The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-12-25
A WINDOW INTO CHRISTMAS

L Dusan left home shortly aftsr nnldnisht,
and began threading 4 tortuous way among
the alleys and back streets Of the city. Ordi-
narily, he would have spent Christmas Eve
In bed. like other men, with perhaps q long
enough interruption to deck an evergreen
Tree for the benefit Of de younger Dusans
but he had not pulled OF q good Job for some
time and funds were running low.
He had in mind q certain house toward
suburbs which bore the distinction Of
being q magistrates. The fact that the
magistrate lived there was incidental, though
IL bad q vindictive interest for Andy but a
well defined presumpton that the household
was supplied with plate and jswelry was
Of the highest Importance. Andy fsursd that
be ceoh s6sct an unobtruavs entrance.
snA could withdraw auia without hs4ns
r&esfved, the empty eo6sz. Of the Dusan
family voald b well a shar way tsvard
rplmishmsak.
ss1s1gs What trfnlAg tsmpsstions s,os
b tA~art onSS plans! Andy was nearly NJ
Ais destination. Another square, which hso
convenient alley running through It, would
have tahen him there. But instead Of CON
pasdny the distance, h stopped behind
eompasevsly mean and indgntfcant looking
house, merely because the window was open
Open Window had fascination for ANDY
Thsy wore the signs and symbols Of his
calling. Perhaps a brother operator vas
ct work within. Perhape-and this was the
thought which warmed his heart-the win.
ssv had been careleSly Left open, and
minimum Of effort would securs sousthinr
vel worth the trouble. Ths second pessi.
hhty was worth testing, anyway.
he placed both hands on the -vindo,~ N,
raised himself with the ease Of muscI.. Ionu
trained to that sort Of thing. and land.d
quisty In the room. Here he turned on his
nashhsht and paused 10 look around.
It vas evidently q bedroom. Tia vipdov
bad been left open for air. In sptt. O. a,
Sharpness Of the night. The r.y Of l,,A.
travelling to and fro, glanced for . no,,.n,
spon white bed clothes at the Other "a a,
the room Andy thcrsupon shut II a,
tfrely and proceeded to investigate the .,s.n.
srs, with eyes vhseh had somewhat Of , ,,t,.
hcuity Of seeing In the dark
DE seefpsd to the side of the bad v,SA,,,,
making any sound. There were two cbud,.n
In 1.-TWO little girls. They had k,ct.5 a.
the coverings, which lay In a heap partly
at the foot Of the bed and partly on ID. soor
and they were shivering in their slssn
Csfching their death o. cold. OF Ana,
growled 10 himself. "A nice uo<h., o..
must have! Window open and blowing aov.
their spines BIKE q Knife"
HE LAID The nashlisht down fpr
- ment and put the bed eloth,n~ ~
where It belonged, then passed cot IT,, -.
hallway He WINS taking noes, m~,vhf.
mat the furniture and carpets ver, n. :,
the costliest. This might be near N. -
huates mouse In distance. but Il was q long
way from 1t In wealth. The hall had No e.r-
pet of any kind. He had to tipte. With
elaborate caution to avoid maktnx soo r,orb
noise. 1t was doubtful Whether III. vi.,,
would be worth while, after all. bot ADV
made rule Of seeing his jobs through. som..
times unlikely places held out a GOOD reward
to the dilig-nt worker.
He had expected to find the rrovp fe,h,,
bedrooms next that Of the children. Instead
he blundered into the kitchen. The remain.
OF meal were lying on the table. which in
II, elf was bad omen for the wealth Of
the place. In the Stove At the farther side
some Goals were still sDolderins. ANDY,
quick eye caught three long, slender objects
suspended beneath the chimney hole. and hi.
fash brought back to him with a start the
fact that 1t was Christms Eve. The slender
objects were stockings. Two Of them be-
lonsed, evidently, to the little girls he had
Just covered in their sleep the other to
another child whom he had not seen-prob-
ably boy.
Andy recognized the importanc. Of til.
fnd. What the children were setting for
Christmas would tell him pretty well whether
3 vas worth while 10 70 On With the Job.
fhs hrst seeking had Q little popcorn in
rs toe, as be could tell by feeling, and q
little candy atop of that. Above the candy
was a brown-eyed doll, which be drew out
carefully, and replaced.
Five -and-t cent store" was his
verdict
The next stocking wss> Ike the first, e1-
eept that the dolls eyes were blue. Tn.
third, which Andy had sized up as belong
ing to a boy, bore out his surmiss. Il con-
tanned popcorn and candy, Ike the Other
two, but in place Of the doll there was q
tsp.
"A fve-eenter," Andy appalled, It, with
asy shn. 'Twenty-three for mel This
ain't the place where Adam Worth stels
IL Gainstorough."
uE CREPT back through the hallway,
IL paused again by the bedside Of the two
little girls to ascertain that they were
still sleeping and covered, then dropped out
Of the open window as lightly as he had
entered. Once In the aIley, he broke into
q noiseieB dog-trot which brought him
rapidly to the magistrates.
He waited a moment before climbing the
back fence, to make SURF that no four
footed watchmen were about. A few kicks
against the boards, In imitation Of q sup