Evening star., 1921-09-21
Continued from Yesterdays Starr

The edge of the chisel slipped in be
. tween the sill and the WindoW-sasD,
and with the leverage the WINDOW
was raised an inch or two. HIS Ques-
ton was answered.
It had not been locked at the top.
And now his fingers came into play
again-under the window. .sasn. IneIe
was not a sound. The window went
up easily and silently; and with a
1.-the, agile spring Dave Henderson
swung himself up over the slH'
dropped with a soft pad to the floor,
and stood motionless, shrouded In one
of the portieres.
The room was empty. The door
leading from the library he could see
as he peered out, was closed from
the other side of the door. muft1ed,
there came a laugh, the murmur or
voices. indeterminate little SOUNDS.
The set, straight lips relaxed little.
The way was quite clear. The chances
ir his favor were mounting steadily.
The family was undoubtedly at dinner;
He made no sound as he stepped
rich. heavy pile of the velvet rug be-
meath his feet deadened his foottalls.
And now he reached the massive nat
topped desk that stood almost IN the
center of the room. 1t was the most
likely place, the natural place, for
Tdyeman to leave the money. II 1t
was not here-again there came that
debonair shrug-well, then. he would
look further-upStairs in Tyoeman
bedroom, if necessary--or anywhere
{ise, if necessary. One thing only was
certain, and that was that, having
aearted on the job, he would get the
1l4ney, or they would get him-lr he
couldn't fight his way out. 1t was
Do that! What else would he do? He
had always done that! He had been
brought up to it. hadn't he? Win or
1ose-he had always played win or
HoA hA6 rrnV q
piker stuff-and that was in Bookie
$karvan'S line, too, not his!
Keen, alert, his ears were sent1neis
against the slightest external sound.
grim impatience at his low lip. as he
pulled open drawer after drawer
Strange how his mind worked! The
sfickest crook in the U. s. A., they had
said he would make. Wen. perhaps
1ured nor interested him. This was
his first job-and his last. There was
enough in this to see him through Tor
the rest of his life. 1t wouldn't have
been worth the risk otherwise, and
east and he could pretend to amass
money little by little until no one
would be surprised that he was worth
a hundred thousand dollars That was
Some of them had brains, but they
worked their brains overtime-on
small stuff-and they had to come
again-to keep the living expenses
once too often-and then it was the
jug for theirs!
He bent down suddenly to lower
drawer that was locked-the only
one that he had found locked -and
pried it open with the cold chiseL
''Sure!" said Dave Henderson i'm
perturbably under his breath. Il
guess this looks like it-what? And
all done up in nice little package,
too! Even more thoughtful OF 'em
He took out parcel from the
drawer. 1t was securely tied with
stout cord, and heavily sealed with
great 'blobs of red wax that bore q
be but little doubt concerning the
contents; but Dave Henderson, never
theless, made slight opening in one
end OF the wrapping paper-and as
new yellowbacks. He nodded pleas
antly to himself, as he consigned the
package to the little black handbag.
1t was what he had come for-and
got-one hundred thousand dollars.
an instant to examine it. Closed. 1t
did not show enough of the chisePs
work to attract attention; open. 1t at
once became very apparent tnat the
drawer had been forced. He smiled
what he wanted! When, a little later,
he drove UP in Skarvan's car to the
front door and requested the money,
It was only then that it was likely to
Se missed for the first time, and GER
tainly under such circumstances the
last man on earth against whom any
suspicion could arise would be him
self. He had told himself that before.
Well, why not repeat it? 1t was true,
He retreated to the window, low
cred himself to the ground, and re-
gained the street. The thing was
done. He was in possession Of one
hundred thousand dollars. There had
not been the slightest difficulty or
obstacle. He hummed an air under
his breath as he went along. It had
been very simple-more so even than
he had expected. 1t had been almost
tame!