The Elbert County tribune., 1920-03-19

| news of my departure 'for the eve
ming" and monsieur could creep up
stairs. unseen by his all-seeing spy.
We therefore took our prearranged
| places.
The fiat was almost dark. One low
| gas Jet lighted the dining room and
showed the hyacinths on the table
so monsieur could see the moment he
entered the front door; low light in
| the bathroom showed at a glance
through the half-open door that no.
body lurked within. The door to my
bedroom stood nat against the wall
the kitchen door nearly so. and behind
It Billy. jammed In between the refrig-
orator and the set tubs. was complete
ly concealed unless one entered the
room. A low light burned here, suf-
flcient to show the rooms apparent
emptiness. We calculated that mon
sieur would make dash for the fire
escape when I shot on the blank car
fridge from my bedroom and Billy was
then to greet him with the ammonia.
In my own room stood pressed
against the wall just inside the door
way. In my right hand was the re-
volver.
Neither Billy nor I uttered . sound.
The little metal clock echoed along the
hall, horribly loud. It chimed the half
after seven. counted ticks-one min
ate gone / counted and thought OF
hundreds of things I meant to do. or
had forgotten to do, all the while
counting mechanically. Three minutes
gone-four-five-
A key slipped quickly, boldly. re-
| gardless of the noise 1t made-my
lock Mott couldn't bel The lock
turned. quick illumination filled my
hall from the gas jet outside and was
| gone almost before had realized 1t.
The door closed. My heart jumped out
and ran about the floor and tried to
hide under the bureau.
remember thinking. Suppose 1t
doesn't come back but stays away3
Then poor Billy's done for--I can't
move a muscle without my heart |"
And all the time / was thinking these
idiotic things, heard the cautious In
domitable pad. pad. pad of whispered
footsteps. They paused at the bed
room door for a glance within-noth-
ing there; paused at the bathroom
door-nothing in there; paused at the
kitchen door-nothing in there; then
made for the table.
The light blazed up in the dining
room and my heart came back with
| plop. Monsieur had turned up the light
| in order to remove the diamonds and
leave me to discover 1t, as 1t might
chance-tomorrow or a week from to-
| morrow.
| With the light, all my fear left sud-
denly. popped out of the bedroom
saw monsieur with the hyacinths In
his hand-ared the blank cartridge
and yelled. Hands upw and stood fac
| ing him and between him and the door
| with a smoking revolver in my hand.
| He said. Mon Dieu i'-took In the
situation-and bolted for the fire CO.
cape-got smashing blow from the
kitchen door as Billy jumped from be-
hind 1t and then half glass Of am
monia in the face. Two seconds later
| we three were writhing strangling
heap on the floor.
The next thing I remember, / was
sitting on monsieur amidshlps and
Billy was swapping handcuff.
gasped and rolled off on the floor; ;
| picked myself up from the inelegant
position by way of my hands and
knees. got a wet towel and sopped
monsieur's face as fast as / could
though why performed this humane
act so quickly, can't say; and as soon
as he stopped strangling-for lot of
the ammonia had gone into his mouth
and very little in his eyes-Billy and 1
dragged him to the dining room,
propped him against the sideboard and
opened a window.
| 1 believe that none of the three Of
us uttered a word during the entire
performance-Billy says he can't re-
member any; but one of the strnngest
| things was that the firing Of the re-
| volver elected no investigation from
the populous house. All this might
have happened in the center of Lara
| mie plains In a snowstorm the day after
the fall roundup for the amount Of no
| tice man or beast took of 1t.
| 1t was a faultless achievement.
And now we had monsieur-we had
| captured him. as Billy said we should.
| all by our little own selves. He and
silently regarded the crumply creature
sitting against the sideboard and then
| for the first time the idea came into
| our heads. "And now that we've got
him, what are we going to do with
him7"
I looked at Billy and he looked at
me. We asked each other the question
with our eyes. AS for monsieur, his
fears had swallowed up his chagrin at
the indignities heaped upon him.
Strange as 1t may seem, he was the
FIRST Of the three that found his voice.
"Zere has been a great mistake" he