The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1922-10-26

None of this, however, is what particu-
larly placed her so highly in the esteem
of Mike. No indeed What appealed to
him was her daily habit of hustling home
from the Office after quitting time, in
order to assist her mother. May knew that
there were a lot of things to do in home
so abundantly housed with youngsters,
which indicates that all the available
space in her pretty little head was sensibly
occupied. Nor was she a green hand. In
fact she knew as much about domestic
affairs as she did about her stenographic
duties and Mr. Dough, the senior firm
member of the law counsellors who en-
ployed her, called her his efficiency en-
gineer.
Jimmy lived with his aunt at the next
subway station neighborhood beyond
Mays. He had made his home there since
his return from France His mother died
while he was in the service, his father
during the early days of Jimmy's child
hood. He had always been very devoted
to his mother. All her life she had been
cast to fill the dual roles of mother and
sister, father and brother in their family
theatre of life, and performed each part
with honor to herself and credit to him.
Jimmy's efforts in behalf of democracy
had been cheerfully rendered, but with
considerable exacting toll. However, after
planting his feet with periodical regular
ity under the ample and sumptuous family
table of Mays mother; and with the con-
slant maternal attention at the hands of
his aunt, who thought the world of him,
and endeavored in every way to fill the
void left by his mother he was fast attain
ing his pre-war state of normally. A good
description of Jimmy may be obtained by
mentally picturing the hero of Saturday
Evening Post Kuppenheimer ad,-that is,
from the neck down. But from there up it
will be necessary to mentally substitute a
head portraying firm jaw, dreamy eyes
and general intellectual expression, for
the vacant stare, insipid smile and general
calf-like profile depicted on the shoulders
of the Kuppenheimer hero. Jimmy had
class written all over him. He was
nifty kid, was Mays dearie. And, he did
not smoke Camels; he preferred Omars.
AS Jimmy rounded into shape he began
to feel the pangs of being broke. How
ever, with the aid and influence of Mike,
he secured job as a clerk in the statistical
division of one of the big insurance COM
panies down in the financial canyon. AT
the time of the opening of our story he had
teen so employed the greater part of one
week.
On the night that May and Jimmy were
returning from the Hippodrome, Jimmy's
aunt returned to her apartment on late
train from Tarrytown, where she had
spent the day with friends. In preparing
to retire for the night she missed her
jewel box from its customary quarter in
one of her dresser drawers. On the theory
that she had misplaced it, she was in the
act of ransacking the other drawers when
she noted deposit of cigarette ash on the
dresser top. This aroused her suspicious
and caused her to institute a more thorough
search. She then discovered some rough
slivers of wood on the floor beneath a
window situated across the room. An ex-
animation of the window frame and sash
revealed the source of the slivers
She then called the Police department
and detective Fitzgerald, who, as fate
would have ii, happened to be lounging
around headquarters, and was assigned to
the case.
After minute examination, he con-
cluded that the sivers on the floor repre-
sented piece of crude work, performed
by an amateur. Nothing on the outside of
the window indicated an entrance there
from. There were no footprints below the
window. He learned that Jimmy was the
only other person who had legitimate