Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-05-06
.-J.JEFFERsoN FARJEoN

beyond. He pulled out his watch.
Quarter past two" he murmured-
Three quarters OF an hour to wait.
"Well-then there's no hurry, Is
there?"
He took a cigarette from his pock-
ct, and stuck 1t in his mouth. He
forgot 10 light 1t, but even 10 suck
IL gave him a certain comfort. IL
was certainly ~pleRsanter out here,
leaning on the gate, than in there.
He sucked the cigarette for sew
eral minutes. Then a senes Of duty
made him pass through the gate
and start towards the house; but
all at once he turned his head to-
wards the left and glanced at the
shed.
A piece of paper lay on the
ground. Il bore the words: Vel
low Stag" MI. Bones stared at 1t,
picked ii UP. and stuffed 1t In his
pocket. His eyes became thoughtful.
yellow stage" That meant some
thing.
But another discovery in the shed
Interested him even more. This was
a bicycle.
The bicycle possessed both virtues
and vices. A bicycle was q comfort
able thing TO have about the place.
Yes, 1t might certainly come in
handy. But Mr.. Bones would have
liked very much TO know who had
left 1t there-and when 1t was 60
ing TO be called for.
"Lummyl" muttered Mr.. Bones,
at a sudden. startling though.
"P'r'aps the fellows inside the house
nowl"
He left the shed. and walked
quickly to the house. He had to
walk quickly. or possibly he would
not have walked at all. It's no good
stopping to think before you dive.
The front door was closed. So
was the window, although its broken
pane offered a simple way TO open
IL again. Mr.. Bones. however. had
a simpler way Of entering the house
or os he imagined. Messrs.
Spriggs and Spriggs had provided
him with a key.
He inserted the key in the lock.
He turned the key. The door did
not yield.
"Whewl" murmured Mr.. Bones,
his forehead suddenly damp. Bolt
ed on the inside, Is It? Now-who's
done that?"
The owner Of the bicycle2 Prob
ablyl But II that were SO. why had
he done Il? Didn't want TO be dis
turbed. perhapsl
We'll. here goes" thought Mr..
Bones, and. moving to the window.
he inserted his hand through the
hole. and vriggled the catch Five
seconds later, he had the window
open.
He crept in. The silence oppressed
him. "Hallol" he called. Anybody
here2"
If anybody was, the fact remained
unadmitted. Mr.. Bones closed and
relatcked the broken window. then
squared his shoulders and started
on a tour of the house.
He explored the lower floor thor
oughly. AS thoroughly as he could.
at least with two doors locked
against him. One was the door Of
the cupboard In the lounge hall. The
other was the door under the stair
case. He stared at the former. and
listened at the latter. Then he went
upstairs.
He expected that all the rooms
would be open to him here. but he
was wrong. One door at the end
of a passage was locked.
The locked doors below had de-
pressed him. The locked door above
! alarmed him. He ~retreated from IL
suddenly. as though he expected IL
to fly open and strike him. But. as
this did not happen. he crept closer
again and applied his eye In the
keyhole. There was no key In the
lock.
He could see nothing. The cur
tains OF the room appeared to have
been drawn, and the room was in
shadow. Moreover, he could only see
a very small portion Of the room.
Il don't like this he told him
self frankly. mo. that 7 don't"
Well. later on ne would try and
| Get into thar room For the mo