Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-14

~ He, moment for which Hanlin-
son had made such careful
preparations during three
! weeks had come at last.
There. within a yard of him,
Was the old jeweler whom he meant
TO stun and to rob; there, in ilanllin-
sons hand, was the Sandbag with
which ne attended to strike him down.
And all about the two men, the one
unsuSpecting, the other Quivering with
intent, hung the heavy silence of mid
night, broken only by the metallic
tinkle Of the valuahes which the old
man was slowly transferring from
counter Ia safe.
Iiankinson had at that time been
out of prison tur precisely It month.
He had no particular desire 10 return
TO prison: but, on the other hand. he
had no leaning toward the path of
rectitude. Upon emerging from dur
anCe he had possessed himself of a
small stock of money, which he had
safely hidden in view Of emergencies:
when il was in his pocket he had left
his usual hauntS in North London
and betaken himself To new ones in
the purieus of the Mile End road. He
took a cheap lodging there and began
10 look around him in Whitechapel
and its neighborhood. And in time he
saw what he considered to be Il good
chance.
There was an Uld-fashioued. dingy
jewelers. shop in Il small side street
off Houndsditch: it was also Il pawn
brokers' establishment. Three gilded
balls overhuug a passage entrance at
the side In that passage there Was
a sort of sentry box. in which the
shutters of the front shop We're kept.
\ curly headed boy put up those shut
terS every night before going home.
HankinSCu'S eyes were unusually
sharp. and it had not taken him more
than one glance to see that in one of
these shutters there was a crack.
You could see the light in the shop
through it. Therefore, through II you
could see into the shop.
Hankinson contrived to see into the
shop through the slit a good many
times. Within q week he learned
good deal Much of what he learned
WAS obvious in other Ways-namely.
that the shop was closed on Saturday
all day long; that from Monday to
Thursday it was closed at o'clock in
The evening; that on Friday nights 1t
was kept open until II. But his obSer-
EationS through the crack in the shut
Ter informed him that every night
after closing hours, whether at 9
O'Clock or at II, Mr.. ISidore Marco
witch, the old proprietor, busted him
self, alone, unaided. in transferring his
most valuable wares from his window
and his counter to a large safe, which
stood in the shop. And, dingy and
old-fashioned as the shop was, there
We're Valuables in it which made
HankinSOn CoVetouS.
HankinSon made his preparations
carefully. First Of all, he convinced
himself that this hiding away OF goods
was a nightly performance. Secondly,
he made sure that the old man was al
ways alone when the performance was
gone through. Thirdly, he came to
know that the only other occupant of
the house was a girl-quite a young
girl. presumably Mr.. Narcovitch's
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES appeared To live
in the upper regions. Hankinson
formed the opinion on good grounds
that this young woman retired TO bed
long before closing hours on Friday
nights; at any rate there was a Win
dow in the very upper room in which
ligh. shone for awhile every night
at hal.-past nine. He grew to be posi-
lively certain that, beyond this girl,
there was nobody on the premises
save MarcoVitCh himself and that
Marcovitch was the only waking thing
in the house when he put his goods in
the safe on Friday evenings. Obvious
~, then, Friday was the day Of excel
lent choice.
but Hankinson did not content him
self with outside observation only. He
felt it necessary to see the inside Of
that shop. Therefore he invented a
good excuse for visiting it twice-by
taking something to mend and calling
for the mended article a few days
later. on these occasions he inspected
this new hunting grounds with due
care After the second inspection he
told himself that it was all right. The
big safe in which old Marcovitch
slowed his best things stood detached
from the wall; between the wall and
IT there was a SPACE in which q man