their faces.
"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.
1t looked like toy city.
| could hardly believe it 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 II 100 O'Clock. Over
Madison Square we circled again and
slid down in 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 narrowing circle
Ashcroft is nothing if not accurate.
We made our way cautiously across
the two roofs that interviewed between
the Will-o'the-Wisp and the imitation
Italian garden that sent soft glow of
tight 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 10 get away with that
haul and then die happy, sat ave peo-