Evening star., 1926-11-01


1 L Never mind, dear" she
soothed "Ill be all right in
little while now, and We'll manage
till then. somehow
Tim regarded her morosely. "Yeh,
but how'm l ever gOin' to get any
where? How'm l goin' to get you the
fancy foods you'd ought to have, and
where are we getting to?'
"Well, / can DO without those
things. ] have SO far, and l been
eettin' weil pretty fast. too. AS soon's
I'm well, everything will work out
agin."
"Yeh-maybe. But a man gets sick
o this struggle. 1t amt right for 'em
to have to skimp along So
why, Tim" interposed Mary brisk
ly. I'VE get along all right. We al
ways pay our rent half month at
time and we amt never starved yet"
"Yeh. but we might as well've,"
answered Tim gloomily. we never
have more than jest barely enough
to go by on. Why, if we even want
to go to movie. l gotto work nights
to pay for it,"
Mary insisted on being cheerful.
Those night jobs sure do help out.
When do you work again?'
"Tonight." Tim looked at her fur
lively. Its some kind Of. a watch
mans job. l don't go till 10 and get
back somewhere round or 3D.
What funny hours.-oh. well.
you'll be with me till nearly 10 and
I'll be asleep by then, anyhow. Be
sure to bundle up warm and take
care O. that nasty cold you got COM
ing on. It'd be awful if you should
get neemony too. Say, will you read
to me a bit before you go? I started
to try it this afternoon and it made
my eyes ache somethin' awful"
So in his halting, laborious way Tim
read to his wife until he saw her head
relax upon the pillows and he knew
that she slept. Nearly 10 at that.
He'd best slip away without waking
her.
AS he trudged slowly along, he
smiled sardonically to himself
"Watchman.' A fine kind Of watch
man he was going to be! Well. he'd
try anything once reather than mere
| ing since her illness. = 1t wasn't for
| himself he minded SO much as for
Mary. In spite Of her always being
| so CHEEKY, he was sure that it must
be mighty hard for her. Doc Hol-
comb had been mighty square-charg-
| ed him very little for his services and
| tried to be as easy as he could. Still.
| 1t was tough to see so many things
| that little extra money could do
| to help them along. Well, he simply
had to have some, that was all there
was to 1t. That was why he had de-
cided to try this business tonight. 1t
sounded easy and he did not see why
he might not do real we'll later on.
For almost three hours he sat
around Kelly's pool hall, hoarse and
brooding, nervously tap-tapping his
feet and shifting eXasperately with
the cold which, he reflected bitterly,
was not only coming on" but had
arrived with full force. Then, judg-
ing the time for his venture to be
about ripe, he caught a street car
and was rapidly conveyed to the sub
urban district which was his destina-
ton.
Alighting at random at one of the
sparsely inhabited streets, he walked
briskly away from the car. After a
few blocks, he came to smart little
bungalow sitting quite by itself. 1t
was all dark and very quiet-the
very house built for his needs. He
could not have picked out a better
one had he laid his plans in advance
the way the real crooks did. Gosh.
He sure was in luck! One of the
back windows open several inches,
Will OHly Il SSlCClA OloSnAAiSo AAAo SAA
trance.
The screen was hooked from the
inside, but that was a very simple
matter. So noiseleSsly did he make
his entrance that he was elated with
his progress. Some crook he could be
after he could get hep to it! Pretty
good for his first attempt!
He had not neglected to wear rub
ber soles, either. Naturally light on
his feet, he was almost certain he
could be quite noiseless with this
added precaution. Cautiously he felt
his way, holding his hands in front of
him and moving them slowly back
and forth to avoid collision with any
Unexpectedly encountered object. All.
there was a window in another room.
He could see the faint light from the
outside. Shucks, he was in the bed
room. He could see bed family out
lined against the window. He had
wanted the dining room. He did not
dare to use his f1ashlight here; he
might awaken somebody.
Gosh! that pesky cold! He had to
do something about it. He did not
dare use his andkerchief-that was
certain. Well, he could not stand it
any longer-they were all asleep any
way and he could be as quiet as a
mouse. Slowly, carefully, he essayed
furtive little sniffle, barely audible
to himself.
Suddenly he was aware of figure
sitting bolt upright in bed and point
ing something directly at him.
You get out Of here! Do you
hear?" The voice was a woman's,
but calm, unafraid and unmistak-
ably determined. This instant! I
heard you come sneaking in here
and you better get quick if you know
what's good for you"
That was the kind of voice that
meant business! Probably she did
not have a gun, but he was not going
to take any chances at finding out
Tim went and quickly, too. Knock
ing over the telephone stand in his
flight, he dashed for the window by
which he had entered. leaped through
McGARRAGHY Tn niPEnT