Evening star., 1928-03-18
N=I5H IT

opener arrived an hour later. t,l> sa,c
Tas in place and the other four mcrn-
bers Of the gang had driftcd in TO be
present at the grand opening.
AS Gildersleg had asserted, he kept
the locks of his safe clean and veil
oiled. It took the expert scant half
hour to find the combination and open
the outer deer and another half hours
worl: had turned the loc':s OF the inne:-
doors and drawers.
The expert IVES paid and vent un-
suspiciously en- his way. Five expec-
tant crooks gathered a-ound glcatingly
for the grand finale. With crcmatic
flourish Ho~an drew open the t-c25ur>
drawers
They were empty.
| EAVING the five enragcd members
OF the Hogan gang to a noisy ses-
sion OF Mutual sus2icions. accusations
and complete failure to solve this r1ys-
terry. the counterpart Of which vas TO
be enacted 81 hours later in Gildcrsles's
ofiice. Let us turn hack a few DAYS and
consider the pirate doings of Mr.. Jack
Freeman Of the Hogan gsng.
1t Will be recalled that. when Hc.an
nrSt hlntcd to his hcnc.lman that he
was planning raid on the Gildersleg
safe. Freeman had remarked that he
knew man who was a good safe
opener. in case they wanted to taSe
q sixth in on the deal. Jack. however.
had been strong against srlittinz six
wav5 and the rest had a~rced With him.
But. privately. JACK had also been
strcrg against splitting fiTe ways. AS
the plot had been urfolIcd by Hogan.
ne secretly Dopdcrcd this cbicctiou
When he finally gct the Drift OF :icSan's
plan. he saw r'ay CT reducing tie spl!
two was.
The crooked expert to wsom Jac.
freeman had referred vas troyn T.
the police as Shifty Cois. Dale hap.
pened to be in the city ct tire moment
hiding out after a job in San Fran
cisco. Freeman hunted him up.
Jacks first idea had been to organize
with Shifty little coup Of their own
modeled. With some notifications, on
Hogans scheme. but pulled q da.
sooner. But Eogan kept too close o
watch on his men during the week pre-
cedinS his break. And there was no way
In which two men. unaided. could puIi
the trick in such way that it vouldn';
Be discovered almost Immediately. The
Safe-slbstituting phase Of it would b.
thus impossible. So they decided 70
let Hogan do the dirty wo-: for them
Fortunately for Freemans plans. he
had been assigned to the job Of gettin7
the truck ready. Including leading i.
with dummy crates. In one of these
crates Shifty Dale was hidden before
the rest Of the gang assembled to take
their places in the truck. Shifty had
an uncanny ability 10 open ccmoina-
uons BY the feel Of the falling tumbl7-S
against his sensitive finSer-tips, He
was also equipped with duplicates nt
CilderSlcg'S bunch Of KEYS. among which
we're those TO the inner door and drawers
Of the safe
Two nights before the grand couu
Shiftv had burglariced the apartment Of
I. GilderSleg. but had taken nothing ex-
cept WAX impressions of the KEYS he
found III a pocket Of the garage mans
suit.
With the truck was resting out in
New Jersey, with Hogan pretending 70
tinker the engine while Freeman re-
naintsd the name on the safe inside
the truck. Shifty Dale was also busy.
Saittv finished his Job by the time the
na'ntinS was done and returned 10 his
crate With Gilderslec's hundred-and-
eighteen n-thouSand-dollar fortune In
convenisnt handbaS.
While the truck was on the ferry. rr
turning to New York, Shifty watched
MS chance and slipped quietly out Of the
rear door, bag III hand, He began work
ing his way back along the vehicle run
way. aiming 10 slip into the pasSsnccr
cabin, From there, when the hoat
cocssed, he would prccesd 10 the rem
deEvouS. where he and Freeman Manned
later to disvy the SpoilS,
Ths only trouble with this little rlan
was that Sergeant Clanae az
the central Once, New York City, was
ON that boat. While the Hogan sanS
nad operated Tor years without eSinS
caught, the police had their descyip,ious
and were on the lookout for them
A State trooper had thought he
re>eSnised Hogan on the road i'm New
jersey that morning. A car had lust
ossn reported stolen IN HacScvSacS
Ihe trooper, noting that the tralcS was
headed for New York had phenetl head.
quarters and men we're sent TO Match
the ferries
Ciaiftie was home. after his niShtS
vigil at the UilderSlsg place, elit ht,
was routed out, since ne was the cns
man at hest,qusrtsrS most nkelv Go
tstosnise Hesan, He had suspected
tniS parueassr truck ON sight but had
~ N""'sN NA'AV wv M IN AnN MAS Sttl@
nN keeping an eye an 1t. Consequently
MS mtSreSt vas srSatv aroused whNn
ne saw ShlISy, with his Sstchsl sltp
on ths rear end, III fact, 1t was this
diversion To Shitty that allowed the
Vne& u leave the ferry uutrasea
Just before the Jerry entered the Slir
on me New XcrS Ssds, Shigtv Naa
Slatae. recognized him. ana started ts
MiiSEle away through the crowd
tlane followed Shisty, NJ = ,Sansc
acdsed here and there No use. They
came together near the forward van
Shhty made wile d,sah for the rail-.
eus the detectives s,;s Slcssa en The
So Mr., shifty Dale Clatrne said
eoidly, we meet again Now. let's See
what Is Ill the little hag A little
souvenir iron San FfauclSSsns
ShlttS did Scnle tass Ghmkins. II
they MIXED him up III thtS ailderS.cS
sateHeracAtMg tEicS II would be his
fourth eonvtetion and he Woula 81 w
the river tU life This hag Mas the
only evidence, ClaittleS Nther hand
reached for the handbag, desperately,
ahutS Snatehed II haek and threw II
over the ran INTO the Ceep-FaetAg tide
While ciaFtte SNoIa fltilely, ShittS
tAale gased sadly At the muddy current.
where xliaoNa had INST sunk ioGeSsr
tVanyFaxhA lnAAA