Evening star., 1921-09-20
Continued from Yesterdays Starr
II.
The Theft.

4
minutes after g. lie lifted up the
seat. and, leaning down, surrepti-
! tiously conveyed to his pocket a cold
| chisel from the cars complement of
/ tools. Lacking any of the accessories
! of professional burglar, the chisel
would make a most excellent substi-
+. tute for a steel jimmy. He replaced
, the seat. picked UP the little black
handbag. alighted. entered the house,
and from the musty hallway, after
into room on the right He closed
the door behind him. and stood sur
veying his surroundings in sort OF
! half grim, half quiZzical contempt.
1t was possible that old Tooler up
stairs. on hearing the car, and hear
ing him. Dave Henderson. enter the
i house. might come down: on the other
hand. IT was quite equally possible
that old Tooler would not. 1t was,
however wise to wait a few minutes and
see That was part of the plan. He,
Fave Henderson. was supposed to he
here in his room white some one else
made that little raid on Martin X. Tyde-
mans library If. therefore. Tooler
One \ shrug of his shoulders
completed the obvious deduction.
His eyes Travelled around the room.
This was his home-that is, if he
was his home.
! 1t was dingy, comfortless and un-
/ inviting. There was only the one WIN
dow that faced the street. and the
window was inadequate. and the light
seemed to be imbued with niggardly
hesitation about coming in at all
which was perhaps just as well. Ihe
! furnishings weren't out of amy prize
collection,
He dug his hands impulsiveIy into
| his side e-pocketS-and, one hand en-
countering the chiSel, he smiled with
a kind of cool. composed satisfaction
Between this barren and God-forsak ken
hole and this bit of steel there had
been born a connection that was both
intimate and pertinent. For nine
years. ever since he had run away
! from school. the kind of existence this
place stood for had got his goat-that
was the reason why he had put the
| chisel in his pocket.
The room had served it's purpose
better than any other place OF like
circumstances and surroundings would
have served him--he, had, indeed,
, chosen this particular room very
! carefully-but the place had always
got his goat. He had had to have a
| room somewhere-he had taken it
| here. There were many reasons why
! he had selected this one. 1t was
| cheap; and it was among the only
| class of people with whom he had
ever had a chance to associate-the
hangers-on of the race tracks. tn:
| dance-hall crowd of the Barbary
Coast. the night world of Frisco. He
knew every one here-he knew the
crooks and the lags of the under
| world. These latter had time and
again even tried to inveigle him into
active membership in their fraternity.
They wanted him They had even
paid him the compliment of telling
him he would make the SlickeSt crook
in the United States. He had refused
-,
lit was all piker stuff. 1t wasn't mo-
rality that had held him back
his morality was the morality OF his us
Ii wwha. was f morality no lit any any
make out it was simply question OF
whatever you do don't get caught
And he had seen some Of the upper
crust playing at morality. too. Sure
he knew what morality was-he had
seen a lot of it in his nineteen years
We'll. what do you know about
that" said Dave Henderson aloud. II
a sort of surprised voice. Sounds
like I'm arguing with myself whethe,
wouldn't that sting you! There.
nothing to it, It's what you get fol
waiting-a lone hand that cops thu
sweepstakes. and sets you up fol
keeps like a/nabob!"
He went to the door, opened il
slightly and listened: Upstairs hi
could hear Tooler moving about. Tha
was another reason why he had. hav
ing once taken the room, remained or
as the sole lodger in this house
Tooler minded his own business-ant
Mrs. Tooler couldn't help mindins
hers. Mrs. Tooler was a paralytic
They were a couple we'll beyond mid
die age. and. having been thrifty il
their early days. had purchased thi!
house here some fifteen years ago
1.-The neighborhood, even if still cheaI
neighborhood at that time. had beer
a little more refined in those days.
but having invested their savings tn,
!; subsequent changes had to be borne
that was all. 1t hadn't apparentl,
affected Tooler very much. The MAJ
was naturally sour anyhow. and Mrs
Tooler's illness hadn't changed hin
into what might be called. by an!
stretch of the imagination. genial
He was a mechanic of some sort: bu
his work had been spasmodic-Mrs
Tooler could not always be left alone
evidently wasn't coming down. bu
Tooler, for all that, must, if the ne
cessity arose, be the means Of estab
fishing an alibi. and that require'
milton by Tooler Of his. Dave Hender
sons, presence. He stepped abrupt,
out into the hall.
Heb. Tooler!" he called. 'Tooler!
, A door opened somewhere above.
Hello" snapped a gruff voice.
TITS me-" announced Dave Hender
II heard you!" grunted Tooler.
II just came in for a wash-up," ex
planned Dave Henderson. Game u
in Skarvan's car. I'm going back to
night by train"
"All. right" Tooler grunted again
'rHow's the wife?"
The. only answer was the closing o
, smiled pleasantly and re-entered hi
own room. When it came to socia
bility Tooler was a star! Well, s
much the better! He had no com
plant to register on that score-.es
pecially tonight! He crossed to wher
his trunk stood against the wall a
the lower end of the room. opened tn
trunk. lifted out the tray, and fror
somewhere in the lower recesses pos
sessed himself of an automatic pisto
and a generous supply of reserve am
munition. With this in his pocket, h
closed the trunk again. and, sittin
down on the edge of the bed. unlace
and removed his shoes.
And now Dave Henderson, silent
a cat in his movements, his shoe
tucked under one arm, the blac
handbag under the other. made hi
way out into the hall. The car stand
I ing in front of the house was NUT
evidence that he was still in his room
course Of an hour. say, he would cal
up to Tooler again to say that he wa
going. 1t was perfectly good alibi
4 He crept on along the hall, reache
I the back door. opened it cautiousl
without a sound, and stepped throug
into the shed that connected with tn
house. Here he spent several min
utes in a careful examination of tn
old pigeon-cote. He had never bee
very much interested in. Mrs. Too1er
abandoned pigeon-cote before-h