An Everyday Detec Thieves’ Wit Well, I have succumbed. Here goes for better or for worse. Before...
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Transcript of An Everyday Detec Thieves’ Wit Well, I have succumbed. Here goes for better or for worse. Before...
THIEVES’ WIT
An Everyday Detective Story
BY HULBERT FOOTNER
A. L . BURT COMPANY
Publishers New York
Publ ished by aaaaa gem ent with George H. Doran Com pany
THIEVES’ W IT
Y first ca se l—W ith what an agreeabl e thrilla pro fess ional man repeat s the words to him
self . With most men I bel ieve it i s as i t wa s withme , not the cas e that he intrigue s for and expe ct s toget but something quite different , that drops out o fHeaven unexpected and unde served like most o fthe good things of li fe .Every now and then in an expansive moment I
tell the story of my case , o r part of i t, whereuponsomething l ike the following invariably succeeds :
“Why don’ t you write it down ?”
I neve r lea rned the t rade of writing.
But detect ive storie s are so popular !Yes , because the dete ct ive i s a romanti c figure ,
a hero , gi fted with almost superhuman keennes sand infall ibi li ty. Nobody ever accused me o f beingromant ic . I am only an ordinary fellow who plugsaway like any othe r busines s man . Every day I amup aga inst it ; I fall down ; some crook turns a tri ckon me . What kind of a story would that make ?
“But that ’ s what people want nowadays , the realth ing, stori e s of the streets day by day.
7
8 Thieves ’ Wit
Well,I have succumbed . Here goes for bette r
or fo r worse .Before beginning I should expla in that though it
wa s my fi rst case I was no longer in the first bloomof youth . I was a long in the thirti es before I gotmy start and had lost a deal of hair from mycranium . Thi s enabled me to pass for ten yearsolder i f I wished to , and still with the ass i stance ofmy friend Osca r Nilson the wig-maker I could makea presentable figure o f youth and innocence .During my earlier days I had been a clerk in a
ra ilway fre ight o ffice , a poor slave with only mydreams to keep me going. My father had no sympathy with my asp irations to be a detect ive . Hewa s a close-mouthed and a close-fisted man . Butwhen he died, a fter having been kept on scanty ra
ti ons fo r yea rs , the old lady and I found ourselvesquite comfortably oil .
I promptly shook the dust o f the fre ight o fficefrom my feet and set about carrying some of thedreams into efiect. I rented a little offi ce on Fortieth street (twenty dollars a month!, furn i shed itdiscreetly, and had my name pa inted in neat characters on the fro sted glas s o f the door “B . En
derby”—no more . Lord ! how proud I was of theoutfit .I bought a fire-proof document fi le for cases, and
had some note-paper and cards printed in the sameneat style
B . ENDERBY
Confidential Investigator
Thieves’ Wit 9
You see I wished to avo id the sensational . I wasnot looking for any common divorce evidence business . Since I had enough to exist on, I was determ ined to wa it for important, high—priced , kid-gloveca se s .And I waited—more than a year in fa ct . But itwa s a delightful time ! Fellows were always dropp ing in to smoke and chin . My little o ffi ce becamelike our club . You see I had missed all thi s whenI was a boy. Any youngste r who has ever beenspeeded up in a big cler ica l office will understandhow good it was . Meanwhile I studied crime inall its a spects .I worked , too , at another amb it ion which I shared
with a few m illion of my fellow-creatures , Viz . : towrite a success ful play . I started a doz en and finished one. I thought it wa s a wonder of brilliancythen . I have learned better . In pursuance of thisa im I had to attend the theatre a good dea l, andfrom the top gallery I lea rned something abouta ctors and actresse s i f not how to write a great play .
I mention the play-writing for i t wa s that whichbrought me my fi rst ca se . I used to haunt the office of a certa in prominent play-broker who wa s always prom i s ing to read my play and never did . Oneafternoon in the up-sta i rs corridor o f the buildingwhere she had her office s I came fa ce to face withthe famous Irm a Hamerton .
Nowadays Irma i s merely a traditi on of l ovel inessand gra ce . Theatregoers of thi s date have nothinglike her to rej o ice the i r eyes . Then
,to us humble
I O Thieves ’ Wit
fellows she stood for the ra rest e s sence of li fe , theideal
,the unatta inabl e—call it what you like . Tall ,
slender and dark, with a voice that played on yourheartstrings , she wa s one of the fortunate ones ofearth . She had always been a star , always an idolof the public . Not only did I and my gang nevermiss a show in which she appeared, but we would situp half the night a fte rwards talking about her .None of us naturally had ever dreamed of seeingher face to face .We met at a corner of the corridor, and almostcollide d. I forgot my manners entirely. My eye salmost popped out of my head . I wished to fix thatmoment in my l i fe forever . Imagine my confusionwhen I s aw that she was crying, that glorious cre ature l—actually the tears were running down her softcheeks like any common woman ’ s . Do you wonde rthat a kind of convuls ion took place inside me ?Seeing me , she qu ickly turned her head , but it was
too late , I had already se en them stealing l ike d i amonds down her cheeks . I stared at her l ike aclown , and l ike a clown I blurted out without thinking :Oh, what
’ s the matte r ?”
She didn ’t answer me , of course . She merely hurried fa ster down the hall , and turned the next corner.When I reali sed what I had done I felt like buttingmy silly head through one o f the glass pa rtitionsthat lined the corridor . I called myself a ll the namesin my vocabulary. I clean forgot my own errand in
Thieves ’ Wit I I
the building, and went back to my o ffice mutteringto myself in the streets l ike a lunati c.I was gla d no one dropped in . In my mind I went
over the scene o f the meeting a hundred t imes I suppose , and made up what I ought to have sa id anddone , more ridi culous I expect than what had happened . What bothered me wa s that she would thinkI was just a common fresh guy . I couldn ’ t rest under that . So I sta rted to write her a note . I wrotehalf a dozen and tore them up . The one I sentran like this —I blush to think of it now
M ISS IRMA HAMERTON,
DEAR MADAM :
The unders igned met you in the corridor of theManhattan Thea tre Bui lding thi s a fternoon aboutthree . You seemed to be in distre ss , and I was sosurprised I forgot myself and addres se d you . I begthat you will a ccept my apology for the seemingrudeness . I have seen you in all your plays , manyof them several time s ove r, and I have rece ive d somuch pleasure from your a cting, and I respect youso highly that it i s very pa inful to m e to think thatI may have added to your distre ss by my rudeness .I a ssure you that it wa s only clumsiness , and not intentional rudeness .
Yours respectfully,B . ENDERBY.
The instant a fter I had posted thi s letter I wouldhave given half I possessed to get it ba ck again . Itsuddenly occurred to me that it would only makematters worse . Either it would seem l ike an im
12 Thieves ’ Wit
pertinent attempt to pry into her private affa irs , ora bold move to follow up my origina l
’rudeness . Areal gentleman would not have sa id anything aboutthe te ars , I told mysel f. My cheeks got hot, but itwas too late to recall the letter . I wa s thoroughlymiserabl e . I did not tell any of my friends whathad happened .
That night I went alone to see her play . Lostin he r part o f course and hidden under he r makeupshe betrayed nothing. There wa s always a sugges
t ion o f sadnes s about he r, even in comedy. Whenthat lovely deep voice trembled , a correspondingshiver went up and down your sp ine .I thought about her a ll the way home . My de
tective instinct wa s a roused . I tried to figure out
what could be her trouble . There are only fourkinds of really desperate trouble : i ll—health , death ,lo ss of money, and unrequited love . To look at he rin the daylight without make-up was enough to dispose of the fi rst . It wa s sa id that she had no closerelatives , there fore she couldn
’ t have lost any re
cently. As for money, sure ly with her e arning ca
pacity she had no need to trouble about that .Finally, how could it be an a ffa ir of the hea rt ? Wasthere a m an al ive who would not have cast himsel fat her feet i f she had turned a warm glance in hi sdire ction ? Rich , succe s sful and adored a s she was ,I had to give it up .
About five o ’ clock the next a fternoon the su rpriseof my li fe wa s administe red to me . I rece ived 9
l a rge , square , buff-coloured envelope with a brown
Thieves Wit I3
border, and written upon with brown ink in immense ,angula r characters . On opening it my hand trembled with a del icious foreboding of what wa s inside ,meanwhile better sense was telling me not to be afool . It conta ined a card on which was written :
“M iss I rm a Ham erton wil l be glad to see M r . B.
Enderby if it wil l be convenient for him to cal l at
the Hotel Rotterdam at noon on Thursday.
”
For a moment I stare d at i t, dazed . Then I wentup in the air, I did a sort o f war-dance a round theo ffi ce . Finally I rushed out to the most fa shionableoutfitter s to get a new su it before clo sing time .Thursday wa s the next day.
HAD never been ins ide that exclusive o f exclusive hotels , the Rotterdam . I confes s that
my knee s were a l ittl e infi rm as I went through theswing doors , and pa ssed be fore the nonchalant, indifferent eye s of the handsome footmen in blue liveries . Ahh
,they ’re only overgrown bell-hops !” I
told myself encouragingly, and fixed the Marquis beh ind the desk with a haughty sta re .Walking in a dream I presently found myself being shown into a corner room high up in the building. I was le ft there alone , and I had a chance tolook around. I had never seen anything like it ,except on the stage . It was decorated in what Ithink they call the Empire style , with walls o f whitepanelled wood , picked out with gold , and pretty,curiously shaped furniture . Everywhere there weregreat bunche s o f pink roses , picked that morning,you could see , with petals sti ll moist . It smelledlike Heaven m ight .That wa s all I had time to take in when the dooropened, and she entered. She was wearing a p inkla cy sort of thing that went with the roses . Shedidn ’ t mind me , of course . She was merely pol iteand casual . But just the same I could see that shewa s deeply troubled about something. Trouble
Thieves ’ Wit 15
makes a woman’ s eye s big. Makes a beauti fulwoman twice a s beauti ful .She went to the point a s stra ight a s a bullet.“ I suppose you a re wondering why I sent foryou ?”
I confe ssed that I wa s .It wa s the heading on your letter paper . What
do you mean by ‘confidentia l investigator’—a detective
“Something a l itt le b etter than an ordinary detective, I hope .
”
She switched to,another tra ck . Why did you
write to me ?”
This took me by surp ri se . There wa s no reason—except what the lette r sa id, I stammered.
Several other questions followed,by which I saw
she was trying to get a l ine on me . I offered herre fe rences . She accepted them inattentively.
“ I t doesn ’ t matte r so much what other peoplethink of you,
” she sa id .
“ I have to make up mymind about you for mysel f. Tell me more aboutyourself.”
“ I ’m not much of a hand at the b ra s s instruments,I sa id .
“Please ask m e questi ons .”
This seemed to plea se her. After some furtherinquirie s she sa id simply : “ I wrote to you becauseit se emed to me from your letter that you had a goodhea rt . I need that perhap s more than dete ct iveskill . I l ive in a blaze of publicity. I am sure
rounded by flatterers . The pushing, thick-skinnedsort of people force themselve s close to me , and the
I 6 Thieves ’ Wit
kind that I l ike avoid me , I fear . I am not sure ofwhom I can trust . I am very sure that i f I put mybusines s in the hands of the regula r people it wouldsoon become a matte r of common knowledge .”
Her s implicity and sadness affected me deeply.
I could do nothing but protest my honesty and mydevotion .
“ I am satisfied , she sa id at la st . Are you ve rybusy at present ?”
“Tolerably,” I sa i d with a busy a ir . It would
never have done to let he r think otherwise .“I would like you to take my case ,
” she sa id withan enchanting note of appeal , but it would have tobe on the condition that you attended to it yourself, solely . I would have to ask you to agree notto delegate any pa rt of i t to even the most trustedo f your employee s .This was easy, s ince I didn
’
t e lhave any.
“You must, plea se , further agree not to take any
step s without consulting me in advance , and youmust not mind—perhap s I might call the whole thingoff at any moment . But o f course I would pay you .
I quickly agreed to the conditions .I have b een robbed of a pearl neckla ce , she
sa id with an a i r o f infinite sadness .I did not need to b e told that there wa s more in
thi s than the ordinary actre ss ’-stolen-j ewels ca se .Irma Hamerton didn ’t need that kind o f advert i sing. She was morbidly anxious that there shouldbe no adverti s ing in thi s .
“ It wa s a s ingle strand of s ixty-seven bla ck pea rls
Thieves ’ Wit I 7
ranging in s iz e from a currant down to a pea . Theywere perfectly matched, and ea ch stone had a curious , bluish cast, which is , I bel ieve , quite rare . Asj ewels go nowadays , it wa s not an exceptionally valuabl e neckl a ce , worth about twenty-six thousand dollars . I t repre sented my entire savings . I have apass ion for pearls . These were exceptionally pe rfect and beauti ful . They were the result of yearsof search and sele ct ion . Jeweller s call them bluepearls . I will show you what they looked like .She went into the adj oining room for a moment,
returning with a string of dusky, gleaming pearl shanging from her hand . They were lovely things .My unaccustomed eye s could not dist ingu ish the bluein them until sh e pointed it out. I t wa s l ike the la stgleam of light in the evening sky .
“The lost neckla ce wa s exactly like this , she sa id.Had you two ?” I a sked in surp ri se .She smile d a l ittle . “These are artificial .I suppose I looked l ike the fool I felt.A very natural mistake ,
” she sa id. Some timeago my j ewele r advi sed me not to wear the realpearl s on the stage , so I had thi s made by Roberts .The re semblance wa s so perfect that I could scarcely
tell the difference myself . It wa s only by wearingthem that I could be sure .
“By wearing them ?” I repeated .
“The warmth of my body caused the real p earl sto gl eam with a deepe r lustre .”
“Lucky pearls !” I thought .They almost seemed alive , she went on with a
I 8 Thieves Wit
kind of pass ionate regret. The a rt ificia l pearl sshow no change , of course . And they have to be renewed in a short time .”
I asked for the circumstance s of the robbe ry .
It wa s at the theatre ,” she sa id.
“ It occurredon the night of February 14 th .
”
“Six weeks ago !” I exclaimed in di smay . Thetra il i s cold l”
“ I know, she sa id deprecatingly.
“ I do not expect a m ira cle .
”
I asked he r to go on .
I had an impulse to wea r the genuine pearls thatn ight. I got them out of the sa fe depos it vault inthe a fternoon . When I saw the real and the a rtificial together I was a fra id o f making a mistake , soI made a little scratch on the cla sp of the real strand .
I wear them in the first a ct . I have to leave themoff in the second act
,when I appear in a nurse ’ s uni
form , als o in the third when I am supposed to beil l In the fourth act I wear them again .
On the night in question I wore the re al p ea rl sin the first a ct . I am sure of that, because they wereglowing wonderfully when I took them off—a s i fthere wa s a tiny fire in each stone . I put them in thepocket of the nurse ’ s uni form and carried them onthe stage with me during the second a ct . In thethird act I wa s obliged to l eave them in my dress ingroom , because in this act I am shown in bed . But Ithought they would be sa fe in the pocket of the dre s sI took off .”
“The instant I returned to my dressing-room, I
20 Thieves’ Wit
Who has the entrée to your dressing-room whileyou a re on the stage ?”
“Only my maid. But she is not expected to re
ma in the re every moment. Indeed, on the night in
question‘ I remember seeing her watching the scene
from the fi rst entrance .”“During which time your room wa s unlocked ?Very likely. But the door to it was immediately
behind her .”“Have you any rea son t o suspect her ?”
None whatever . She ’ s been with me four yea rs .Still , I do not except her from your inve stigation .
”
“Does she know of your loss ?”
N0 one in the world knows of it but you and I .And the thie f,” I added .
She winced. I wa s unable to a scribe a rea sonfor it.
“Do you care to tel l m e why you waited six weeksbe fore dec iding to look for the thi ef I a sked a sgently a s poss ible.
“My jeweller—who is also an old fri end, has secured three more blue pearls ,
” she answered quickly .
“He ha s a sked me for the neckla ce , so that he canadd them to it. I cannot put him off much longerwithout con fess ing that I have lost it .”
“But shouldn ’ t we tell him that it has beenstolen I a sked surpri sed.
She energeti cally shook her head.
But j ewelle rs have an organi sat ion for the recovery of stolen j ewels ,
” I persi sted . “The only waywe can prevent the thie f from real i s ing on the pea rls
Thieves’ Wit 2 ]
i s by having the los s publi shed throughout the trade .“ I can’ t consent to that,” she sa id with pa infully
compres sed l ip s. “ I want you to make your investigation fi rst.”
“Do you mind te l ling me who is your jewelle r ?Mr . Alfred Mount .”
I f you could only tel l m e why he must not b etold, I ins inuated .
She sti ll shook her head . A woman’ s rea son ,she murmured, avo iding my glance .
“You know, o f course , how you . increa se my di fficul ties by withholding pa rt o f your confidence .There was a l i ttle tremble in her lovely throat .Don’ t make m e sorry I a sked you to help me ,
”
she sa id .
I bowed.See What you can do in spit e o f it, she sa id
wistfully.
3
NEED not take the space to put down all theoperations of my early rea soning on the case .
I had plenty to think about . But every avenue mythoughts followed was blocked sooner or later bya blank wall . Never in my whole exp erience haveI been asked to take up such a blind tra il—and thiswas my first ca se , remember . Six weeks lost beyond recall ! It was di scouraging.
I na rrowed mysel f down to two ma in theories
(a! The pearls had been stolen by experi encedspecia li sts a fter long and ca re ful plott ing or,(b! They had been p icked up on impulse by a
man or woman dazzled by the i r be auty . In this ca sethe thie f would most l ikely hoard them and gloatover them in secret .Not the least puzzling fa ctor in the case was myclient hersel f . It wa s clear that she had been passionately atta ched to her pe arls ; she spoke of themalways in almost a poetic stra in . Yet there was apersona l note o f anguish in he r gri e f which even thelo ss of her trea sure wa s not su ffici ent to expla in .
She was a qui et woman . And strangest of all , sheseemed to be more bent on finding out who had takenthem , than on getting them back again . She hadwaited six weeks before acting at all, and now shehedged me around with so many conditions that theprospect of success wa s nil .
22
Thieves ’ Wit 23
I liad an intuiti on which warned me that i f Iwished to remain friends with her I had bette r b ecare ful whom I a ccused of the crime . It was a puzzl er whicheve r way you looked at i t . However, aninvestigator must not allow himself t o dwell on thehopele ssness of hi s whole tangle , but must set towork on a thread at a time . Whichever way itturned out, I was to have the delight for a long timeto come of see ing her frequently .
I was there aga in the next a fternoon . This dayI remember the room was fragrant with the scentof great bowls of violets . The lovely dark-haire dmistres s
‘
of the pla ce looked queenly in a dre ss ofpurple and s ilver . As always when there were anumber of people around she wa s composed in man .
ner, one might say a l ittle haughty .
There wa s quite a crowd . It included a middleaged lady, a Mrs . Bleecker, a l ittle over-dre ssed forher age and envious-looking. She , i t transp i red,was Miss Ham erton
’
s companion or chaperon . The
only other woman was a s i ste r sta r, a handsome ,blonde woman older than Miss Hamerton , very af
fectionate and catty. I have forgotten her name .The men were o f various type s . Among them I remember the edito r of a prominent newspaper , awell-known playwright and Mr . Roland Quarle s .The latter wa s Miss Ham erton
’
s leading man . Helooked quite a s handsome and young off the stagea s on, but seemed morose .Miss Hamerton introduced me all a round in her
casual way, and le ft me to s ink or swim by my own
24 Thieves ’ Wit
effort s . None of the people put themselves out tobe agreeable to me . I could se e that ea ch wa s wondering j ealously where I came in . However, s inceI had a right to b e there , I didn
’ t l et it trouble me .Thi s i s l i fe ! I told mysel f, and kept my eye s andears open . I wa s not long in discovering that these“brill i ant” people chattered about a s foolishly a sthe humble st I knew. Only my beauti ful young ladywa s always dignified and wistful . She let othersdo the talking.
I stubbornly outstayed them all . The men veryreluctantly le ft me in possession o f the field. As forthe lady companion I saw in her eye that she wa sdetermined to lea rn what I had com e for. However, Miss Hamerton coolly disposed o f her by a sking her to ente rta in a netvcom er in the next roomwhile she talked busines s with me .These people wear ied her. She relaxed when
they had gone . She sa id to me : “ I had you shownright up because I want my friends to become a ccustom ed to see ing you . I hope you did not mind .
”
I repl i ed that I was delighted .
I suppose I ought to a ccount for you in someway,
” she went on,
“or the i r curi osity will run riot.
What would you sugge st ?”
Oh,l et them suppose that I am a playwright
whose work you are inte rested in .
She a ccepted the idea . How delightful it was forme to sha re s ecrets with her !My pa rticula r purpose in making this call wa s t ourge her again to t ake the j eweller into her confi
Thieves ’ Wit 25
dence . I pointed out to he r that we could hope todo nothing unle s s we blocked the thie f from disposing of the p earls . Very reluctantly she finall yconsented
,stipulating, however, that the j ewelle r
must be told that she had just discovered her loss .I expla ined to her that we must look back to makesure that the j ewels had not already been offeredfor sa le , but on thi s point she stood firm . She g aveme a note of introduct i on to Mr . Alfred Mount .I del ivered it the following morning. At thi s time
Mount’ s wa s the ve ry last word in fa shi on . It wasa smallish store but most richly fitted up , on one of
the best corners of the avenue, up nea r the cathedral . Every one of the sa lesmen had the a ir of ayounger son of the aristocra cy . They dealt only inpreciou s stones , none of your common stu ff l ike goldor silver .I wa s shown into a p rivate offi ce at the back, agem of a private o ffi ce , exqui site and s imple . Andin Mr. Alfred Mount I saw that I had a notableman . One guessed that he would have been a bigman in any l ine . So fa r I knew him only a s one of
the city ’ s leading j ewelle rs . By degrees I learnedthat his intere sts were widespread .
He was a man of about fi fty who looked younger ,owing to hi s fla shing dark eyes , and his lips, fulland crimson a s a youth ’ s . In a general way he hada fo reign look, though you couldn
’ t exactly placehim as a Frenchman , an Ital ian or a Spania rd. Itwa s only
,I suppose , that he wore his black ha ir and
curly bea rd a l ittle more luxuriantly than a good
26 Thieves ’ Wit
Ameri can . His manner was o f the whole world .
My involuntary first impress ion was dead aga instthe man . He wa s too much in characte r with thes trange l ittle o rchid that decorated his buttonhole .
Later I decided that this wa s only my Anglo-Saxonnarrowness . True , he kept a guard on his brighteyes , and hi s red lip s were firmly closed—but dowe not all have to t ra in our features ? He was aj eweller who earned his bre ad by kow-towing to therich . My own face wa s not an open book, yet I cons idered myself a fa irly honest creature .He read my lette r o f introduction which stated
that I would expla in my bus iness to him . Upon hisa sking what that wa s I told him quietly that Mi s sHamerton had been robbed of he r pearls .He started in hi s cha ir , and p ierced me throughand through with those brill i ant black eyes .
Give me the facts !” he snapped .
I did so .
But you, he sa id impatiently, I don’t know
you .
”
I offered him my card, and expla ined that MissHamerton had reta ined my se rv i ces .’
He was s ilent for a few moments , chewing hi smoustache . It wa s impossible —to gue s s what was going on behind the mask of his features . Suddenlyhe started to cross-question me like a criminal lawyer . How long had I been in bus iness ? Was Iaccustomed to handling big ca ses ? Had I any financial standing? What reference s could I give ? AndSo on , and so on .
28 Thieves ’ Wit
Have you any clues ?”he a sked.
None as yet .”
What do you want me to do ?”
To publi sh the los s through the channel s of thetrade , with the request that i f any attempt i s madeto dispose o f the pearls we should instantly be notified . The owner ’ s name , and the ci rcumstance s ofthe robbe ry must be kept secret .”
“Very good,” he sa id, making a memo on a pad .
I will attend to it a t once , and discreetly. I s thereanything else I can do ?”
“ I hoped that with your,knowledge of j ewels and
the jewel market you could give me something towork on , I sa id .
“All I know i s at your command, sa id he . Hetalked at length about j ewel s and j ewel thieve s , butit wa s all in general itie s . There wa s nothing that Icould get m y teeth into . He gave it a s his op inionthat the pearls were already on thei r way abroad ,perhap s to India .
“Then you think that the robbery was engineeredby experts ?
”
He spread out his expre ss ive hands . How canI te ll ?
”
We parted with mutual expre ss ions o f good will .I sa id .
“ I expect I shall have to come often to youfor help .
“ I expect you to , he sa id earnestly. I want
you to . Mysel f and my establ i shment are at yourse rv ice . Let no question of expense hamper you.
”
Thieves ’ Wit 29
I found l ate r that he really meant this . I wa s,however
,very reluctant to draw on him .
When I saw Mis s Hamerton the next day I a skedher a question or two concerning Mr. Alfred Mountwith the obj ect of finding out i f he were really suchan old friend a s he made out .
“ I have a lways known him , she sa id s imply.
That I happen to buy things from him i s merelyincidental . He was a fri end of my fathe r’ s andhe i s a very good friend to me . He ha s proved itmore than once . ’
I was tempted to a sk : Then why we re you so
reluctant to take him into your confidence ButI refle cted that s ince she had already re fused to tellme , I had better keep my mouth shut, and find out
othe rwi se .“Mr . Mount a sked i f we had notified the pol i ce ,
I sa id, merely to see how she would take it .I regrette d i t . Her expression of pa in and ter
ro r went to my heart . She wa s no longe r the re
mote and lovely goddess , but only a suffering woman .
“Oh,you did not, you have not ?
” she stammered .
“Certa inly not,” I sa id quickly. “ I knew you
didn’t wish it .”
She turned away to recover hersel f. What was Ito make o f it ? One would almost have sa id thatshe wa s a pa rty to the the ft of her own j ewels .And yet only a few m inutes late r she burst out ina pass ionate plea to me to di scover the thie f.
“ It torture s me !” she cri ed,“ the suspense, the
uncerta inty ! This atmosphe re o f doubt and sus
30 Thieves ’ Wit
p icion i s suffocating ! I wish I neve r had had anypearls ! I wish I were a farmer
’ s daughte r or amill gi rl ! Please , p l eas e settle it one way or theother. I shall never have a quiet sleep unti l Iknow!
”
“Know what ?” I a sked quietly.
But she made beli eve not to have heard m e.
SPENT the next two or three days in quiet workhere and there . The most considerable ad
vance I made was in p icking an acqua intance withMcArdle, the property man of Miss Ham erton
’s
company. Watching the stage door I di scoveredthat the working-force b ehind the scene s frequentedthe back room of a salo on on Sixth avenue for luncha fter the show . The rest wa s ea sy. By the thirdnight McArdle and I were on quite a confidentia lfooting.
From him I hea rd any amount o f goss ip . McArdle was of the garrulous, emotional type and veryfree with hi s op inions. The star wa s the only onehe spa red . From hi s talk I got the principal members of the company fixed in my mind . Beside Mr .Quarle s there was George Casanova , the he avy man ,a well-known a ctor but, a ccording to McArdle, aloud-mouthed , empty bragga rt , and Richard Richards , the cha ra cte r heavy, a s illy old fool , he sa id ,devoured by vanity. Among the women the nextin importance a fte r the sta r wa s Mis s Beulah Maddox, the heavy lady, who in the opinion of my am iable informant giggled and ogled l ike a s ewing-machine gi rl , and she forty i f she was a day .
Discreet questioning sati sfied me that McArdl e
was quite unaware that a robbery had been comm it3!
32 Thieves ’ Wit
ted in the theatre . I f he d idn’ t know it, certa inlyit was not known .Out of bushels o f goss ip I s i fted now and then a
gra in o f valuable inform ation . He inform ed methat Roland Quarle s wa s in love with the star . Forsome rea son that I could not fathom he was especial ly b itter aga inst the young leading man . Hewould ra il aga inst him by the hour, but there seemedto be no solid ba s is for hi s dislike .
“Does she favour him ?” I asked.
Nah l” he sa id .
“She ’ s got too much sense .He ’ s a four-flusher , a counter-jumper, a hall-roomboy! Lord ! the a irs he give s himself you
’d thinkhe had a mill ion a yea r ! He ’ s a ta il-ender withher
,and he knows it . He ’ s sore .”
“Who seems to be ahead of him ?” I asked withstrong curios ity.
“There ’s a dozen regulars , sa idMcArdle. TwoPittsburgh m ill iona i res , a newspaper editor, a playwright and so on. But i f you a sk me , the j ewelleri s ahead in the running.
”
“The j eweller ?” I s a id , pricking up my ears .Spanish looking gent with whiskers ,
” sa id McArdle.
“Keeps a swell j o int on the avenue .Mount
,his name is . He ’ s a wi se guy, does the old
family friend act, see ? He’ s a l iberal feller. I
hope he"
—gets her .”
This bit of information gave me food for thought.I thought it expla ined m y intu i tive di sl ike o f Mount .The thought of that ol d fellow presum ing to courtthe exquisite I rm a made me hot under the collar .
Thieves ’ Wit 33
‘I went to the store of Robe rts , the manufacturerof a rtificial pearls . This place was a s well-knownin its way a s Mount’ s , s ince Roberts had sued theDuke of Downshire and the public had learned thatthe pearls His Grace had presente d to Miss VanAlstine on the o ccas ion of their marr iage werephony. It a lso was a very fancy establi shment butlike its wares, on a much le s s expensive scale .I fe ll in with a sociable and talkative young salesman , who at my request showed me a whole trayfull of pea rl neckla ce s . Among them I spotted an
other repl ica of Miss Ham erton’
s beauti ful string .
“What ’ s this ?” I a sked carelessly.
“Blue pearls , he rattled off. Late st smartnovelty. A hit. Mrs . Minturn Vesey had one sentup only yesterday . She wore it to the opera la stnight .”
“There i sn ’t such a thing really a s a blue pearl ,i s there ?” I a sked idly.
“Certa inly. These are cop ie s o f genuine stone slike all our stock . Some t ime ago a customer sentin the real neckla ce to have it cop ied, l ike they alldo . Thi s wa s such a n»: !f elty Mr. Roberts had apattern made and put them on sale . It ’ s a winner !”
“ I wouldn’ t want a thing everybody had bought,I sa id .
“ I don ’ t mean everybody, he s a id . But just afew of the ve ry smartest. It ’ s too expensive foreverybody. Seven hundred and fi fty. The originali s pricele ss .
“How many have you sold ?
34 Thieves’ Wit
About ten.“Who else bought them ?”
He reeled off a string of fa shionable names .“That’ s only six .
”
The othe rs were sold over the counter.The a ffable youngste r was a l ittle aggrieved whenI le ft without buying.
Mr . Mount wa s both surpri s ed and deeply cha
grined when I told him that exa ct repl ica s of MissHam erton
’
s pea rls were to b e had at Roberts’ byanybody with the price . He didn ’ t see how he couldstop it e ither . It appeared the re wa s a standingfeud between Robert s and the fa shionable j ewellers
,
in which Roberts had somewhat the advantage because the regular trade wa s obliged to employ him .
No one el se could make such artifici a l pe arl s .With Mr . Mount ’ s a ss i stance I had the sales of
the replica s quietly tra ced . Nothing resulted fromthis . All but two of the sales were to persons abovesusp i cion . These two had been sold over the
counter, one to a man , one to a woman , and a s thetransa ctions were over two months old, I could notget a working description of the buyers .On another occa s ion I went into Dunsany
’
s , the
la rgest and best-known j ewelry store in Ameri ca , i fnot in the world, and asked to se e some one whocould give me some info rmati on about pearl s . Iwas ste ered up to a la rge , pale gentleman wearinggla sse s , very elegantly dressed , of course . I put onmy most youthful and engaging manne r. I hea rdhim addre s sed a s Mr . Free r.
Thl eves’ Wit
mal ’ s . The muscle s o f his la rge pale fa ce nevermoved, but I saw the eyes bolt. He smiled stiflly .
“ I couldn ’ t say,” he sa id. “ It s value would be
fabulous .”“But give me some idea , I sa id, ju st for the
sake o f the story.”
He moistened hi s l ips . Oh , say hal f a million,he sa id .
“ It would not be too much .
”
I swallowed my astonishment, and thanked him ,
and made my way out.Here wa s more food for cogitati on . Why shoulda few i dle quest ions throw the pearl expert a t Dunsany
’
s into such vi sible agitation ? I had to give itup . Perhap s it wa s a twinge o f indigestion or atroublesome corn . Anyhow I lost s ight o f it in thegreate r discovery . Half a m ill i on for the necklace ,and Miss Hamerton had told m e that buying it p earlby pearl i t ha d cost her l ittle more than twenty-fivethousand !
Meanwhile there wa s an idea going through myhead that I had not quite nerve enough to open tomy client . It must be remembe red that though Iwa s making stride s, I wa s sti ll green at my business .I was not nea rly so sure of mysel f a s my mannermight have led you to suppose . To my great j oyMi s s Hamerton hersel f broached the subj ect .One afternoon she sa id, apropos of nothing thathad gone before : “ I ’m sorry now that I introduced
you to my friends . Though I do not se e how Icould have seen you without thei r knowing it .”
Thieves’ W it 37
Why sorry ?” I a sked.
She went on with charming diffidence—how wasone to res ist her when she pleaded with an humbleair :
“ I have thought—if it would not t i e you downtoo closely—t hat you might take a minor réle in mycompany.
My heart leaped—but of course I wa s not goingto betray my eagerne ss i f I could help it .
“As to your fri ends having seen me ,” I sa id , that
doesn ’t make any di fference . Disgui se i s p art of
my busine ss .”
Then will you she eagerly a sked .
I made bel ieve to consider it doubtfully. Itwoul d t ie me down l” I sa id .
“Oh , I hope you can arrange it ! she sa id .
Could it be managed without exciting commentin the company ?”
“Easily . I have thought it a ll out . I have ana ssi stant stage manager who plays a small p art . Byincrea s ing hi s dutie s behind, I can in a perfectly natural way make it necessary to engage somebody toplay hi s b it . I shall not appear in the matter .”
“ I have had no experience ,” I obj ected .
I will coach you .
”
Could I res i st that ?“ It would be better t o put in an operative .Oh , no ! No one but you l
”
Well , I’ ll manage i t somehow, I sa id .
She s ighed with reli e f, and started that momentto coach me .
“You are a thug, a desperate characte r . You ap
38 Thieves’ Wit
pea r in only one scene , a cellar dimly l ighted, so
you will not be conspicuous from in front . You
must practi se speaking in a throaty, husky growl .”
In order to prolong the delightful l essons I madeout to be a little stup ider than I was .I wa s engaged the next day But one through a
’
well-known theatrica l agent where Miss Hamertonhad instructed m e to apply for a j ob . Just how she
contr ived it I can ’t s ay, but I know I came into thecompany without anybody suspecting that it wa supon the star ’ s re commendation . In the theatre , ofcourse , she ignored me .Two nights later I made my début . Mine wa s
such a ve ry small p art no one in the company pa idany attention to me , but for me it was a big occasion , I can tell you . In the way of busines s I havefa ced death on severa l occa s ion s with a quiete r heartthan I had upon first marching out into V iew of
that thousand-headed creature across the footlights .With the usual egotism o f the amateur I wa s surethey were : all wa iting to guy me . But they didn ’t .I spoke my half dozen lines without disa ster . Ifelt a s i f the real me was sitting up in the fl i e s watching his body a ct down below. Indeed , I could writeseve ral chapters upon my sensations tha t night , buta s somebody else has sa id, that - i s another story.
What i s more important is the di scovery of myfi rst pi ece of evidence .At the end o f the pe rformance I wa s cros sing thequiet stage on my way out o f the theatre , when Isaw a group of stage-hands and some o f the minor
Thieves ’ Wit 39‘
m embers of the company by the stage-door with the irheads together over a p iece of pape r. I j o ined thegroup
,taking ca re not to bring mysel f forward. An
other happened along, and he a sked for me !
“What ’ s the matter ?”
Richards answered : McArdl e here found ap ie ce o f paper on the stage with funny writing onit It ’ s a myste ry l ike .”
Let ’ s have a squint at it, sa id the newcomer.I looked ove r hi s shoulder. I t was a single sheet
of cheap note-paper of the style they call “dim ity.
”
It had evidently been torn from a pad . I t seemedto be the la st o f several sheets of a lette r, and i twa s written in a cryptogram which made my mouthwater. I may say that I have a passion for thi skind of a puzzle . I give i t a s I first saw it :
&FQZZDRR CV REW RIPN PFRBQ AT HXV
8$G2
£EP FOBO IVTCVMXK SJO TZXD EA
I ZS CEDBBWYB SWOCNA VMD Y&F GC AVSNYNCA HZF EDM HYW ZUM IKQBSCOAIIQVV ZXK FJOP WOD. KWX DWVXJ .
LEE FVTHVG&HJT LSZAND EBCC BFKY NCAFP
VEDFSF . BSQ ZWVXJ YXM II PL GC DCR FPBVEA&BO ULS RLZQ WB NELJ KZNEDLKDUAA.
CSQVEVDEV—FBACP ! S’WX OS QQTB EHHZXV.
J.
I had no proo f on beholding thi s meaningles s a ssortment o f letters that it had anything to do withmy case
,but I had a hunch . The question was how
to get possessi on of it without showing my hand .
40 Thieves ’ Wit
I kept s ilent for a while , and let the discus s ion ragea s to the proper way to t ranslate it .My excitable fr iend McArdl e (who did not know
me , of course , in my present chara cter!, naturallya s the finde r of the paper took a leading part in thediscuss ion . The princip als of the company had notyet emerged from the ir dressing-rooms . My opportunity came when McArdle stated in hi s positive waythat it wa s a code , and that i t wa s not poss ible totranslat e it without having the code-book.
“A code i s generally regula r words ,” I suggested
mildly, a s became the newest and humblest memberof the company. Nobody would ever think upthe se crazy combinat ions o f lette rs . I should sayit wa s a cryptogram .
”
McArdl e wouldn’ t a cknowledge that he didn ’ tknow what a cryptogram was , but somebody elseasked .
“Substituting one lette r for anothe r according toa numerica l key,
” I sa id .
“Ea sy enough to trans
late i t i f you can hit on the key.
”
One thing led to anothe r and soon came the inevitable challenge .
“Bet you a dolla r you can’t read it !” cried Mc
Ardle.
I hung back unti l the whole crowd j oined him intaunting m e .
“Put up or shut up ! cr ied McArdl e.
The upshot was that we each deposite d a dolla rwith ol d Tom the door-keepe r, and I took the paperhome .
Thieves ’ Wit 41
It wa s the most ingenious and di fficult cryptogramI ever tackled . The sun wa s up before I got i t . Itwa s a richer prize than I had hoped for . Here it i s
disposed of and your sha re of the money i s herewhenever you want to get i t .I strongly advi se you not to le ave the company .
You say she ha s not discovered he r loss . All right .But the se phony pearl s soon lose the i r lustre . Shemight get on to it the same night you hand 1n yourres ignation . Then good-night. I
’ l l b e back Mon
day .
* For the benefit of those of curious m 1nds I wil l give the key
to the cryptogram . The s im p lest form of this kind of puzzle isthat in which every letter has a certain other letter to stand for it.I t m ay be the one before it, the one after it, or a purely arbitrary substitution. In any case the sam e letter always has the
sam e a lias . That is chi ld ’s p lay to solve. I soon discoveredthat I was faced by som ething m ore com p lex. Observe that inone p lace “
night” appears as EA&BO,whereas in the next l ine
it is FBACP . Com pany” m asqueraded in this extraordinaryform : Here was a jawbreaker ! To m ake a longstory short I discovered after hundreds of experim ents that the
first letter of the first word of each sentence was ten letters i n
advance of the one set down ; the second letter eleven lettersahead, and so on up to twenty-fiv e, then begin over from ten.
With each sentence however short the writer began afresh fromten. He added to the com p l ications by including the character 8:as the twenty-seventh letter of the a lphabet. The fragm entarysentence at the top of the p age held m e up for a long tim e unti lI discovered that the first letter was twenty-three num bers in advance of the r ight one. Several m istakes on the part of the writer
added to m y difficulties.
N my experience I have found in adopt ing a di sguise that ir i s no less impo rtant to change the
cha racter than the p ersonal appearance . As the newmember of Miss Ham erton
’
s company I called m y
sel f William Faxon . I appea red a s a shabby, genteel little fellow with lanky ha i r and gla sse s . The
glasse s were removed only when I went on the stagein the dark scene . On top of my bald spot I worea kind of t rans format ion that my fri end Osca r Nilson furnished . It combed into my own ha ir , wassprinkled with grey and made me look like a man onthe shady s ide o f forty somewhat in need of a barber . The characte r I a s sumed was that of a gentle ,friendly l ittle pa rty who agreed with everybody.
The people of the company mostly despi sed me andmade me a receptacle for thei r egotist ical outpourings . They l ittle guessed how they bored me .When I j oined the company it had been agreedbetween Miss Hamerton and I that therea fte r she
had bette r come to the office to hear my reports . Itwa s he r custom to cal l nearly every a fte rnoon aboutfive . She ins isted on hearing every deta il o f myact ivitie s , and l istened to the story from day to daywith the same anxi ous interest .Since she had first b roken out in my presence she
seemed not to mind to show her feel ings to me .42
44 Thieves ’ Wit
on the right tra ck ! You ’ l l soon know everything !She moved around the room humm ing to hersel f
like a happy girl . She buried her face in a bowl ofrose s and caressed them tenderly.
“ I f I knew whohad sent them ,
” I thought,“perhaps it would give
m e a clue .” But what had the cryptogram to dowith it ?Suddenly to my surpri se she sa id : Stay and have
dinner with me here , Mr . Enderby. I wa s goingto a party, but I will s end regrets . I don ’ t want tobe with any of them ! I ’m so happy ! I wouldeithe r have to hide it, or expla in it . I want to bemyself for a while .”
I did not requi re much persua sion . It was likedining in Fa iryland ! By tacit consent we avoidedany reference to the case . I shall never forget thathour a s long a s I live . We were a lone , for the unpleasant Mrs . Bleecker thinking that Mis s Hamerton was dining out, had gone off to som e fr iends o fhers .Afterwards I went home to di sgu ise mysel f, and
then pro ceeded to the the atre . I had already photographed the cryptogram , and put the negative in mysa fe. McArdle was lying in wa it for me , and Iallowed him to drag it out of me , that I had not beenable to translate it . He collected the stakes in highglee .The pape r wa s pa ssed from hand to hand unti l i t
l iterally fell to pi ece s . No one could make anything of i t of course . I encouraged the talk and
helped circulate the pape r, and watched from behind
Thieves ’ Wit 45
my innocent pi ece s o f window-glas s for some one tobetray him self . But I saw nothing. The conviet ion wa s forced on me that I had a mighty clever oneto dea l with .
During my long wa its I loitered from dressingroom to dressing-room , and let them talk. As opportunities presented themselve s I quietly searchedfor the first page of that letter, though I supposed ithad been destroyed .
E ighte en actors and actre sse s and a working forceof s ix compri sed the field of my explorations .However
,the fa ct that punctuat ion played a part in
the cryptogram not to speak of the choice of wordsconvinced me that both the writer and reader of itmust be persons o f a certa in education, so I el im i
nated the illiterates . This reduced me at one stroketo five men and four women . Of thes e two of themen were obviously too s illy and va in to have carriedout such a nervy p iece of work, while one of thewomen was a dear old lady who had been on thestage for half a century, and another wa s a bit ofdandel ion fluff. These exclus ions le ft me with five ,to wit : Roland Quarles , George Casanova , KentonM ilbourne , Beulah Maddox and Mary Gray.
Roland Quarle s I have alre ady mentioned . Bothhe and Casanova were actors of established reputations who had be en in rece ipt of handsome salar ie sfor some sea sons . I scarcely considered them .
M ilbourne wa s my dark horse . He wa s a hatchetfaced individual , homely, unintere sting, unhealthylooking. His fancy name sat on him strangely. He
46 Thieves ’ Wit
looked like a John Doe or a Joe Williams . MissMaddox was a large woman of the gushing-hystericaltype ; M iss Gray a qu iet well-bred girl who kept tohersel f .While I concentrated on those named, I did not,
however, overlook the doings of the others . Withall the men I wa s soon on excellent term s but thewomen baffled me . Women naturally desp ise a m an
of the kind I made out to be . You can ’t win awoman’ s confidence without making love to her , andthat was out of my line .On Thursday night of the week a fte r I j oined,
M is s Beauchamp , who played a ma id’ s p art, spo ileda scene o f Miss Ham erton
’
s by missing her cue . Itwa s not the first offense , and she was fired on thespot. This girl wa s the b it o f fluff I have mentioned .
The occa s ion suggested an opportunity to m e .
There wa s no t ime to be lost so I went to Mi ssHamerton a t once . In my humble , shabby char »
a cte r I meekl y bespoke the part for a “ friend .
”
Miss Hame rton wa s startled. She sa id she wouldcons ider i t.I had no soone r got home that n ight than she
called me up to a sk what I had meant . I did notwant to argue with he r over the telephone , so Ia sked he r to see me next morning.
‘She sa id shewould com e to my o ffice a s soon as she had breakfa sted.Using all my power s of persua sion it took me
more than an hour to win her consent to my puttinga woman operative in the vacant part . Not only
Thieves’ Wit 47
did I have to have a woman in the company, I toldher, but I needed an a ssi stant outs ide . Not byworking—twenty-four hours a day could I track downa l l the clues that opened up . She would never havegiven in , I bel i eve , had it not been for the myster iouscomfort she had found in the cryptogram .
The rehearsa l was called for three and I hadbarely time to get hold of my girl .This brings me to Sadie Farrell , a very important
character in my story.
I had been keeping company with her for a shortwhile . At lea st I cons idered that I did, though shedenied it. She scorned me . That was her way.
Sadie had a lways l ived at home . Her father andmother were dead now, and she l ived with her s i ste r.Like a ll home girls she was crazy to se e a bit of l i fe .Her heart was set on be ing a high-cla ss dete ct ive .That was the only hold I had over he r. I hadpromised her that the first t ime I had occa si on toengage a woman operative , I would take her .Moreover, Sadie was full o f curios ity concerning
Miss Hamerton,whose pra ises I was always s inging.
She was never j ealous though . Sadie had a wi sel ittle head , and she knew the di fference between thefeel ing I had for that wonderful woman , and for herdarl ing sel f.Sadie wa s at home when I got there . What,
you!” she sa id, making out to be bored to death .
“ Ithought I was going to have a peace ful a fternoon .
I couldn’ t re s i st tea sing her a little .“Cheer up ,
48 Thieves ’ Wit
I sa id .
“ I ’m going right away again . I thoughtmaybe you ’d like to come out with me .”
“On a week day !” she sa id scornfully. Runalong with you , man, I
’ve got something bette rto do .
”
“ I bet I can make you come , I sa id.
She tos sed her head .
“You know ve ry well youcan ’ t m ake me do anything.
”
“ I bet you a dollar I can make you come .She smelled a mouse . “What are you gettingat ?” she demanded .
“ I wanted to take you to the theatre .“ It ’ s too late for a matine e .”
How about a rehearsalHer eyes sparkled . A rehea rsal ! Wouldn ’ t
that be wonderful ! Oh , you’ re only fool ing me .”
“Not at all,
” I sa id,“Miss Hamerton herself ln
v ited you.
“Miss Hamerton ! Shall I see her ?”
Sure . And what’ s more , you a re the person tobe rehearsed.
”
She s imply stared at me .She o ffers you a small part in her company, I
drawled .
“M e!” sa id the amazed Sadi e . Why—how
how did it happen ?”“Well you see
,I have come to the point where I
need an ope rative in the company, and I got her totake you.
”
“When i s it ?” she gasped .
Thieves ’ Wit 49
Three o ’ clock, I sa id . I t wa s then twentyminutes to .
Sadi e rushed to me and gave my arms a l ittlesqueeze . “Oh , Ben , you darling fool !
”she cr ied ,
and ran for her hat before I could follow up myadvantage .On the way down town I coached her in what shemust do . She mustn ’t l et it be suspected that shehad never a cted be fore . She must tell the stagemanager she had been sent by Mrs . Mendoza , theagent . She must a sk forty d ollars a week and comedown to thirty . She must make out that the partwas much inferior to those she had been playing.
After the rehearsa l she wa s to come to my o ffice ,where Miss Hame rton would meet us , and give he ra le sson in making up .
Sadi e s imply nodded he r wise l ittle head l ike ab ird and sa id nothing. Only at the prospect of receiving instruction from the wonderful Irma Hamerton hersel f, did her eyes gleam aga in . I didn’ t havetime then to tell her what she had to know about thecase . I let he r get out at the station nearest thetheatre , while I went on to my o ffice . It wa s sa fe r,of course , for me not to appear at the rehea rsal a sSadi e ’ s sponsor.I had no doubt o f Sadie ’ s a cquitting hersel f credit
ably. I f I had had, no matter what my personalfeelings were
,I would not have employed her in
this case. But she wa s a s wise a s she was pretty.
Under those scornful a irs she wa s a s true a s steel ,
50 Thieves ’ Wit
and she had the rare faculty of keep ing a clo setongue in he r head .
Sadie had a sort o f Frenchy look, long, narroweyes and pointed chin . This just happened to suitthe part of the maid in the play . I f I had looked amonth I could not have found a better girl , not tospeak of the pleasure I anticipated in working sideby s ide with my own girl . Moreove r, I was hop ingby my conduct of the ca se to force Sadie t o admitthat I wa s not quite such a bonehead a s she l iked tomake out.Everything went off a s planned. Sadi e I heard ,
made a good impress ion at rehearsal , and at a nodfrom Miss Hamerton , the stage manager engagedher. Miss Hamerton told me a fterwards that Sadiewent through the rehea rsal l ike an ol d stager.They arrived at my offi ce separately, and the lessonin making up was given . Miss Hamerton laid hersel f out to be kind to Sadie. I think she scented a .
romance . Anyhow, inside five minutes Sadie wa shers body and soul . Like me , she would havestopped at nothing to serve her.After that I told Sadie all the facts in the ca se .
In her woman ’ s way of re a soning she arrived at ‘thesam e conclus ion that I had reached a fter my style .
“ It’ s the work of a clever gang,” she sa id. They
have put a member, perhaps more than one in thecompany .
”
“But what a lot o f trouble to take , I obj ected,s ince the neckl ace wa s not known to be o f any greatvalue .
6
HAVE not mentioned Mr . Alfred Mount latelythough I saw him often on matte rs connected
with the ca se . He wa s an intere sting character . Itwa s only by degrees that I re alised what an extraor
dinary man I had to dea l with . After our firstmeeting hi s manner towards me completely changed .
He appeared to be sorry for hi s brusqueness on thatocca s ion . Now he was all frankness and friendl iness . Nothing crude , you understand, just the a i rof one man of the world towards anothe r. I couldnot help but feel fl attered by it .While we worked together so am i cably the mutua l
antagonism rema ined . I knew he still resented MissHam erton
’
s having employed me without consultinghim, and I believed that he wa s working independently . For my part, you may be sure , I told himnothing but what I had to . I found no little pleasure in blocking his subtle quest ioning by my a ir o fclum sy innocence . I told him nothing about thecryptogram .
I never called at his o ffice aga in . Sometimes hedropped into mine , his bright eye s wandering alla round, but more often I called on him at hi s apartment over the store . For he occupied the secondfloor o f the beauti ful l ittle bu ilding which housedhi s business . There wa s however nothing of the old
52
Thieves’ Wit 53
f a shioned shop-keeper about hi s pla ce. I never sawsuch splendour be fore or s ince . But it took you awhile to reali se that it was splendour, for there wa snothing showy or ga ri sh . Everyth ing he possessedwa s the choicest o f its kind in the world . Even withmy limite d knowledge , when I stopped to figure upthe value o f what I s aw, I wa s staggered. I sawenough at different t imes to furnish severa l mil l iona ire s .Mount had a strange love for his trea sures in
which there wa s nothing of the usual self-glorificat ion o f milliona ire s . He had a modest , almost atende r , way of referrm g to hi s things , of handlingthem . I learned quite a lot about tapestrie s , rugs ,Chinese porcela ins , enamels, ivorie s and gold workmanship from his talk . He did not care fo r pa intings .
“Too ins istent,” he sa id . Paintings will not
merge .”
The man was full o f quee r sayings , which hewould drawl out with an eye to the effe ct he wa screating on you .
He never allowed daylight to penetrate to hi sp rincip al room
,a great ha ll two storie s high, l ined
with pricele ss tape strie s .“Daylight i s rude and unmanageable , he sa id .
Artificial l ight I can order to suit my mood .
”
Another odd thing was hi s antipathy to red .
That colour almost neve r appeared in his trea sures .In the tapestr ie s greens predom inated ; the rugs weremostly ol d blue s and yellows . The great room
54 Thieves’ Wit
never looked quite the same . Sometimes it wa scompletely metamorphosed over night . I understood from something he let fa ll that the other fl oorsof the building were stored with his treasures . Hehad them brought down and arranged according tohis fancy. The only servant eve r vi sible was a s ilentHindoo , who sometimes appeared in gorgeousEa stern co stume , encrusted with j ewels . It occurredto me that that wa s how his ma ste r ought to dres s .The sobe r clothe s of a busines s man , however ele
gant,‘
were out of place onMount . Long afterwa rdsI learned that it wa s his custom when alone to a rrayhimsel f like an Eastern potentate , but I never sawhim dressed that way .
One day, to se e what he would say, I a sked himpoint blank what was the value of M is s Ham erton
’
s
lost pearls .He consulte d a note-book. She pa id me at dif
ferent times exa ctly twenty-five thousand, seven hundred for them .
”
“ I know,
” I sa id quietly. But what wa s thei rvalueHe bored me through and through with his j etty
eye s before answering. Finally he smiled—he hada charming smile when he chose , and spre ad out hi shands in token of surrende r . His hands were toowhite and beauti ful for a man ’ s .
“ I se e you know the truth,” he sa id. Well—I
am in your hands . I hope you will keep the secret .Only a great deal of unhappines s could result fromits becoming known .
Thieves ’ Wit 55
I shall not tell , I sa id . But how much are
they worth .
”
“ I really couldn ’t say, he sa id frankly. Therei s nothing like them in the world , nothing to measurethem by, I mean . It would depend simply on howfar the purchaser could go .
“Wouldn ’ t they be difli cul t to dispose o f ?”
Very. That i s our hope in the present s ituation .
“Do you suppose the thie f knew what he was get
ting ?”
I doubt it. To d i st ingui sh the blue cast i s a fadof my own. They ordinarily go with the blackpearls .Late r he returned to the subj ect o f hi s own accord .
Since you have learned or guessed so much , I shouldtell you the whole story, for fea r you might have adoubt o f Miss Hamerton .
”
“No danger of that,” I sa id quickly.
He looked at me strangely. I suppo se he wa swondering i f I presumed to rival him there . Heimmediately went on smoothly :
“She , of course , ha s no susp icion of the true valueof the pearls . Nor does she guess that they were1n my posses s ion for years . I let her have themone or two at a t ime . Do you blame me hespread out his express ive hands again .
“They are the most beauti ful p earls in all theworld,
” he murmured softly,“ the fruit of all my
knowledge and my patience . Pearls in a case a renot p earl s . Only when they l i e on the warm bosom
56 Thieves’ Wit
of a woman a re pearls really pearl s . I wished tohave the pleasure of see ing Irm a—Miss Hamertonwearing them . I could not give them to her . SoI devi sed th i s 1nnocent deception . Wouldn’ t youhave done the same ?”
Maybe I would . Anyhow I didn ’ t feel calledupon to argue the matter with him , s o I kept mym outh shut.H i s long eye s narrowed . I f you had seen her
wea r the rea l pea rl s you would understand better ,”
he sa i d dream ily.
“They glowed a s i f with pleasurein the ir s ituation . Her skin i s so tender that thevein s give i t a delicate bluish ca st exa ctly matched bymy exqui site pearls l”
To me there wa s something—what would you say,
someth ing deli cately indecent in the way Mountspoke of Miss Hamerton . I t made me indignantdeep down . But I sa id nothing.
“ I am a fool about precious stones , he went onwith that di sarm ing smile . “No shop-keeper ha sany right to indulge in a p ersonal p a ss ion for hi swares . Pearls com e first with m e , then diamonds .Would you like to se e my diamonds ?
”
Without wa iting for any answer he di sappeare dinto the next room . I heard the ring of a burgla rp roo f lock. Presently he returned bearing a littleblack velvet cushion on which lay a necklet of gleaming fire .I am no mise r, he said smiling. Quantity
doe s not appeal to me , nor mere bigne ss . Onlyqual ity. This i s my whole colle ct ion, seventy-two
Thieves ’ Wit 57
stones, the result of thi rty years’ sea rch for perfec
t ion .
”
I gaz ed at the fiery spots speechlessly. Beforetaking thi s ca se I had never thought much of precions stones . They had seemed like pretty th ingsto me , and usele ss . But upon looking at these Icould understand Miss Ham erton
’
s re fe rence to herpearl s a s living things . These diamonds were a live—devi li shly alive . They twinkled up at Mount l ikecompla isant littl e s laves outvying each other to fl atter their master . The sheer beauty of them caughta t the breast . Their fire b it into a man ’ s soul . Seeing it, I could understand the ancient lusts to rob andmurder for b its of s tone l ike these .
“Aren ’t they lovely ?” Mount murmured.Yes , l ike a snake , I blurted out .He laughed .
“That feel ing seems strange to me .I love them .
”
“Put them away !” I sa id .
He continued to laugh . He caressed the diamonds with hi s long, white fingers . “Wouldn ’t youl ike to see Miss Hame rton wear them ?” he a skedsoftly.
No , by God ! I cried . She ’ s a good woman .
He laughed more than ever . It wa s a kind of
Oriental laugh,soft, unwholesome .
“ I ’m afra i d
you suffer from the Puritan confus ion of the idea s ofbeauty and evil , he sa id .
“Maybe I do , I sa id shortly.
Some other time I will show you my emeraldsand sapphires ,
” he said .
58 Thieves Wit
I hated the things , yet I wa s eage r to see them .
That shows the effect they had on you . I was struckby his omiss ion o f rub ies .
“How about rubie s ?” I a ske d.
He shivered .
“I do not care for rub ie s . Theyare an ugly color .I welcomed the chill , raw a ir o f the street a fter
that scented chamber . After the elegant collectoro f j ewels my crude and commonplace fellow—citizen sseemed al l that was hone st and sturdy. I wa s proudof them . Yet I enj oyed going to Mount ’ s rooms ,too . One could count on be ing thrilled one way oranother.
60 Thieves ’ Wit
a fte r a ll looks are not s o important as disposit ion ,and this heavy, dull-witted, verbose fellow was theep itome of respectab il ity. He wa s not at all popula r in the company , principally, I fancy, because ofhi s over-nicety . He bragged of the number of bathshe took. He was not “ a good fellow .
” He neve rj oked nor ca rried on with the crowd . In the playhe took the part o f a brutal thug, a so rt o f B ill Sykes ,and played it well though there wa s nothing in hisappearance to suggest the part. He wa s the fox ,not the bull-dog. Imagine a man with the appea rance of a fox and the voice o f a sheep and you haveMilbourne .Shortly a fter I joined the company I was allotted
to sha re his dressing-room . He told me that hehad requested the stage-manager to make the change ,because he obj ected to the personal habits of hi sform er roommate . So I had every opportunity toobserve him . A lot of good it did me . He talkedme to sleep . He would recit e all the news of theday which I had just read for mysel f, and commentedon i t l ike a country newspaper. You couldn ’ t stophim .
Roland Quarles I cultivated for a different rea son .
I did not suspect h im . As a popula r leading juvenile his l i fe for years had been l ived in the publiceye and there wa s no rea son in the ‘world save purecus sedness why he should b e a thie f . I l iked him .
I was working hard , but one can’t be a detective
eve ry waking minute . I sought out Roland to for
get my work . I had started di s inte restedly with the
Thi eves ’ Wit 61
whole company, but I gradually came to feel ana ffection for Roland, principally because, much tomy surpri s e, he seemed to like me .I have sa id he wa s a morose young man . Such
was my first impress ion . He did not make friendse a sily. He was hated by all the men of the company
,because he desp ised thei r fooli sh conceit, and
took no pa ins to hide it . But the women l iked him ,
I may say all women were attracted to him . He didnot plume himself on th is , it wa s a matte r of greatembarra s sment to him . He avoided them no les sthan the men .
He was exceedingly good-looking and graceful ,and there wa s not the slightest consciousnes s of it inhi s bea ring. In that among young a ctors he stoodalone . He had a sort of proud , re se rv ed , b itte r a ir ,or a s a noveli st would say, he seemed to cher ish asecret sorrow. His ma il at the theatre wa s enormous . He used to stuff i t in hi s pocket without looking at it .I got my fir st insight into hi s cha ra cter from hi streatment of me . Of the entire company he andMilbourne were the only members who never mademy meek insignificance a target for unkind wit . Ofthem all only thi s h igh and m ighty young man nevertried to make me fee l my insignificance. For
a while he ignored me, but it seemed to strike him atla st that I wa s be ing put upon by the others , whereupon in an unassuming way he began to make l ittl eovertures of friendship . I wa s charmed .
One n ight a fte r the show he offered me a ciga r
62 Thieves ’ Wit
at the stage door, and we walked down the stre etsmoking and chatting until our ways parted . Hewas not on during the second act , and a fter my brie fscene I got in the habit of stopp ing a while in hi sroom before I went up to change . He had goodsense . It was worth while talking to him . We became very friendly . He was only a year or two
younger than I , but to me he seemed l ike a mereki d .
One night in the middle of on? talk he sa idYou ’ re not l ike an actor . You ’ re human .
“Don ’ t you l ike a ctors ?”I
,asked curiously.
“It
’
s a rotten business for men ,” he sa id b itterly.
“It unsexes them . But here I am ! What am I todo about it ?I learned a s I knew him better that the popula r
young a ctor,notwithstanding the adulation o f
women—or perhap s because of ~ it, led an exemplaryl i fe . The dazzling palaces of the Great White Wayknew him not. It was hi s custom to go home afte rthe show, have a bite to eat in sol itude , and readuntil he turned in .
One night he invited me to accompany him home .He had a modest flat in the Gramercy Square ne ighbourhood with an adoring old woman to look a fterh im . The cheerful fire , the shaded lamp , the capacious ea sy cha ir , gave me a new conception of bachelor comfort . Books were a feature of the place .
“Pretty snug, eh he sa id , following my adm iringeyes .
“Well, you’ re not l ike an a ctor either , sa id I .
Thieves ’ Wit 63
He laughed . Afte r the theatre this i s l ikef f eaven l
”
“Why don ’ t you chuck it ?” I a sked. You ’reyoung.
He shrugged . Who wants to give an a ctor a:
regular j ob ?”
We had scrambled eggs and sausages . I stayedfor a couple of hours talking about the abstra ct que stions that young men loved to discuss . When I le fthe wa s a s much of an enigma to me as when I arrived . He was will ing to talk about anything unde rthe sun— except himsel f . Without appearing to , hefoiled all my attempts to draw him out.
Hard upon thi s growing friendship it was a shockto lea rn from Sadie a s a resuul t of
’
her work duringthe days , that it was Roland Quarles who had deposited forty thousand dolla rs in hi s bank.
“Impossible !” I sa id in my first surpri s e .I got it direct from the bank,” she sa id. It was
the Second National . He deposited forty thousandin cash on April S ixth .
My heart sunk .
“But that doesn’ t prove that he stole the pearls,
sa id Sadie . She shared my liking for the youngfellow .
“ I hope not, I sa id gloomily . But i f it wasn ’the then our prom i s ing clue i s no good .
”
Maybe he won it on the Stock Exchange .That doesn ’t expla in the cash . No broker pays
in ca sh .
”
“Well I can think of ten good rea sons why he
64 Thieves ’ Wit
couldn ’ t have done it, Sadi e sa id ob stinately. Shehad too warm a heart , perhap s , to make an idealinvestigator .That night Roland a sked me home to supper
aga in . This wa s about a week a fter the first occas ion . The old woman had gone to bed and hecooked creamed oysters in a chafing-dish, whileI looked at the paper .
“Wouldn ’ t it be ni ce to have white hands wa itinga t home to do that for you ?
” I suggested te asingly.
“Never for me ! he sa i d with a b itte r sm il e .“Why not ?”
What I can have I don ’ t want . What I want Ican never have .
“You never can tell , I sa id encouragingly. I wasthinking what a superb couple the handsome youngpa i r made on the stage . It seemed low to cros sexam m e him while he was preparing to feed me , butthere wa s no help for it .
“The market i s off aga in , I sa id ca relessly.
Chance for somebody to make money.
“How can you make money when the market i sgo ing down ,” he sai d innocently.
I f the innocence wa s a ssumed it was mighty welldone . However, I told myself his busines s wa sacting.
“By selling short, I sa id .
I never understood that operation .
I expla ined it.Too complicated for me , he sa id. I con
s i de r the whole busine s s immoral .”
Thieves ’ Wit 65
I agreed, and switched to talk of solid, permanentinvestments . He immediately looked interested .
“You seem to know something about such mat
ters , he sa id.
“Suppose a man had a l ittle moneyto invest, what would you advise ?
”
“Your savings ?” I a sked with a smile .Lord ! I couldn ’t save anything. No , I have
a friend who ha s a few thousand surplus .”
Being anxious to be lieve well of him I snatched atthi s straw . Maybe a friend had entrusted him with
,money to invest . Hardly likely though, and stillmore unlikely that it would be handed over in ca sh .
I gave him some good advice , and the subj ect wasdropped .
Later we got to ta lking about acting agam . Hesaid in hi s bitter way :
“ I shall soon be out of it now, one way or theother .”
“What do you mean ?” I a sked .
I mean to leave the stage at the close of thi s en
gagem ent or before .What are you going to do ?
”
God knows !” he sa id with hi s l augh . Go tothe devil, I expect .
”
I couldn ’ t get anything else out of him . It was allmysterious enough .
,He sounded utterly reckle ss
when you got below the surface , but somehow it wasnot the reckle ssness o f a crook.
Worse was to follow.
First, however, I must put down how the situation stood with Milbourne , because I shall not
‘
return
66 Thieves’ Wit
to him for some t ime . Kenton Milbourne ! I haveto smile every t ime I write it, the fancy appellationwas so unsuitable to the tallow-cheeked, hatchetfaced talke r who bore it . I bel ieved Milbourne hadstolen the pearls , and I worked hard to justi fy mybeli e f
,but without be ing able to lay anything bare
aga inst him .
Every night he ta lked me to a standstill . Heseemed to be a man totally devoi d of ind ividuality,temperament, a mere windbag. But I told myselfthat dullnes s i s the favourite and most e ffective di sguis e of a sharper . His talk was a l ittle too dull t obe natural , and once in a while I rece ived an impression that he was anything but dul l .One night I sa id to him a s Roland had sa id t o
me : “You don ’ t se em l ike an a ctor. How did you
get into this business ?”
Dri fted into it ,” he sa id . Always knew I could
act, but wa s too busy with other things . I had anattack of typho id in Sydney four yea rs ago whichshatte red my health . When I was getting bette r afriend gave me the part of a human monster t oplay, just to help me pass the t ime . I made a wonderful hit in i t. They wouldn ’ t let me stop . Sincethen I ’ve never been idle . I haven ’t any conce it,so they o ffer me the horrible p arts .”
“Sydney ?” I sa id.
I was ra1sed in Australi a . I came to Ameri cala st Fall be cause there wa s a wide r field for my art.”
I put th i s down in my mind a s a l i e . I do notknow Austral i a but I suppose they have thei r own
68 Thieves ’ Wit
moment . What with her thirty dolla rs a week fromthe theatre and her additiona l salary as operat ive
(which Mis s Hamerton ins i sted on her taking!Sadie wa s in aflfuent circumstances , and for the firstt ime in her life she wa s able to dress a s a prettygirl ought . With her Spring hat and suit, her daintygloves and boots , all from the best shops , s he wa sa s smart a l ittle lady a s you ’d find from one end of
the Avenue to the othe r.“You look sweet enough to eat ! I sa id, grinning
at her like a Cheshire cat.Cut it out !” she sa id with her high and mighty
a ir . “ It ’ s bus iness hours . I ’m operative S.F .
”
“What ’ s that for , swell figure ?”“Wait till a fte r the whi stle blows .After hours you ’ re Miss Covington the a ctress ,
and I ’m not allowed to know you .
Well , there’ s Sunday .
But this i s only Tuesday .
“ I ’ve got to respect my boss , haven’ t I ?”
What if I kis sed you anyhow ?”“ I ’d box your ea rs she sa id quick a s l ightning.
And she would . I s ighed , and came back toearth . I t wa s not that I was a fra id of the box on
the ears , but she was right, and I knew it . As soona s I sta rted that l ine o f talk I res igned my properpla ce a s the boss of the establ i shment .
“What’ s new ?” I asked .
I found out something intere sting to-day, shesa id.
“Miss Ham erton’
s in love with RolandQuarles .
Thieves ’ Wit 69
I guessed that long ago , I sa id calmly.
Sadie was much taken aback. Evidently she hadexpected to stun me . “You never sa i d anythingabout it,
” she sa id pouting.
“ I le ft i t for you to find out for yoursel f.She neve r beli eved he had anything to do with
the robbery,” Sadie sa id with a touch of defiance .
“Then why was she so di stre ssed in the beginning ?”
“Well , there wa s something that would havelooked like evidence to a m an
,s a id Sadi e scorn
fully . So naturally she didn ’ t want to tell you .
”
“D i d she tell you ?” I asked, a l ittl e huffed at thethought that Sadie was getting deeper in the confi
dence of my client than I .“Yes , to-day. She didn’t tel l me about her feel
ings, of course . I guessed that p art.”
“What i s thi s m ysterious thing ?”
She only told me because since she saw the cryptogram she knows there couldn
’ t be anything in it .Thi s wa s getting denser instea d o f more clear .What wa s there about the cryptogram that ea sedher mind ?” I a sked .
“ She knows that it couldn ’ t have been written toRoland Quarle s because he ha s no idea of leavingthe company.
”
“Oh , hasn’t he ! I thought to mysel f. How
strangely loving women reason . Aloud I sa id :“Now for the thing that a mere man would haveconsidered evidence .
70 Thieves’ Wit
Don’t t ry to be sa rcasti c, sa id Sad ie . “It
doesn ’t suit you .
”
“Who ’ s forgetting that I ’m the boss now ?” I
sa id severely.
She made a face at me and went on : “ It seemsthat Miss Hamerton and Roland Quarle s had a beton about the pearl s .”
This wa s something new. I pricked up my ears .“She laughed at him because he thought he knew
something about j ewels , and she says he scarcelyknows a pearl from an opal . They argued about it,and she finally bet him a box o f cigars aga inst a boxof gloves that he wouldn ’ t b e able to tell when shewore the genuine pearls . That i s how she came towea r them the night they were stolen .
”
“The devi l !” I excla imed .But he ha s neve r spoken about i t s ince . She
beli eves that he ha s forgotten all about the bet .I walked up and down the room cons idering what
thi s meant .“You needn’ t look l ike that, s a id Sadie . We
know he didn ’ t do it. Wouldn ’t he have pai d hisbet i f he had ?”
“ It seems so , I sa id. I d idn ’t know what tobel i eve .
“There’ s another reason, said Sadie, sufficientfor a woman .
”
“What ’ s that ?”“He ’ s in love with her. He ’ s making love to her
now. He couldn’t do that i f he had robbed her.
Thieves ’ Wit 71
I don’ t know,
” I sa id grimly . I f he could robher, I suspect he could make love to her.
”
That night at the theatre I devoted my attenti onpretty exclus ively to Quarle s . God knows I wa s notanxious to ruin the young fellow, but Sadie
’ s comm unication t aken in connect i on with the cryptogramand that myster ious ca sh deposit wa s beginning tolook like pretty strong evidence . Th is b e ing my firstca se, I atta ched more importance to
“ evidence” thanI would now.
I was in hi s dress ing-room when he le ft to go onfor the third a ct . He had only a short scene at thebeginning, and a s he went out, he a sked me to waitt ill he came off .
I watched him go with a s inking heart for I hatedto do what I ha d to do . He was so handsome , sograce ful, and with that burden on hi s brea st , so invariably kind to me , I felt l ike a wretch . Neverthel ess , I told myself for the sake of all of us I hadto discover the pa inful secret he wa s hiding.
I knew exa ctly how long I had before he wouldreturn . I swung the door almost shut, a s i f th ewind had blown it, and made a rap id , thoroughsearch . There was a p ile of le tter s on his dressingtable a s yet unopened . Nothing susp i cious there .Nothing in the drawers of his dre ssing-table . Therewa s no trunk in the room . His stre et coat wa s ona form hanging from a hook. I fri sked the pockets .There wa s a handful of let ters , papers in the breast
pocket. Shuffiing them over I came upon a sheet of
72 Thieves ’ Wit
dim ity note-paper without an envelope . Open ingit I beheld a communication in cryptogram exa ctlylike the other .I could hear the voice s on the stage . Roland wa s
about to come off. I hastily returned all the papersto his pocket a s I had found them,
—except thecryptogram . That I put in my own pocket.When he came in
'
we picked up our conversationwhere we had dropped it .As soon a s I got home I made haste to translate
my find . I had saved the numerica l key I usedbe fore . I instantly found that i t fitted thi s comm unication also . This i s what I got
I . ha s known o f he r loss for a couple of weeks .She ha s put two detect ive s 1n the company . Faxonand the gi rl Covington . I have thi s stra ight . Watchyoursel f . J .
”
So thi s i s why Quarle s cultivated my friendship !I thought, feeling all the bitterness of finding myselfbetrayed . I could no longe r doubt my evidence .My friendly feel ings fo r the young fellow werecurdled.
WOKE up next morning with a le aden weighton my brea st. I had no zest in the day which
bore with it the necess ity of tell ing Miss Hamertonwhat I had lea rned . I put off the evil moment a slong as possible . During the morning Sadie cameinto the office for in stru ct ions . I had not the heartto te ll her . I sent her ove r to Newark on a wildgoose chase in connection with some of McArdl e
’
s
activitie s .I wa s not expecting Mis s Hamerton that a fter
noon . At thre e I called her up and sa id that I hadsomething important to report . She sa id she wasexpecting some one later, and did not want to go out.
Could I come to her ? This plea sed me , for s inceI had to strike he r down it was more merci ful to doi t at home . I went .She had neve r looked lovel i er . Her room wa s
a bower of Sp r ing flowers , and she in a pale yellowdre ss was like the fa i re st daffodil among them . Shewas full of happiness , her cheeks glowing, her eye ssparkling. It did not make my ta sk any eas ie r. Iangrily rebelled from it. But she wa s already asking me what wa s the matte r .I told he r bunglingly enough , God knows , of the
second cryptogram and where I had found it . Itcrushed he r like a flowe r trodden underfoot .
73
74 Thieves’ Wit
Presently, however, she began to fight . The
first thing the thie f would do when he found himself under surveillance ,
” she falte red,“would be to
t ry to dive rt your attenti on to some one else .”
He would hardly choose one ordinarily so fa rabove susp icion as the leading man , I sa id reluc
tantly.
“He may have known, s ince he knows so much ,that you were already susp i ci ous of Ro—of the
other .” She could not get hi s name out.
I felt l ike the crimina l myself, trying to convinceher against he r hea rt . Taken by itsel f the lette rwould not be conclus ive , but with the othe rthings
“What other things ?”
Well , hi s p rovoking you by'
a bet to wear thegenuine pearls .”
“There ’ s nothing in that, she sa id qu ickly, I fhe had had an ulte rio r motive he would have spokenof the bet s ince . He would have lost it, wouldn’t he ,to keep us from suspecting ?”
I conceded the re a sonablene ss of this—t aken byitsel f. “But hi s bank account ?”
“Bank account ?” she repeated, startled . We hadnot told her o f this .
“On April sixth Mr . Quarle s depos ited fortythousand dolla rs in cash in the Se cond Nationa lB ank .
”
All the l ight went out of her face.
“Oh !Are you
sure ?” she ga sped .
76 Thieves ’ Wit
But he must not meet me ! I cried .
Wait in the next room .
” Her vo1ce broke p iteously. Oh , I must have some one here—some oneI can trust !”
What was I to do ? I obeyed very unwill ingly .
As soon a s he entered I found that the transom overthe door wa s open, and I could hear everything thatp assed between them . Of all the di fficult thingsthat have been forced on me in the way of business ,that half hour ’ s eavesdropp ing was a s. bad as any.
He must have been highly wrought up because he
apparently never noticed her state . His very firstspeech wa s tragically unfortunate . He spoke in aharsh stra ined vo ice as i f the pa inful th ing he hadkept hidden so long was bre aking out in sp ite of him .
“ I rma , how soon can you repla ce me in the ca st ?”“Eh ?” she murmured . I could imagine the pa inful start she suppressed .
I want to get out. I can ’ t stand i t any longer .But why ?” she whispered .
I hate a cting ! It i s not a man’ s work .
Have you just discovered it ?” she a sked with al ittle note of scorn very pa inful to hear .No ,
” he sa id gloom ily, “ I ’ve always known . I fI had been le ft to myself I never would have acted .
But I came of a family of actors . I was b roughtup to it . I kept on because it was all I knew. It i sonly since I have acted with you that it has becomemore than I can bea r .”
“Why, with me ?”she whispered.
Thieves’ Wit 77
Because I love you ! he sa id in a harsh, abruptvoice .
“Ah ! The sound was no more than a pa in fulcatch in he r breath .
“Oh, you needn
’ t tel l me I ’m a presumptuousfool ,
” he burst out “ I know it a lre ady. You don ’ tknow
,the height of my presumption yet. I love
you ! The silly make-beli eve of love that I have togo through every night with you drive s me mad ! Ilove you ! I am ashamed to make my living by exhibiting a p retence of love l
”
“ It was your father’ s pro fess ion and yourm other ’ s ,
” she murmured .
“They were the real thing, he sa id gloomily .
They had a genuine call . They loved thei r work.
I hark back to an earl ier stra in , I guess . I have nof eeling for art to make it worth while . I hate thet insel and show and make-believe . I want to leada real l i fe with youNo man ha s any right to hear another man bare
hi s heart l ike thi s . I went to the open window andleaned out. I had forgotten Roland’ s supposed
gui lt. My instinct told me that a guilty man couldnot have spoken l ike this .
EVen on the window-s ill though I trie d not to hea r,an occa sional word reached m e. We were so highup that l ittle of the street noi ses rea ched us . Bye
and bye I hea rd Roland say “money” and I wasdrawn back into the room . This , I felt, it was mybusine ss to hear .He was still pleading with hi s heart in hi s vo ice.
78 Thieves ’ Wit
A month ago I would just have le ft without sayinganything to you . I don ’ t even know that I am fitfor anything el se but act ing. I could not a sk youto give i t up without having something else to offeryou . I suffer so to see you on the stage . To se eyour name , your person , your doings all publi cp roperty drives me wild ! I cannot stand se e ing youshow your lovely se lf to the app lause of those vulgarfools !”
“You are mad !” she whispered.I know—but I have had a stroke o f luckLuck ?”
I have come into some money. Oh , nothingmuch, but enough to give me a sta rt in some newcountry—if you could come with me ! Oh , I am afool to think it . But I had to tell you I loved you .
You would be quite justified in laughing, and showing me the door . But I love you ! It seemedcowardly to go away without telling you .
“You are a sking me to give up my profes sion ?”
she murm ured unsteadily .
“ I a sk nothing. I expect nothing. But i f youcould You ’d have to give it up . It would killme otherwise . I could stand bette r having none ofyou than half . He laughed harshly .
“Am I notridiculous ? Tell m e to go .
”
“ I am not so enamoured of make-beli eve either,she murmured .
She was weakening ! I trembled for her . Thi swretched business had to be clea red up be fore theycould hope for any happiness .
Thieves ’ Wit 79
If I loved you I could give i t up , she whi spered,but I am not sure .”
It wa s like a gl impse of Heaven to him . I rm a !He cri ed her name over and over brokenly.
“Myd ea r love ! Then there is a chance—I never ex
p ected—Oh !don ’ t ra i se me up onl y to ca st m e down
lower than before !”
I went to the window-s ill aga in and leaned out .There I wa s still when she came in . She was
trembling and breathing fa st.“He ha s gone,
” she sa id.
She led me back into the outer room . She noti cedthat the transom wa s open .
“You heard ?” she sa idstartled.
“Some , I sa id uncomfortably. More than Iwanted to .
“ I don’ t care , she sa id .
Have you promised to marry him ?” I a sked .
She shook her head “ I have promised nothing .
I a sked for t ime .“Good !” I sa id involuntarilyShe looked at me startled. You heard !” she
s a id defiantly.
“Were they the words of a guiltym an?
”
“Not i f I know anything about human nature , Isa id promptly.
The sweetest gratitude lighted up her fa ce . Oh ,thank you !” she sa id . She was very near tea rs .“Anything else would be unbeli evable l”
“Give me one day more ,” I suggested.
No ! No !” she cried with surpri s ing energy.
80 Thieves ’ Wit
I will not ca rry thi s tragic fa rce any further . Ihate the pearls now . I would not wea r them if I
Bid get them back. They are gone . Let them go !But Miss Hamerton I pers i sted.
Not another word !” she cried .
“My mind ismade up l”
“ I must speak, I sa id doggedly. Because youa s much a s sa id you depended on getting honest adv ice from me . You can ’t stop now. I f you marry“Mr . Quarle s , the fact that you have suspected himthough it was only for a moment will haunt you allyour l i fe . No marriage i s a bed of rose s . Whentrouble does come your grim spectre will invariablyri s e and mock you . It must be definitely la id in itsgrave before you can marry the man .
”
The bold style o f my speech made he r pause . Ihad neve r spoken to her in that way before . Sheeyed me frowning.
“ I hope you know it’ s not the j ob I ’m after, Iwent on .
“ I never had work to do that I enj oyedles s . But you put it up to me to give you honestadvi ce .
“ I can ’ t spy on the man I love , she faltered .
You can ’ t marry the man you suspect ,” I re
turned.
“ I don’ t suspect him .
The susp icious ci rcumstance s a re not yet expla ined .
“Very well, then , I ’ ll send for him to come back,and he will expla in them .
”
I had a fla sh o f insight into the chara cter of my
Thieves ’ Wit 81
young friend . No ! I cried . I f he knew thatyou had ever suspected him, he would never forgive
you .
“Then what do you want me to do ?” she cried .
Give me twenty-four hours to produce proo fs ofhis innocence . ”
She gave in with a gesture .
Leaving Miss Hame rton I walked twice a roundBryant Square to put my thoughts in orde r. Iwished to bel ieve in Roland ’ s innocence a lmost a sardently a s she did, but I had to force myself tokeep an open mind . A fixed idea one way or theother i s fata l to any investigator . So I a rguedagainst him for a while to strike a balance . I toldmyself there wa s a type of man who would stop atabsolute ly nothing to secure the woman he des ired .
In the bottom of my heart , l ike anybody e lse , I hada sneaking adm iration for the typeTrue , I had never heard of a man robb ing a
woman in order to secure the means to support her .Still , human psychology i s an amaz ing thing. You
never can tell ! I reminded mysel f of all the othert imes I had been brought face to face with the apparently imposs ible . Particularly i s human nature ingenious in justi fying itsel f.I finally made up my mind to sea rch Roland ’ s
apartment that night . On my previous vi s its I hadmarked a l ittle sa fe there . Surely it must conta insome conclus ive evidence one way or the other.What I hoped to find wa s some natural and honest
82 Thieves ’ Wit
explanation of the sum of money he had rece ived .Around the theatre that night Roland and I werea s fr iendly a s usual . The shadow wa s somewhatl i fted from his dark eyes . They burned wi th anexpectant fire . An extrao rdina ry restlessne ss posse ssed him . For all he sa id he hated i t, that t imeanyway, he outdid himsel f in playing hi s role . Asfar a s I could see , he and Irma held no com m unica
t ions outs ide the play.
In pursuance o f the plan I had made , I ins i sted onhis supp ing with me that n ight . I wa s fre e to leavethe theatre a fte r the se cond a ct, so I went on aheadto orde r the supper I sa id. He wa s to meet me a tthe Thesp i s club at half-past eleven . I did order thesupper there
,then hurried on to hi s flat, arriving
some time be fore his customary hour of coming fromthe the atre .His ol d housekeepe r having seen me in his com
pany on several occa s ions expressed no surprise a tmy com ing. I sa id I would wa it for him , and shele ft me t o my own devices in the front room . Isat isfied myself that she had gone to her own roomon the other s ide of the kitchen , three doors away,then I set to work.
I had brought a bunch of skeleton keys and a setof minia ture housebreaking tools . I didn ’ t requirethem , for I found that the l ittle sa fe had one of thee arli e st and simple st forms o f a lock. Part o f myapprentice ship had been spent in learn ing how toopen such locks merely by l i stening to the fall o f thetumblers a s one turned the knob . Al l that wa s re
4 l eves 11
Perhaps Roland had bought it and stowed it awayfor sentimental rea sons . That seemed pretty farf etched .
I carr i ed it to the electri c l ight . There I couldsee the blue cast l ike the la st gleam of l ight in thetwilight sky. The bits of stone had a wonderfulfire , life . An inst inct told me they were genuinepearls . But i f they were it must be the str ing, forMount had sa id there were no others . I rememb ered that Miss Hamerton had told me she hadmade a little scratch on the cla sp and I eagerlyl ooked for it . There was a kind of mark there .
At thi s point I shook my head and gave up specul at
m g.
I sl ipped the ca se in my pocket, locked the drawerand locked the sa fe aga in . I switched off the lightsand let myself qui etly out of the flat .I decided to go to the Thespi s club a s i f nothing
had happened . I wa s not at a ll anxious to meetRoland until I knew where I stood
,but I reflected
that i f I fa iled him it might rouse hi s suspic ions and
p recip itate a cata strophe be fore I wa s ready for i t .There wa s not much danger that he would look in‘
his sa fe that n ight i f I kept him late . His housekeepe r would tell him I had been there , but I couldexpla in that. In the morning I would have himwatched .
Roland was a t the club when I arrived .
“I’ve
b een at your rooms ,” I sa id instantly.
“ I had an
idea I wa s to wa it for you there . But I got thinking it over and decided I had made a mistake .
’
Thieves Wit
You’ve got a memory l ike a colander, he sa idgood-naturedly.
“Bette r do something about it .”
We sat down to our supper . Roland was in forhim , extraordina ry sp irits . All the while we ate ,drank and j oked I wa s wondering in the back of myhead what kind o f a change would come over hi sgrim , dark, laughing fa ce i f he knew what I had inmy pocket.
EW would envy m e my task next morning. I
called up Miss Hamerton merely saying thatI would come to the hotel half an hour later . Sadi ecame in , but having kept from her what had alre adyhappened, I could not tell her thi s . I wa s notobliged to tell her all the developments o f the ca se ,of course , but she had a mora l right to my confi
dence , and so I felt guilty and wretched every way.
Sadi e I knew would be te rribly cut up by the waythings were tending, and I had not the heart to fa ceit, with what I had to go through late r.Miss Hamerton rece ived me with great bright
eye s that looked out of her white fa ce l ike sta rs a tdawn . The instant she caught sight of my face shesa id : You have news ?”
I nodded .
Good or bad ?” she whi spered breathlessly.
There wa s no use beating a round the bush .
Bad ,” I sa id bluntly
A hand went to he r breast . Tell me—quickly .
I drew out the ca se . She gave no s ign of recog~nising i t. I snapped it open .
“Is this the lost neck
lace ?” I a sked .
With a l ittle cry, she se ized upon it, examined thepearl s, breathed upon them , looked at the cla sp .
Yes ! Yes !” she excl a imed, j oy struggling in her86
Thieves ’ Wit 87
face with an underlying terror. Where did you
get i t ?”
“Out of a sa fe in Mr . Quarle s’ flat.”
She looked at me stricken stup id .
I had to rep eat the words .Oh -
you would not de ce ive me ?” she whisp ered.
“ I wish to God it were n ot true ! I cried .
In hi s room—hi s room ! she muttered . Sudd enly she sank down in a crumpled white heap on
the floor .I gathered her up in my arms and la id her on
the so fa . I call ed Mrs . Bleecker, who came running, a ccompanied by Irma
’ s ma id . A senselesss cene of confusion followed . The fooli sh womenr oused hal f the hotel with the ir outcries . I myself,carried the beauti ful, inanimate gi rl into her bedr oom . For me it was holy ground. It was almostas bare a s a convent cell . It pleased me to find thatshe instinctively rej ected luxury on retiring to herl a st stronghold . I la id her on her bed—the p illowwas no whiter than the check it bore
,and returned
to the outer room to awa it the issue . All thi s t ime ,I must tell you, Mrs . Bleecker was re lieving herfeel ings by abus ing me . From the first I had ap
prehended hatred in that lady.
I wa ited a few minutes , feeling very unnece ssa ry,and wondering i f I would not do better to return tomy oflice, when Mrs . Bleecker came back, and witha very ill grace said that Miss Hamerton wanted toknow i f i t wa s convenient for me to wa it a l ittl e
88 Thieves ’ Wit
while until she was able to see me , and would I plea sesay whateve r wa s necessary to pe ople who called . Ialmost wept upon rece iving this message . I sentback word that I would stay all day i f she wantedme . Mrs . Bleecker glared at me , almost besidehersel f with defeated curios ity . I had the necklacesa fe in my pocket and she was without a clue to whathad happened.
So there I was e stabl i shed a s Miss Ham erton’
s
representat ive . Everybody took orders from me ,and wondered who I was . The word had spre adl ike wildfire that the famous star had been takenill, and the telephone rang continuously. I finallytold the hotel people what to say, and ordered itdisconnected . I had a couple of boys stationed inthe corridor to keep people from the door . I sentfor two doctors
,not that Irma was in any need of
medical attent ion , but I w1shed to have the supportof a professiona l bullet in . I told them what Ithought necessary. They were discreet men .
Miss Hamerton had no close relatives, and Icould not see the sense of sending for‘ any others .I forbade Mrs . Bleecker to telegraph them . In aca se of th is kind sol itude i s the best, the most merciful t reatment for the sufferer . As it was I pitie dthe poor girl having to endure the officious ministrat ions o f he r inqu isit ive servants , but I d id not feel.j ustified in inter fering there .Only two men were allowed past the guard in the
corridor , Mr. Maurice Metz , the famous theatri calm anager, and Mr . Alfred Mount . The former
Thieves ’ Wit 89
stormed about the room like a wilful child . His
pocketbook was hard hit . I was firm . He couldnot see Miss Hamerton , he must be satisfied with myreport . Miss Hamerton had suffered a nervousbreakdown—with that phrase we guarded her piteous secret, and it would be out of the que stion forher to act for weeks to come . It wa s her wish thatthe company be pa id off and disbanded .
“Who the devil a re you ?” he demanded .
I speak for M is s Hamerton ,” I sa id with a
shrug. I remembered how humbly I had bes iegedthi s man ’ s door with my play a few weeks s ince , andnow I was turn ing him down .
To satis fy him I had Mrs . Blee cker in . He dem anded of her who I was .
“ I don ’ t know ,
” she snapped .
Neve rthele ss she had to bear me out . Miss Hamerton had sent word that the company was to b epa id off with two weeks ’ sala ry, and the amountcharged to her . I re ferred Mr . Metz to the doctors . They impressed him with medical phrases hedidn ’ t understand . He finally departed talking tohim self and waving hi s hands .Mr . Mount, of course , was very di fferent . He
camein all suave sympathy,anxious to uphold me in
eve ry way. I had wished to se e him for a speci a lpurpose . I couldn ’t a llow the possib il ity of aghastly m i stake be ing made .I produced the fateful l ittle seal leather box
,and
snapped it open aga in . Are these the lost pearls ?”
I a sked .
90 Thieves ’ Wit‘
The man had wonderful sel f-control . No muscle of hi s face changed . Only his black eye s flamedup . He took the ca se quietly, but those eyespounced on the pearl s l ike the ir prey, and wolfedthem one by one. He returned the ca se to me . Acurious smil e wreathed the corners of hi s voluptuousmouth .
“Those are the pearls , he sa id quietly.You are sure?”
Sure ?” He spread out his hands . There areno other such pearls in the world.
”
I returned the ca se to my pocket.Where did you find them ?” he a sked .
At present I am not free to say how they wererecovered ,
” I replied .
“No doubt Mi ss Hamertonwill give it out later.I think I understand, he sa id with a compas
s ionate a ir . “ I suppose there will be no prosecut ion .
”
“ I do not know, I sa id blandl y.
Maybe it would be bette r never to speak of thematter to he r ?” he sa id softly.
I shrugged . I wasn ’t going to let him get anychange out of me .
“Anyhow it ’ s a triumph for you , he sa id graciously .
“Allow me to congratulate you.
”
Was there a fa int r ing of irony in his words ? Ine ither ca se I neve r felt les s triumphant . Whatbooted it to return her j ewels i f I had broken he rheart ? I bowed my acknowledgment .As he le ft he sa id : “Come and see me somet imes ,
92 Thieves ’ Wit
heard the door behind me open . I turned with as igh , expecting fresh compla ints and demands fromthe ol d harridan . But there wa s Irma trying to
sm il e at me . She wa s wear ing a white negligee affa ir that made he r look l ike a fragil e l ily . Shewalked with a firm step , but her face shocked me .It looked dead . The eyes open , were infinitelymore ghastly than when I had la id her down withthem closed . Mrs . Bleecker and the maid followed ,buzz ing a round her . She seemed to have reachedthe l imits o f he r pati ence with them .
“Let me be she sa id a s sharply a s I eve r heardher speak.
“ I am perfe ctly well able to walk andto speak . Plea se go back to the bedroom . I havebus ines s to discuss with Mr . Enderby.
”
They ret ired, bea ring me no love in the i r hearts .“ I must go away, quite by myself,” she sa id, speak
ing at random .
“Can you help me find a place ,some place where nobody knows me ? I f I do notget away from these people they will drive me madI will find you a place ,
” I sa idPerhap s I ’d bette r not go alone , she sa id . I f
I could only find the right kind of person . I ’m soterr ibly alone . That nice girl you brought into thecompany, Miss Farrell , do you th ink she would gowith me ?”
There wa s something in thi s more pain ful than Ican convey. “She ’d jump at the chance ,” I sa idbrusquely.
“You have been so good to me , she said .
Thieves ’ Wit 93
You can say that !” I sa id , a stonished .
Oh, I’ve not quite taken leave of my sense s , she
sa id bitterly.
“I f I had not known the truth, i twould have been much worse .”
Thi s struck me a s extra ordinary generos ity in awoman who loved .
“I—I have something else to ask of you , she sa i d
in the p iteous beseeching way that made me want toca st mysel f at her feet .
“Anything, I murmured .
Mr . Quarles i s com ing here at five . Please seehim and tell him —Oh ! tell him anything you like ,anything that will keep him from ever trying to seeme again .
”
I nodded You had better lose no time in gett ing out of th is , I suggested .
“Can you be readyby to-morrow morning ?”
I will sta rt packing now, she sa id . It willgive me something to do.
”
Howwell I understood the hideous blanknes s thatfaced her .
“Don ’ t let those women bothe r you , I sa id.
Refer them to me . ”“They mean well , she sa id .
I will answer for Miss Farrell , I sa id . She ’ llbe here at nine to-morrow .
”
She started to thank me aga in , but I would notlet he r go on. I really could not stand it .
“Very well , you will see , she sa id with a sm i le ,and le ft me .
94 Thieves ’ Wit
Shortly a fte rwards Roland Quarle s came striding down the hall . I opened the door to him . Hewa s a stonished to find a strange m an in the room .
He did not recognise me without my Faxon makeup .
“Enderby,” I sa id in response to his enquiring
glance . “You met me here once before .”“What ’ s thi s I hear downsta irs about Miss Ham
erton be ing sick ?” he demanded anxiously .
“She ha s had a nervous breakdown,” I sa id.
He was not dece ived .
“What doe s that mean ?”
he demanded .
“She was quite well yesterday.
”
I shrugged .
Can I see her ?”
I shook my head .
I will speak to Mrs . Bleecker, then .
You can ’ t see her , e ither .”
Who are you ?” he demanded, a s so many othershad done .I gave him my ca rd, hoping that he would take
the hint, and save me further explanations .Not a bit of it. “ Investigator ? What doe s that
mean ? Detective ?”“Precisely .
”
“What ’ s it all about ?” he cried irritably. Whyare you looking at me like a policeman ?”
“Look at me close ,” I sa id .
He sta red at me angry and puzzled . I have seenyou be fore—more than once Then hi s fa cechanged . Faxon !” he cried. I s it Faxon
“The same ,” I sa id .
What are you do ing here ?” he demanded .
Thieves ’ Wit 95
This p arade o f innocence began to exasperateme . “Do you need to a sk ?” I sa id .
“Oh , for Heaven’ s sake don’ t play with words ,
he burst out. “Tell me what’ s the matte r and bedone with it .
“Miss Ham erton’
s pearl ne ckla ce wa s stolen fromthe theatre two months ago . She engaged me torecove r it .”
“Her pearls ! Stolen ! he ej aculated , amazed .
I could not have a sked to see it better done .“Do you sti ll want me to go on ?” I a sked .
Oh , drop the mystery !” he cried .
“You fellows
fatten on mystery !”“As Faxon in the theatre I wa s perfectly s ince re
in my friendship for you,” I went on.
“ I liked you .
But littl e by l ittl e aga inst my will I was forced tobel ieve that you were the thie f .
”
This touched him, but not quite in the way I ex
pected .
“Me ? The thief?” he gasped—and sud
denly burst into harsh laughter .“How did you
a rrive at that ?”
I wa s no longer incl ined to spare him In thefirst place you provoked a bet with Miss Hamertonwhich induced her to wear the real pearls on then ight they were stolen .
”
His fa ce turned grave . True , he sa id . I fore
got that . What el se ?”
On April s ixth you depos ited forty thousand dole
lars in ca sh in the Second National Bank.
”
He paled .
“Anything more ?”
96 Thieves ’ Wit
Do you care to expla in where you got it ?” I
a sked.
“Not t o you, he sa id proudl y . Go on with your
story.
”
“My first clue was in the cryptic letter found on
the stage .”“ I remember. You couldn ’t translate it .But I did .
”
What ’ s it got to do with meNothing. But I found a second letter written in
the same cryptogram and about the same matters inyourpocket . ”
“That ’ s a l ie !” he s a id .
I f you want to see it i t’ s at my o ffi ce .I f you did find such a paper in my pocket it was
planted there .”“ I should be glad to believe you were not the
man , I s a id mildly.“Spare me your a ssu rances , he sa id scornfully .
He was s ilent for a while , thinking over what Ihad told h im . Slowly horro r grew in his face . “But-but this i s only a devilish combination of circumstances
,he stammered .
“You haven ’ t proved anything .
”
“The pearl s have been recovered, I sa id.
Where ?” he shot at me .“ In your sa fe .”
His legs fa iled him suddenly . He half fell in acha ir, star ing at me witlessly . Oh , my God !
” hemuttered huskily.
“Those , hers !”
I believe I smiled.
Thieves ’ Wit 97
And you—you have told -her thi s story?” he faltered .
“That’ s what I wa s engaged for .Oh
,my God !” he reiterated blankly. What
shall I do !”His agony was genuine enough . In sp ite o f m y
self I was moved by it. “Bette r go , I sa id . Thematter wi ll be hushed up , of course .
”
“Hushed up !” he cri ed “Never!
Thi s theatrica l p retence of innocence provokedme a fre sh .
“Oh , get out l” I sa id .
“And be thankful you’re gett ing off so ea s ily !”
He pa id no attention to me . I must see her,he mutte red .
“What do you expect to gain by blufling now ?” I
sa id impati ently. “You must se e that the game i sUP I wi l l not l e ave here without seeing her, hesa id with a kind of dul l obstina cy.
“You have me at a di sadvantage , I s a id bitterly.
You know I can’t have you thrown out withoutcausing a scandal .”
He scarcely seemed to hear me . I will go whenshe sends me , he muttered .
“Al l right, my patience i s equal to yours , I sa id .
So there we sat, he with hi s ghastly white faceturned towards the door into the inner rooms , moistening hi s l ip s from time to t ime , I looking out of
the window.
To make matter s worse,Mrs . Bleecker came
clucking in . She , knowing nothing, fell on Quarle s’
98 Thieves ’ Wit
neck, so to speak, and told him all her trouble s withs idelong shots at me .He pa id l ittle a ttention to her vapouring, only t e
peating in hi s gha stly, blank way :“ I must se e
Irma .
”
“Of course !” sa id Mrs . Bleecker.
“I ’ l l tell heryou ’ re here .”
“Mrs . Bleecke r, a s a fr iend, I advi se you not tointerfere , I sa id sternly.
She went out, flouncing her skirts at me .To my surpri se , Miss Hamerton presently came
in . I cannot say what led her to do it, perhap s shewas hoping aga inst hope that he could defend himsel f. There wa s no sign of weaknes s in her now .
Her face wa s a s composed a s marble . Mrs . Bleecke rdid not return .
Irma ,” he cried, send thi s fellow away .
I made ha ste to go , but she kept me . “Mr. Euderby must stay,
” she sa id .
“He is your friend,”
she added .
He made a gesture of de spa i r. A hideous s ilencede scended on the three of us .
“You asked to see me , she sa id at la st .Irma , do you bel ieve this of me ?
” he cried l ikea soul o ut of Hell .
“ I am will ing to hear anything you have to say,she murmured .
“What doe s evidence matte r ?” he cr ied . Doyou bel ieve me capable of such a thing ?”
“Am I not forced to ?” she sa id very low.
H i s head dropped . I neve r saw such hopeles s
E following day was a blue one for m e. Deprived o f all the exciting a ctiviti e s o f the past
few weeks I was at a lo ss what to do with mysel f.Moreover, I wa s dissati sfied with the result of thosea ctiviti e s . I had won out, so to speak, but mycl ient had not . For her only tragic unhappines s hadcome of it. Meanwhile that l ittle inner voice continned to whisper that I had not got to the bottomo f the case . I could not put that young fellow ’
s
amazed and despa i ring face out of my mind . It
did not fit into t he theory o f his guilt . On top of
i t all I had had a quarre l with Sadie the night before.
About noon my uncomfortable thoughts wereb roken into by the entrance o f Sadi e hersel f withsto rm signals flying, to wit : a pa i r o f fl a shing blueeye s and a red flag hoisted in e ither check. I hadsupposed tha t she wa s already on the way to Amityville with Miss Hamerton , where they were to stayat a s anatorium conducted by a doctor friend ofmine .Be fore I could speak she exploded like a bomb in
my o ffice . “Ben , you’ve been a fool !”
Eh I sa id, bl inking and looking pre cious l ikeone
,I expect .
She repeated it with amplifications .
100
Thieves ’ Wit 101
So you sa id la st n ight,” I remarked .
But I hadn ’ t seen her then .
”
“Aren ’t you going to the country?” I a sked, hoping to create a divers ion .
Yes , at two o’ clock. But I had to see you first .
To tell me what you thought of me ?To beg you to do something.
”
What i s there to do“You have made a hideous mistake ! Ruined both
the ir l ive s !”
I may have had my own doubts , but it wouldn’ t
have been human to confess them in the face o f ana tta ck l ike thi s . “Easy, there !
” I sa id sulki ly .
“Have you di scovered any new evidence“Oh , evidence !
” she cried scornful ly. I knowhe couldn
’
t have stolen her pearl s , and in your heartyou know it, too .
”
“Sorry,” I sa id sarcastically, but in conduct ing
my bus ines s I have to consult my head be fore myhea rt .”
“ I know it ! she s a id bitterly. That’ s whyyou ’ve been a fool !
“Well , next time I’ l l consult a clai rvoyant .
“Oh , don’ t try to be clever ! It’ s too dreadful !
I f you had seen her ! She will never act aga in . Andhe l—he wi ll l ikely kil l himself, i f he has not alreadydone it.”
This struck a chill to m y
’
breast. Sadie had anintu i t ive sense that I could not a fford to desp ise .At the same time having been called a fool
,I couldn ’ t
back down .
102 Thieves ’ Wit‘ I don’t see what better he can do , I sa id hardily.You can say that she sa id aghast . “You don ’ t
mean it !”
A very real j e alousy made me hot . That hand~s ome young blackguard had all the women with him .
“Are you in love with him, too ?” I asked sarca s
t ically.
It was a mi stake . She had me there You ’ redo ing your best to make me ,
” she retorted .
“What are you abusing m e for ?” I compla ined .
I did no more than what I was engaged to do .
”
“ She wa s distra cted !” sa id Sadie . “ She couldn ’ tth ink for hersel f . She depended on you .
”
“Well, I did the be st I could for her,” I sa id dog
gedly.
“You seem to think that I enj oyed doingi t There i s a per fect ca se against him .
”
There i s not !” she sa id quickly.
“Your own evidence that you set such a store by i s full o f hole s !”
I invi ted her to point them out.
One of your po ints aga inst him i s that he l atelycame into possess ion of a lot of money, presumablythe pro ceeds o f the theft . Yet you found the pearlson him, too. One fact contradicts the other
“How do I know what othe r act ivm es he ’ s beenengaged in ?
”
“You do not believe that .I beg your pardon , I sa id stifily.
“Perm it meto know my own belie fs .
“ I f it wa sn ’ t true it wouldn ’ t ange r you .
I am not angry.
” I smiled to prove it.
104 Thieves ’ Wit
No , strange a s it seems , I bel ieve he was in lovewith her.
“That makes goose eggs o f a ll your fine rea soning ! Reason all night and it wouldn ’ t make sense .He might have stolen anybody else ’ s pearls butnever hers . It was she who wronged love in bel ieving that he could. To find out that she sus
pected him kil led hi s love dead . Losing that, whatdid he care about his reputation ? I f he does awaywith himself i t will be not because he was a ccusedof a the ft, but because she killed hi s trust in her,and he doe sn ’ t care to l ive without it .”
I l i stened to all this with an affected smile of superiority, but it rea ched me . Every word that theunhappy Quarle s had uttered fitted in with Sadie ’ stheo ry.
“ Suppose some one accused you o f stealing Mis sHam erton
’
s purse to buy me a present,” she went on,a rtfully changing her tone . “ I would make a tremendons virtuous fus s , of course , but in my heartI couldn ’ t love you any le ss, though you might nothave the sense to know it. But i f they sa id you hadstolen m y purse to buy me something, how I wouldl augh ! It ’ s too s illy for words .I was rap idly weaken ing, but it was damnably hard
to own up .
“The same with this case . You think I ’m inlove with Quarles because I de fend him . That ’ sjust l ike a man ! The truth i s , what hurt s me is tosee you de ceive yoursel f, and then look fatuousabout i t.”
Thieves Wit 105
She was now wielding a double-edged sword .
But i f the woman who loves him wa s dece ived ,sure ly I have some excuse ,” I sa id meekly.
“That’ s the weaknes of he r cha racter—or the penalty of her posit ion , whicheve r you like . She i s sosurrounded by flattery and meanness , it ha s taughther to suspect even her love r .”
“But how did the pearl s get in hi s s a fe ?” I cried,begging for mercy.
“ I don ’t know. It ’ s a mystery . I ’m only tryingto show you that you haven ’ t solved the mysteryyet.” Once more she changed her tone , the witch !“ I ’m so keen to have you make a great succes s o f theca se , Ben . And to help a l ittle .That comp leted the rout of my forces . Sadie ,darling,” I cried .
“ In my heart I feel the same a syou . I would have given in at once i f you hadn ’ tbegun by slapping my face !”
There wa s a l ittle private interlude here . Bossand operat ive were lost s ight o f.Now let’ s get to work !” I sa id .
I hope it’ s not too late ! she sa id sadly.
HASTENED down to Quarles’ rooms nearGramercy Square . I found his old house
keeper in tea rs . My gl impse beyond her showedme that the place was partly di smantled. I foundthat she was half-heartedly packing. She did notknow me without my Faxon makeup , and re fusedany information . I suspected that she had been forb idden to speak. However, by adroit and sym patheti c questioning, and because the poor old soul wa sbursting with her trouble s , i t finally came out witha rush . She thought her maste r had lo st hi s mind ,he had acted so strangely, but such wa s her awe ofhim, she had not dared question hi s commands .All night long he had paced his bedroom and s it
t ing-room , pausing only to burn paper s and cherished mementos in the grate . When she had ri senfrom her bed and tim idily enquired i f he were ill ,he had harshly ordered her back to her room . Thereshe had la in trembling unti l morning, grieving because she thought she had offended him .
He had le ft his breakfa st unta sted . Afterwardshe had called her to h im, and in a voice and manner totally unl ike his own
,had announced that he
wa s going away, and had given her instructions thatte rrified her . His furniture wa s to be sent to anauctioneer’s under an a ssumed name , and was to be
106
108 Thieves ’ Wit
telephoned Sad i e , snatched a bite to eat, and caughtthe next express South .
It was not the most cheerful j ourney I have taken.I had four hours to think ove r the tragic possibil it i e s of my mistake , and it wa s small comfort to re
fl ect that it was a na tura l mistake . Quarles,with
hi s three hours ’ sta rt had only too much t ime toput his purpose into effect. My only hope was thathe might inst inct ively be led to wa it unti l n ight .Darkness ha s an invincible attraction for desperatesouls .Arriving in Baltimore I had the whole wide city tochoose from , and not a clue . No chance of anybody’ s having marked him in the crowd that leftthe tra in there . However, I happened to know of
a ce rta in sele ct hotel invari ably patrom sed by theélit e of the pro fe ss ion , and I went there on a chance .The cle rk I saw did not know Mr . Quarle s , but uponmy describ ing him he sa id that such a young manhad been in the hotel during the a fternoon . He wa snot regi stered there . He recollected him becausehe had stopped at the desk to a sk an unusual quest ion . D id the clerk know where there wa s a taxiderm ist in town ? Together they had looked up an‘
address in the busines s directory, and the young manhad departed . He had not returned .
I hastened to the taxiderm i st ’ s wondering greatlywhat could have been Quarles ’ errand in such a
pla ce . Cast ing back in my mind, I rememberedhaving seen several l ittle case s of mounted butterfl ie s among his trea sures . There was something
Thieves’ Wit 109
pathetically innocent in the wide open tra il the youngfe llow wa s leaving behind him . This surely wasno experienced criminal .The store wa s kept by a benignant old man whosomehow seemed to belong with the stufled birdsand pet dogs that l ined the walls of hi s l ittle place .I also saw many little frame s of impaled beetle s andbutterfl i e s such a s I had seen in Quarle s’ rooms .The ent i re pla ce had an old world look .
The old fellow was a kindly, garrulou s soul whorequired not the slightest pres sure to set h im talking. Quarle s , i t appeared , had made quite an impress ion on him . A handsome young fellow !” hesa id,
“ and such a gentleman .
” Quarle s , he sa id,had been attracted into his shop by the butterfl i es ,and Lhey had fallen into ta lk about butterfly hunting,of which sport both were devotee s . Quarle s hadfinally purchased three beauti ful specimens o f something with a terr ible Latin name .As he was about to leave , Quarles had remarked
that he wa s on his way out of town for a j aunt, andhe had neglected to provide himself with any cya
nide . It seems that cyanide i s what they use to killthe insects . In all innocence the old man had furnished i t, and his customer with one more questionhad departed . Where was there a second handclothes dealer ?Cyanide o f pota ss ium, deadli e st of poisons ! I
hastened to the se cond hand store with a s icknes sat the heart .They remembered Quarles here , too. The story
1 10 Thieves ’ Wit
he had told here wa s that he wanted some worn oldclothe s to wea r to a masquerade . He had been furnished with a complete outfit , hat, suit, shirt, so cksand shoes . While things were be ing wrapped up ,he had mentioned idly that he was a stranger intown , and he had a couple of hours to kill . Hewanted to know of a trolley l ine that would takehim out in the country . The storekeepe r had recom m ended the Annapolis short line as the pleasantest ride on a mild evening.
Thi s had been about four, and it wa s now a l ittlea fte r s ix . I had caught up on him a l ittle . I foundthat the cars le ft for Annapoli s every half hour .By good luck the car which had left a t four returnedwhile I was wa iting in the station . I intervi ewedthe conductor . He remembered Quarles . His at
tention had been a ttracted to him because , a lthoughhe held a ticket to Annapoli s , he had suddenly risenand le ft the ca r at the Severn river bri dge station .
I took the s ix-thi rty ca r for Annapoli s . The conductor told me that the station at the bridge wa sused principally by summer residents who had the i rmotor boat s meet them here . At this season , e arlyin May, there wa s but l ittle busines s there . I t wa sa lmost dark when I got off
,a balmy, Sp ring evening.
It wa s a lonely-l ooking spot . There was a little settl em ent up a hill , with a p ath from the station , but‘
I guessed that i f my man had been attracted by thel oneliness of the s ituation , he would not go that way .
I looked about. Cross ing the track and cl imb ingdown to a dese rted strip o f beach bes ide the wide
[ 12 Thieves ’ Wit
bridge . Automobile s crossed it a t intervals . Sincethe footprints were not resumed in the sand acrossthe road it was clea r he had turned into it one wayor the other . The river seemed likeliest . I startedout on the b ridge, dreading most of all to hea r asplash just out of my reach . It was now quite dark.
Out in the middle o f the bridge clo se to the drawI came upon a motionle ss , slouching figure with battered hat pulled down over the face . Notwithstanding the shapeless clothe s the tall slenderne sswas unmistakable . He was leaning with his elbowson the guard ra il regarding something that he heldin one hand . The obj ect caught a spark from thered light o f the draw overhead . It wa s the via lof cyanide . My heart bounded with relie f. I wa sin time—but barely .
“Quarle s, I s a id softly.He stra ightened up with a terrified hiss ing intake
of the breath . I turned the fl a shl ight on m yself tosave lengthy explanations .
“You!
” he sa id a fter a moment, in a low bittertone . “God !must you dog me here
“ I am your friend,” I sa id.
He laughed.
“Friend !” he said . That ’s good !Then his tone changed . You ’d bette r be on yourway,
” he sa id thre ateningly. “ I ’m in no mood forfooling.
”
“I’ve been t rying to overtake you s ince noon , I
sa id, merely[
to be saying something. An instincttold me there wa s nothing like a l ittle conversation tolet down a desperate man .
Thieves ’ Wit 1 13
Why, in God’ s name ?” he demanded. What
good am I to you now ?”“ I no longer beli eve you guilty.
I don ’ t give a damn what you believe .I want you to help me find the thief.”
“ It’ s nothing to me who took the pearls . She ’ s
got’ em back aga in . You ’d better go on .
” I won ’ tstand for any interference .
“You won ’t do i t now,
” I sa id confidently .
Won ’ t I !He made a move to uncork the little vial . I
struck his wri st and it fell to the ground . Wesearched for i t frantically in the dark. I had thel ight, and I saw it first . I put my heel on it, andground the fragile , deadly thing into the planks o fthe bridge floor . He cursed me .
“There i s still the water , I sa id .
“ I ’m a swimmer ,” he sa id sullenly. I couldn ’ tgo down . I meant to climb on the ra il and take thestuff
,so it would look l ike drowning . But there
a re plenty of ways .”“Be a man and l ive I sa id .
He laughed aga in . There ’ s nothing in that cantfor a man who’ s s ick of the game .
“Live for her sake , I hazarded . She l ove s
You ’ve mistaken your job, old man , he sa idwith grim amusement. “You ought to be a playwright . Write he r a play . She ’ s a great a ctre ss .Yah ! I ’m sick of i t ! Love ! There ’ s no suchthing. Not in women ! This is rea l, anyhow .
”
1 14 Thieves’ Wit
I had got him talking. Something told me thecrisis wa s pa st. I took a new tack.
“ She certa inly has treated you badly, I sa id. Idon ’ t wonder you ’re sore . I know just how you
feel .He turned on me with clenched fist and a furi ou s
command to be s ilent . “ It ’ s no damned poli ceman ’ sbusines s what I feel !
“Revenge i s sweet, I murmured .
It brought him up all standing. In the dark Iheard him breathing qu ickly .
“Do you want to crawl away like a cur and die in
a hole ?” I a sked .
Why in Hell can’ t you let me alone ?” he sa idfretfully.
“What do you want to drag me backfor ?
”
I saw I had him going now . Make her suffer,I urged . The most perfe ct revenge in the worldi s yours i f you want i t, because she love s you .
”
‘What are you getting at ?”“Prove your innocence to he r.I doubt i f I could ,” he sa id weakly. I shouldn’ t
know how to begin . I seem to be caught in a net .”“ I am offering to help you .
”
What ’ s your game ?” he demanded susp iciously.
“ I ’ve made a seri ous mistake ,” I sa id “ I ’ve gotmy professional reputa ti on to think of. Besides ,I ’m only human . I don ’ t want to have your unt imely end on my conscience .”
“ It needn ’ t be . I ’m my own master.I decided to risk all on one throw. I la id a hand
E proceeded on across the bridge into the
town of Annapoli s . First I took Roland toa lunch room and commanded him to eat. I had a
t ime getting him to swallow the first mouthful, butthat once down , he developed a ravenous appetite .I suppose he had not eaten in thi rty hours . It wascomical to se e how, with a stomachful o f hot foodins ide him , a zest in l iving renewed itsel f. Themore hi s resolution weakened, the loude r he inveighed aga inst l i fe . But he had a sense of hu
mour. He suddenly became conscious of the ab
surdity o f hi s attitude , and we laughed togethe r.From that moment he wa s sa fe , and he was mine .There i s nothing to cement a friendship l ike l aughter .Afterwards I got a room in an obs cure hotel .Roland sat down on the edge of the bed, and proceeded to give me hi s vers ion o f the matters thatperplexed me so . In the middle o f a sentence hefell ove r and slept l ike a dead man . I stole outand telegraphed Sadie at Am ityville that I had himsa fe and sound . Returning, I sa t by the hourwatching him . My heart was so ft for the humancreature I had snatched from the brink . He lookedvery boyish and appeal ing a s he lay sleeping. Heseemed years younger than I . I cannot tell you how
1 16
Thieves ’ Wit 1 17
glad I was to think that there was warmth in theyoung body, and senti ence under the shut lids .Shortly a fte r midnight he awoke a s suddenly and
thoroughly a s he had fallen a sleep . Then he wantedt o ta lk. He wa s bursting with talk. I swallowedmy yawns and set mysel f to. l i sten . I l et him talkin hi s own way, no questions . For a long time Ili stened to what I already knew, the tale of hi s j ealous , hopeles s p ass ion for Irma . Sometimes he hadsuspected that she inclined towards him, but itseemed preposterous to a sk her to give up her professiori for him . On the other hand he knew hecould not endure sharing his wi fe with the publi c .He had decided to go away without speaking—andthen the mira culous legacy had dropped from theskies .
“Tell me all about that ” I commanded .
I prom i sed not to tell , he sa id reluctantly.
This i s a matte r o f l i fe and death . Why wa sa p romise exacted ?”
“To avoid publi ci ty .
There will be none , I s a id . I pledge mysel fto guard the secret a s well a s you could .
”
“ I destroyed the letter I got, with the others ,hes a id .
“But I read it so o ften I can give it to youalmost word for word .
”
“Too bad it wa s destroyed ! I s a id .
Oh, you can veri fy the contents by the Amsterdam Trust Company who paid me the money.
”
“But i f you have a cle a r ca se what did you runfor ?” I asked amazed .
1 18 Thieves ’ Wit
You will neve r understand, he sa id with a wrysmile . “ I seemed to die at that moment when I sawthat Irma bel ieved I was capable o f robbing her .What did I care about my case ?”Hearing that, my op inion of Sadie ’ s persp icacity
went up ma rvellously.
“Go on , I sa id .
I took down the lette r from hi s dictati on . It waswritten , he sa id, on expensive note-paper, withoutaddress , cre st or seal , in a large and somewhat oldfashioned feminine hand.
DEAR MR. QUARLESAlthough you have never heard of me I think of
you a s my dea rest friend . I have followed your career from the t ime of your fi rst appearance on thestage . I am one of those unfortunate s who , con
dem ned to l ive , are cut off from l i fe . I watch li fepa s s from behind my iron s creen . It i s you who , allunconscious , have supplied me with a dream to cheatmy emptine ss . I have warmed my cold hands atyour fire .
“Now they tell me my relea se i s at hand . I wishto show my gratitude to you in the only way that ispossible to me . An arti st’ s caree r i s diffi cult and uncerta in . I want to remove a l ittle o f the uncerta intyfrom yours .
“ I must avoid giving rise to si lly gossip whichwould grieve my relatives . To av01d the publi cityof probate I am making secret arrangements be forehand . An ol d friend will ca rry out my wishe s forme when I am gone .
“The doctors give me a week longer . Upon mydeath thi s lette r will be mailed to you . You will thenhea r from the Amsterdam Trust Company that a
120 Thieves ’ Wit
known man . They will still be there if we needthem .
”
“ It mustn’ t get in the newspapers , he sa id nervously.
“Trust me for that. I ’m not going to make youbreak your word . Now about the bet you made withMiss Hamerton .
He winced at the sound of her name There ’ sno more in that than appears on the surfa ce ,
” hesa id irritably. I couldn’t have told the pa ste fromthe genuine . I wanted to give her a box of gloves .But she never cla imed them , and I forgot about it .”
“The cryptogram you have alre ady expla ined,sa id I .
“ I did not know there was such a paper in mypocket .”
“Hold on , he cried suddenly, about that bet .I have just remembered that I once had a talk aboutprecious stones , pearls , with a man in the company.
”
“MilbourneSure ! How did you know ?
“ I believe he took them . But it’s going to be aj ob to prove it .”
It was just a trifl ing conversation , Roland re
sumed, thinking hard .
“ I can ’t remember exa ctly.
He marked the beauty and oddity of Ir—of MissHam erton
’
s necklace . I think‘
he sa id he hoped thatshe did not risk wearing real pearl s on the stage .That may have been to find out i f I knew they wereartifici al . I told him she did not wea r the rea l ones .There was more ta lk . He seemed to know about
Thieves ’ Wit 121
pearl s , and I believe I a sked him how to tell therea l from the a rt ificial . I never thought of it then ,but looking back I se e that it may have been thattalk which gave me the idea of making a bet withIr—with her . Oh , I have been a fool !”This i s a ll interesting,
” I sa id, “but it doesn ’ tgive us anything solid to go on. Now for the ma inthing . How did the real pearls get in your sa fe ?”
Roland struck hi s forehead .
“ I have been everybody’ s dupe !” he groaned.
“ It ’ s a p art we all have to play occa s ionally, Isa id soothingly.
“Go ahead .
”
“About thi s t ime I began to get ci rcula r lettersfrom a fi rm of j ewellers ca lled Jones and Sanfordwith an address on Maiden Lane , where all thej ewellers used to be . They were fac-s imile letters ,very well written .
“The kind that are made to look like personal letters , but l ike false te eth , dece ive nobody ?
”
“Precisely. I got one every few days . They wereall to the e ff ect that the writers a s brokers , were prepared to sell preciou s stone s a t pr ice s much underthose a sked by the big j ewellers . There wa s a l otof rigmarole about saving on overhead charges , interest on valuable stocks and so on, about what youwould expect in such letters . There were a lot ofimposing-looking references , too .
At first I pa id no attention to the lette rs ; precions stones didn’ t interest me . But when I got allthat money I began to read them . You see I—Iwanted to make Irma a p resent, and I knew she
122 Thieves ’ Wit
l oved pearl s better than anything else in the world .
I let a whistle of a stonishment out of me . “Do
you mean to say you bought Miss Ham erton’
s pearl swith the idea of presenting her with them , to addto her collection ?He nodded shamefacedly. I didn’ t know she
had been robbed .
”
“How long had you had them ?”
Just a few days .”
He told me that he had a sked Miss Hamerton toma rry him , and intended the necklace for a wedding-gift
’
if she consented .
“You were a downy bi rd ! I excl a imed .
Wait t ill I tell you ,” he sa id .
“They were a slickpa ir . You m ight have been taken in yoursel f . ”
“Did they know you ?” I a sked, still full of amazement .
“Certa inly. I pa id for them by check, certifiedcheck .
”
“Which they cashed within hal f an hour !Maybe . I never enquired.
Sold Miss Ham erton’
s p earls back toMiss Hamerton
’
s l eading man !” I cried. My boy, we havesomething out of the common in crooks to de a:with !”
“They had a well-furnished su ite on an upper flooro f a first-cla s s o ffi ce building,
” he resumed .
“ I wa sthere thre e or four t imes . I saw other customer scoming and go ing. Everything was bus iness-l ikeand all right looking. Even the stenographer hada prim New England a i r. They showed me al l
124 Thieves ’ Wit
were genuine , and of good qual ity. He valued themat about twelve thousand dolla rs .
“The devi l he did !” I cried .
“This case i s spreading wider and wider . Freer i s in the gang, too . Tothink of the ir having a picket in Dunsany
’
s I”
“How do you know ?”
Because he l ike everybody else in the trade hadbeen informed that the only necklace of blue-blackpearls in the world had been stolen . He knew,
moreover, that it was worth But here prudence stopped my tongue .
“Worth what ?” a sked Roland .
“Well , much more than twelve thousand .
The only blue p earl s in the world ?” he sa id, puzzled.
“There ’ s a lot about thi s neckla ce you don ’ tknow,
” I s a id smiling. “All in good t ime . Go on
with your story.
”
“Well , that’
s all , i sn’t it ?” sa id be.
“At least
you know the rest . Why these fellows were so careful of deta il s , you will even find the i r imprint in goldins ide the case . Jones and Sanford, such and sucha number, Maiden Lane .”
“Hm ! I have a case on my hands now ! I sa idmeditatively.
“ It may take me s ix months or moreto clean this up .
“ I ’ ll work with you, he sa id.My dea r fellow, I l ike you better every minute ,”
I s a id , smiling a t him .
“But you ’d make the worstdetective in the world .
“Oh, well , maybe I would, he sa id.
Thieves Wit 125
There ’ s no need fo r you to awa it the outcomeof the ca se ,
” I sa id.
“We have the evidence rightin hand to clear you . I ’l l l ay i t be fore Miss Hamerton to-morrow morning.
My young friend surprised me again . He leapedup with his dark eyes pos itively blaz ing.
“You ’ lldo nothing of the kind !” he cri ed passionately .
That affa i r i s done , done for ever. I f you interf ere, I won’t be responsible for the consequences .She has her pearls back. Let he r b e . My time willcome when she reads of the capture and the tr ia lof the re al th ieve s in the publi c newspapers !”
ACK in New York next day, I made haste toget to work on the hal f dozen clues with which
Roland had furnished me .I may say in passing, though the vis it had no im
portant results , that I called on Mr. Ambler of theAmsterdam Trust Company. At first he decl inedto give me any information whateve r, but when I
hinted that a certa in susp ic ion rested onMr . Quarle s ,he corroborated Roland’ s story a s far a s he knew it .He declined to give me the name o f the attorneywho had brought the money to the bank .
“My en
dorsem ent of Mr. Quarle s ’ story should be amplysuffic ient to cle ar him ,
” he sa id, with the a ir of abank president.
“Undoubtedly, I s a id , bowing, and le ft .Since there appeared to be no immediate connection between Roland ’ s legacy and the theft o f thepearl s , I let that go for the present .I went to the addres s o f the j ewellers on MaidenLane , but found, a s I expe cted, that the b irds hadflown . An i rate renting agent a ired hi s opin i on of
Messrs . Sanford and Jones , but could give me noin formation o f the i r whereabouts . They hadleased the o ffice s for a year, and a fte r five weeks ’
tenancy , quietly moved out.126
128 Thieves ’ Wit
worldly smile ,“ the world i s full o f trouble . I do
not try to e scape my share ; I fa ce it l ike a man , ora s near like a man a s I can . But I never go sea rching for more . We have by your skill recovered thej ewels . Therea sons for not pursu ing the matte r anyfurther a re to me obvious . Bette r let well enoughalone .”
I appeared to give in to him . Maybe you ’ rer ight . I thought I saw a chance to earn a littleglory .
“There will b e plenty of opportunitie s for that,he sa id aflably.
“You can count on me .”
We parted in friendly fa shion .
So much for Mr . Alfred Mount . At lea st hewould never be able to say later that I had not givenhim his chance .1 went to the magnificent marble building which
houses Dunsany and Company, and asked boldly forMr. Walter Dunsany, great-grandson of the founde rof the house , and its present head . I was adm ittedto him without di fficulty . I found him a j ewelle rand a man of a ffa irs of a typ e very di ff erent fromhim I had just come from . Mr . Dunsany was as imple , unassuming man , direct and outspoken . Inshort
,a man ’ s man . I was strongly attracted to
him , and I may say without vanity that he seemedto like me . From the first he trusted me more thanI had any right 'to expect .At thi s time he wa s a m an of about forty-five yea rsold
,somewhat bald, and beginning to be corpulent,
but with a humorous , eage r, youthful glance. He
Thieves ’ Wit 129
glanced up from my card with a whimsical smile .“Confidentia l investigator ? More trouble , I sup
pose ?”“ I ’m afra id so , I sa id . Have you an employee
named Freer , an expert on pearls .”
“ I had unti l a few days ago .
”
An exclamation of disappo intment e scaped me .“What ’ s the matte r with Freer ?” he a sked .
I suppose you don ’ t know where he i s ?”On his way back to Holland, I suppose . He came
from there ten years ago . Why ?”“One more question first . I am assum ing that
you know that a certai n famous necklace of bluepearls ha s been stolen ?”
“Mount ’ s p earls ? Certa inly. Everybody in thetrade was advised.
”
“You are sure Freer knew ?Certa inl y. It wa s his business first .”
Yet a week or so ago , that necklace was' brought
into your store by a man who was considering thepurcha se of it . He subm i tte d it to Freer . Freerp ronounced the stone s genu ine , and sa id that thene cklace wa s worth about twelve thousand .
Mr . Dunsany jumped up and paced the roomagitatedly “Freer !” he excla imed .
“ Imposs ible !You a re sure of
,your facts !”
I described the operations of Messrs . Sanfordand Jones .Not imposs ible , I suppose , he sa id more qui etly.
This sort o f thing ha s happened to me before . Idoubt i f there wa s eve r a time when I was not bar
I 30 Thie’
ves ’ Wit
boring some thie f or another. They never stealfrom me
, you understand . They are the p i ckets,the outposts , who watch where the j ewels go, andreport to Headquarters . But Freer ! He had beenwith me ten years . He had an instinct for pearls !”
“Headqua rters ?” I sa id eagerly.
“Then you
agree with me that there i s an organ i sed gang atwork ?”
“That’ s no secret, he sa id. Every j ewelle rknows that there i s a kind of corporati on of j ewelthieve s . I t is probably ten yea rs old, and bette rorgani sed and administered than our own a ssoci ation .
”
“Why don ’ t you break it up ?”
Break it up !” he echoed .
“It i s my dearest ambition ! There ha s never been a meet ing of our a ssociation but what I have urged with all my eloquence that we get together and break up the thi e ftrust. They will not support me . Everybody sus
pects that he ha s sp ies in hi s e stabl i shment, perhap slike Free r in a responsible position . The crooksseem to have u s where they want us . They havenever robbed us, you see . There i s a sort of umwritten agreement, you leave us alone and we
’ ll le aveyou . The other m en in the a ssociation say : ‘ I four customers are ca reles s with the i r j ewels , we arenot responsible . ’ But I say we are ! These crookshave put us in a position where , i f we do not goa fte r them, we may be sa id to be in league withthem .
”
132 Thieves ’ Wit
I shall not let him know , Mr. Dunsany sa idbriefly.
To make a long story short, I succeeded in sati sfying Mr . Dunsany of my fitness to undertake thematter in hand . We concluded a de fensive and of
fensive alliance . He let me understand that expensewa s to be no obj ect. I saw him every day . We metat hi s club , which was a s sa fe a place a s we couldfind.
I gave him my full confidence , of cours e . WithRoland’ s consent I told him everything that had oc
curred up to that t ime . Mr. Dunsany for his parthad a whole fi le of evidence that he had quietlycollected . He turned it ove r to me . It wa s interesting, and in the end valuable , but it had nothingto do with the ca se o f the blue pearls .We laid our plan s with infin ite care . There wa s
no hurry now, and every move was planned in ad
vance . Absolute secrecy wa s imperative . Mr .Dunsany and I agreed not to t ake a soul on ea rthinto our confidence .It wa s nece ssary to hire a small army of opera
tives . I did not figure in thi s . I had Pete rKeenan , an ol d friend of mine , who was not knowngenerally among my friends , a ct for me . Peter wasa fa ithful , consci entious soul , not a t a ll brill i ant . Hehired a suite of o ffices on Forty-second stre et andset up the “Internati onal Detective Agency .
” Pete rwa s the nom inal head, and Sadie the real directresso f thi s e stablishment . Here the operative s were
Thieves’ Wit I 33
hired and sent on the ir errands . Each did hi s l ittl e ta sk knowing nothing of the general plan .
Meanwhile Mr. B . Enderby was to be found allday in hi s o ffice on Fortieth street with hi s feet onthe desk, chinning with hi s young friends or compos ing a new play. You see the second cryptogramled me to suspe ct that they were aware of my identity , and in case I were watched , a s I surely wouldb e , I desired to give the impression that I haddropped all a ct iviti e s in connection with j ewels orj ewel thieves . I communicated with Sadie by letter . Uncle Sam i s at once the most public and thesa fest messenge r . For emergencie s we a rranged asystem of telephone calls .It would be a tedious ta sk to set down all the rout ine work of the agency. There were m i stakes , disappointments and blind tra il s without number . Tobegin with , Sadie wa s ordered to tra ce Freer , thepearl agent
,a lso Sanford and Jone s , the bogus j ew
ellers , and any of the ir employee s . All thi s enta iledgreat labour, and it wa s absolutely ba rren of t e
sult . These people se emed t o have vani shed intothin a i r . In the ca se o f Kenton Milbourne she wa smore succes s ful . She wrote
“ In my chara cter of Miss Covington the a ctre ss ,I called on severa l of the women of Miss Hamerton ’ s company who gave me the ir addres se s whenwe disbanded . From the ir gossip I le arned without having to a sk questions , that Kenton Milbourneha s not disappeared . They have a ll met him onBroadway. He is apparently l iving the ordinary
134 Thieves’ Wit
l i fe o f an a ctor out o f a j ob , going around to thed ifferent agencie s to l i st hi s name , etc. His addres sis No . West 4 9th street.
“ I have a llotted three o f our be st m en to keepMilbourne under surveillance . The first, D . B. ,
who has been an actor, i s working independentlyof the other two . He ha s engaged a room in thesame house and will make friends with M . The
other two operatives , A. N . and S . C. , a re to tra ilh im turn and turn about .Thus the ground was la id out. Making my re
port in turn to Mr . Dunsany,I sa id : “
It’
s all verywell a s far a s i t goe s , but we must do some origina lwork . Tracking the the ft o f Mis s Ham erton
’
s
pearls i s following a cold tra il . Our work is destroyed by the fact that the j ewels have been recovered . We must branch out.”
“What do you propose sa id he .Let us lay a tempting ba it for a new robbery,
and catch them red-handed.”
Go ahead !”
Are you prepared to ri sk som ething choice ind i amonds or pea rls ?”
“Anything I have in stock.Very well . First, however, we
’ve got to get am an a ccepted into the inmost ci rcl e o f the thie ftrust.”
136 Thieves ’ Wit
in due course at the foot of Manhattan I sland, hegaz ed at the towering buildings with a wonderingeye , and allowed himsel f to be guided to an humblehotel in the neighbourhood .
I was not there to meet him for a very good reason , but later in the day I rece ived a note appri sing me of hi s arrival . Two days later I had an
other tell ing m e that having presented lette rs o frecommendation , he had been engaged in the gemsetting shop s o f Dunsany and Co. I cannot do bette r than quote from hi s own report s . Far frombe ing the usual cut and dried affa irs
,they were little
hum an documents o f humorous observation .
REPORT OF J . M . 2
Wednesday, June 3rd .
The morning a fter I l anded, a ccording to ourp rogram , I went to Dunsany’ s to apply for a j ob .
I wonder i f any merchant be fore me ever had theexperience o f besi eging the doors o f hi s own shop ina l ike humble capacity. Probably not. I enj oyedthe experience . A s soon a s I opened the door Ibegan to lea rn things about my own place . I alwaysthought that my democrati c idea s encouraged my emp loyees to treat me exa ctly l ike one of themselves ,but I found tha t they did not—quite . Walkingthrough the a isle s I perce ived a new atmosphere , aca sualness
,an indifference in the salesmen which
shocked me at fi rst , then made me want to laugh .
The joke was on me !
Thieves ’ Wit 137
My letter of recommendation , which I had written myself, naturally, ga ined me the entree to thepresent head of the firm , i.e. , my son Edward . Iapproa ched his office with som e nervousness . Herewould be the first grand test of my disgu i se . Wouldthe son re cognise his father ? And i f he did, wouldhe have the wit not to give me away before others ?And if he did not, would I be able to keep my ownfa ce in the ludicrous situat ion ?I should say that in the matte r of disguise I have
followed your instruct ions care fully. The wig or
toupee or transformation with which you furnishe dme , completely changes my appearance . I havealso applied the stubbly beard and short mousta chea s you showed me how to do . I am letting my own
ha i r grow beneath and will soon be able to leaveoff the false , which wil l b e a relie f a s it i s both hotand sticky . In addition it occurred to me to leavea s ide certa in dental work which cost me a lot of
money. The result i s sta rtling, and very sati s fa ctoryto our purpose .My clothes I bought ready-made in a Londonemporium . Need I say more ? The hat i s a wonder , a sort of decrep it music—master a ffa i r of blackfelt . It i s undoubtedly third or fourth hand—or
should I s ay fourth head ? I took care to have itwell fumigated .
Eddie did not recogni se me . He favoured mewith some sharp glances which di scomposed me nota little , but thi s was only natural caution in engag
ing an unknown man . In our bus iness we have to
138 Thieves ’ Wit
be care ful . I was well-plea sed with Eddie ’ s manner
,succinct and business-l ike without a trace of arro
gance . Much better than my own manner , I dare say.
Eddie was pla inly annoyed by the s ituation , norcould I blame him . It was , of course , very irregula r . In e ffect we were breaking the alien labour law,
beside opening up the prospect of labour troublesi n our own shop . I knew exactly what was passingin the boy’ s mind, and I was longing to re assure him .
Inste ad I had to make bel ieve to be sl ightly overawed in the presence o f my l ittle boy !He had no choice in the matter, because I had v ir
tual ly instructed h im to employ thi s Mattingly . Inaddition to the letter of recommendation I had written him from London saying that I was sending sucha man, an experienced j ewel-setter, I had sa id, andhad describedMattingly
’
s appearance , so that he hadno need to a sk me to identify myself.Finally a fte r a sking a number o f que stions , to allo f which I had the answers pat , Eddie engaged me .I followed him to an upper floor, hard put to it tokeep from grinning at the ide a of my boy showingme the way around the pla ce . Fortunately the spectacl es I wear help me to pre se rve an owl-l ike gravity .
He took me to Ashley, the foreman o f the gemsetting department . Ashley ha s been with us fortyyears . He is a surly, lovable old crab . It wa s under Ashley that I got my tra in ing in handicra fttwenty-five years ago . Ashley regarded me withno favourable eye , but bowed to the mandate o f thehead of the firm , of course . He gave me a boy ’ s
140 Thieves Wit
generally come s off second be st in the ir verba l encounters .During one of thei r arguments the fi rst day, I wasmuch amused , and a l ittle a larmed, when the talkturned on me .
“You with your sociali st talk !” cried Ashley to
Mullen s cornfully.
“A man would think every bos swa s a horned devil ! There ’ s our old man now,
what’ s the matter with him ?”“ I don ’ t know him , sa id Mullen with a leer .We ain ’ t on visiting terms .”
He talks to u s, simple and fri endly, just l ikeone of ourselve s ,
” s a id Ashley.
“ Sure !” cried Mullen .
“ It don ’ t cost him nothin ’ !I a in ’t seen him give up nothin ’ but ta lk, though .
That ’ s what he keeps you qui et with, a little so ft talk
Like strokin’ the dog !
“He don ’ t set up to be no more than a man l ikemyself !” sa id my defender .
“ Sure , and he i s no more ! c ri ed the other .“I’
ve
got a s good an appetite for my meals a s him , and mykids i s a s strong and handsome as his . But therehe i s sa iling acros s the ocean in a soot de luxe , andhere am I sweating at hi s bench .
”
‘Well , what are you go ing to do about it ?” a sked
Ashley,whereat all the men on his s ide crowed .
“Do cried Mullen .
“ I ’m goin ’ to give him fa i rvalue for hi s wages , that
’ s what I ’m goin ’ to do ButI don ’ t have to lick the hand that pats me !
“A man can do what he likes with hi s own, Iguess ,
” s a id Ashley.
Thieves ’ Wit 1 41
Tain ’t hi s own ! was the surpris ing answer.He didn ’t ea rn i t, did he ? It was the surplu s tha thi s dad made out of us workmen, and hi s grand-dadbefore him .
”
“His grand-dad sta rted a s a workman like our
selves ,” sa id Ashley . Only he wa s the best work
man , so he went ahead .
“ I doubt that, sa id Mullen coolly. Tain ’ t thebest workman that gets ahead, but the sharpest .Grand-dad wa s sharp enough to get ahead of theother workman . All right , I say. Let him enj oywhat he can get . But doe s that give his family theright to run u s to the end of t ime ?”
What are you going to do about it ?” a sked Ash
ley again . All hi s supporters laughed .
Mullen turned to me unexpe ctedly. What haveyou got to say about it, mate ? You know what theythink about such things across the water. Give u syour ide as . ”
“ I don ’ t know the bos s , I sa id feebly . How
can I tell ?”“ I don ’t mean him , sa id Mullen scornfullyHe ’ s nothing but a r ich man . I mean about labourand cap ital .”
I shook my head .
Ah ! they tame them over there just l ike they dohere , I see , sa id Mullen
,turning away .
I would like to fire that fellow when I get out o fthis—but, of course , in common decency I must not .
Meanwhile I suppose you are wondering what allthi s ha s to do with our ca se . Have patience with
142 Thieves ’ Wit
me . I am so absolutely alone in my new life , I musthave somebody to a ir m y thoughts to . The evem ings are the hardest to put in . The club call s mewith a s i ren voice . Eddie ’ s wi fe is away, too , andI think of the boy dining alone . I wish we hadtaken him into our confidence , but I suppose it waswiser not to .
I have changed my boarding-place . Couldn’tstand the fare at Mrs . McMahon
’s . I am now at
a French pl ace No . West 29th street. It ishumble enough to suit my altered station in life , butthe cooking be ing French i s not imposs ible . I havem it igated my lot by buying a jug of excel ler t Bordeaux at B ardin ’ s , which I have with m y dinnerwithout exciting suspicion . I am a iming to get thename of a “ cha ra cter” which will enable me to dopretty much a s I please .The only break I have made so fa r wa s upon the
avenue yesterday . I wa s on my way home fromwork and my wit s were wool-gathering. I wasdream ing, I suppose , of where I would like to gofor dinner . Along came Warner Macklin , an elegant old dandy and a club acqua intance of mine .W ithout thinking, I nodded to him a s I would ordim arily. You should have seen his a ffronted stare .The old snob ! Anyhow it test ifie s to the eflicacy ofmy disguise .I f you would l ike to look me over I wi ll be walk
ing up and down in front of the dai ry lunch onThirty-fourth stre et Ea st o f Sixth avenue at Twelvethirty to-morrow, Thursday . J . M .
T thi s stage I cannot bette r carry my story forthan by continuing to quote from the re
port s Of di fferent operatives . To me the se a re fascinating documents . Their sober matter-of—factnessi s more thrill ing than the most exciting yarn . Witha wealth of seemingly irrelevant deta il they build upa p icture more convincing than any except those of am aste r o f fiction . One ha s to be in the secret
, of
course ; The operative s themselve s are not supposed to know what it i s all about, though they maygue ss a littl e . But to be in the secret of a case andto read the report s bearing on it from a hundredangles , give s one a strange sense of power .
REPORT OF D . B .
According to my instruct ions I applied for boa rdat number West Forty-Ninth street , Mrs .Atwood , landlady . I gave my name a s WinstonDarna ll, and made out I wa s a characte r a ctor justin from the road . I engaged the rea r hall room topfl oor. The pla ce i s an ordinary a ctor’ s house , considerably run down . The landlady has only l atelybought the busine ss from another woman, so it hasn
’ tI 44
Thieves ’ Wit 145
got the familiar friendly a i r of a long-establi shedplace .At the supper table I recognised my man KentonMilbourne from the descr iption furnished . He
’
s
an unusua l looking man—unusually homely . Hedoesn ’t keep to himsel f at all
,l ike a fellow with
something on his mind . He seems to b e on goodenough term s with the othe r boarders , but they keepout of hi s way because he ’ s such a t ire some talker .There ’ s one or two old fellows that go around withhim . They s it in the parlour and talk by the hourabout what dandy actors they a re .Milbourne ha s the la rge front room on the third
floor . As luck would have it, the hall room adj oining was va cant, and there i s only a thin board partit ion between , because the hall-room was originallyan alcove . But I judged thi s wa s too much of agood thing. I wa s a fra id of taking the hall roomfor fea r of putting M . wise . Maybe late r, whenwe ’re fri ends I can move .I wasn ’ t in any rush to p ick up Milbourne .
Thought I ’d better wa it awhile and give him achance to make up to me . Meanwhile I j oll ied thelandlady . She was a talker l ike all of them . Milbourne , i t seems , i s her pet . She holds him up a s amodel for the other boarders because he paid herfour weeks boa rd in advance when her rent fell due .Thi s seems to indicate he means to stay a while .
All the boarders look up to Milbourne with akind of respe ct because he’ s j ust closed his sea son
146 Thieves ’ Wit
with a first-cla ss company, while the rest are mostlywith reperto ire companie s , and cheap road shows .The second night I wa s there , Milbourne braced
me in the parlour. Looking for a new listener,I
guess . He sta rted in to tell m e what a hit he madewith the Irma Hamerton production . I f thi s man i sa crook he ’ s the smoothest a rt icle I ever r an upaga inst . Because he i sn ’t smooth at all . He talksa ll the t ime about himsel f a s s imple a s a child, butat that he don ’t t ell you much . He ’ s got a dull eyewhich don ’t seem to take in nothing, and he talks ina slow
,monotonous way and says a thing over and
ove r unti l you ’re doped .
A couple of nights l ater some of the youngerboarders were having a b it o f a rough house in theparlour and M . asked me up to his room where wecould talk in peace . His room was bare like . Hedon ’t show any photographs or p i ctures or gimcra cks . Seems he neve r even unpacks his trunk . Itwa s a b ig trunk even for an actor, and packed neatand full a s a honeycomb . Whenever he wants a .
l ittle thing he unlocks it, take s out what he’ s a fter,
and locks it aga in , even though he’ s right in the
'
room . The key i s on a cha in fastened to hi s wa i stband .
His talk was mostly about the Irma Hamertoncompany. He told me what he says i s the rights ofthe story about her s i cknes s , and the unexpectedclosing in the middle of good business . She was inlove with her lead ing man , Roland Quarles , a ccord
148 Thieves ’ Wit
Put a police helmet on any man , and right awayhi s bra in seem s to take the shape of i t . Cops thinka s much alike a s insects . Let a crook once get onto the ir way of thinking, and he can play with theml ike a ball on a rubber string .
He let this out by accident . Afte rwards he lookedat me sharp to see i f I had taken anything am i ss . Inever let on.
I have been in this hous e a week now, and Milbourne and I are supposed to be qu ite intimatefriends . Last n ight on my way up sta irs I saw al ight under hi s door, so I knocked . His door isalways locked . He wasn ’ t any too glad to se e me ,but he couldn ’ t very well keep me out, because hehadn ’t started to undress yet . He was having alittle supper : a bottle of a syrupy kind of wine andb iscuits with some blackish stuff he sa id was caviare .I didn ’t take any . I ma rked the labels , and to-dayI went into a swell store and inqu ired the prices .The wine was Imperial Tokay . It i s thesmall bottle . The caviare was for a l ittle
pot. I give this for what it ’ s worth . Seem s funnyi f a man ha s a ta ste for such swell eats he should putup a t a j oint like Mrs . Atwood ’ s .
REPORT OF A . N .
Operative S C. and I were instructed to tra il acerta in K . M ilbourne , supposed to be an actor, andreport on hi s hab its and hi s a ssoci ate s . We were
Thieves ’ Wit 149
furni shed with hi s description , and sent to watchthe building at NO . West 4 9th street, where heboards . This house i s a few doors from EighthAvenue . We kept watch from outs ide a cornersa loon over the way . We turned up our collars
[
andstood around like the regular corner loa fers .At 10 :O5 A .M . our man came out and walked up
the long block to Broadway .We followed acros s thestreet . He turned down Broadway with the crowd .
We split up , one on one s ide o f the stre et, one on
the other. He often stopped in front of store windows , but didn
’ t s eem to mind the windows so mucha s to look s ideways to see who was pa ssing. Heturned in a t 1402 Broadway, a big o ffi ce bu ilding. Islicked up and went a fter him . Went up in the sameelevator . He gave everybody in the car a sharplook . Got out at the e ighth floor , and went intoan offi ce marked : “Mrs . Mendoza : Theatrica lAgency.
”
I went back down-sta irs to wa it . This buildingha s an entrance on Broadway and one on Thirtyninth street . S . C . took the Broadway door , andI watched the side street .Forty minutes late r or he came out my
door . He walked around into B roadway, and S . C .
p icked us up again . He took us down a s fa r a sThirty-fourth , and then turned around and wentb ack to Forty-second, without leaving Broadway or
stopping anywhere . Turned West on Forty-second,and went into the o ffi ce o f the D . and E . Bookingagency in the Forrest Theatre . Stayed twenty-five
150 Thieves ’ Wit
minutes . Came out and went down West s ide o fBroadway. At Thirty-ninth street met an a ctorand stood with him twenty minute s talking loud
,and
looking around them the way they do , to see if’
any
body i s noticing. The talk was all theatri ca l gossipwhich I wa s instructed not to report .Looked at hi s watch and went on down to the
36th-37th street block, where he walked up anddown about seven t ime s , stopping at ea ch end to
look in the same store window,and then coming
back . We watched from a music store where wewere making out to l i sten to the p iano-player .At he met a man a s i f by surprise . Theygre eted ea ch other so loud everybody rubbered .
But it wa s a ll a stall . Right away they came downto bus iness and talked low and seriou s to each other .My partner and I brushed against them , but wecouldn ’t hear much . Too much noi se in the street .I hea rd Milbourne say : “The grub i s rotten !More than flesh and bloodHi s friend replied : My dea r fellow, it
’ s worth it,i sn ’ t it ? Be rea sonable . You ’re sa fe . We ’ re allsa feThe two o f them turned North walking arm in
arm , sti ll talking low. At the Forty-ninth streetcorner they parted. Milbourne turned West, onhis way home presumably, and his friend continue dNorth . S . C . went with M . and I took a fte r thestranger.He wa s a b ig fat man, but energet i c. He looked
like a theatrica l manager or a promoter . He wore
152 Thieves Wit
Later at the Ninety-Sixth stre et station he darteddown the step s aga in , me a good second . This stat ion is always crowded. A woman blocked me atthe gate , and he ga ined a few seconds . There wa san expres s tra in wa iting. Just a s I reached it theguard closed the door in my face . Fatty was justinside . As the tra in sta rted he turned around andthumbed hi s nose at m e. I fe lt cheap .
A . N .
REPORT FROM AUSTRALIA
M el bourne,May 20th
EFERRING to your inquiry of the 10th ultimorespecting one Kenton Milbourne sa id to be
an a ctor formerly of thi s pla ce , we beg to report a sfollowsYou are in error in supposing that Kenton Mil
bourne formerly a cted in Australi a , and sailed forAmerica la st ye a r . Mr . Milbourne i s a t presentappearing a s in The company i s nowtouring the province of New South Wales . Mr .M ilbourne ha s never been to Ameri ca . We encloseone of hi s publi shed pi ctures which you wil l see at aglance i s not that of the same man whose p icture yousent us .Mr . Milbourne i s an actor o f character parts ,
fa irly well known in the profess ion here , though notof wide publi c reputation . His personal cha ra cteri s of the best . His real name i s John Whittle sey,and he comes of respectable parents in moderate circum stances , still l iving in the town of Perth ,WesternAustrali a .
As to the photograph you enclosed, we are informed by a friend of Mr . Milbourne’
s tha t thi s i sundoubtedly Evan Whittlesey, younger brother of
I S3
154 Thieves ’ Wit
John and the bla ck sheep of the family, who went toAmerica ten yea rs ago , a fter having been implicatedin the robbe ry of Morton ’ s Bank, Melbourne . No
proceedings were ever taken aga inst him .
From the same informant we le arn that no one inAustra lia ha s heard of Evan Whittlesey s ince hewent away, except poss ibly hi s brothe r who is reticent ou the subj ect, suggesting that what informationhe has of his brother i s not perhap s creditable .At thi s writing we are unable to furni sh any info rmation regarding Evan Whittlesey
’
s early l i feb eyond what i s conta ined in the genera l statementthat he wa s “wild,
” that i s to say, a tria l to hi sp arents and hi s re spectable brother—whose stagename he appears to have borrowed for hi s Ameri canactivitie s . I f you desire us to go to the expense o f athorough investigation of Evan Whittl esey
’
s past,plea se authori se by cable .Trusting to be favoured with your future com
mands , etc .WILLARD
,WILLARD AND GAINES .
The next report from which I will quote i s Sadi e ’ s .I t conta ined an unpleasant surpris e . In order tom ake it clea r I must briefly expla in the arrangementsof the Internat ional Detective Bureau . We hadthree o ffice s en suite on the s ixth floor of a buildingon West Forty-Second street . The door of the firstroom faced the elevators
,and upon it was lett ered
our s ign . Within was a neat ra iling, behind whichsat Peter Keenan the ostensible head of the estab
156 Thieves ’ Wit
This morning I heard loud talking in the fronto ffi ce . Mr . Keenan expla ined later that a queer oldman had come in , and had told a long rambling storyabout be ing persecuted . It seems that he wantedto engage the agency to protect h im . It seemed anatural enough thing—we have had these harmles scranks before . Mr. Keenan soothed him down bytelling him we were too busy to do proper justice tohi s case , and referred him to the pol ice station .
Neither of us thought anything more about it .This a fternoon short ly before five I heard theold man ’ s voice again in the outer o ffice . Mr .
Keenan had stepped out to post some papers to you .
The old man wa s excited, and I could hear by MissReilly’ s voice that she was very much frightened .
So I went to her a ss i stance .I saw a bent , old man in shabby black, with wild ,
straggly hai r, broken teeth and red-rimmed eyes ,a repuls ive sight. The instant I la id eyes on him Isaw that he wa s not very insane . His manner wa sboth servile and threatening. It was like stage insanity, incoherent j abbering and wild ge stures . Thegirl was frightened hal f out of her wits .I a sked him what he wanted , and he calmed right
down . His speech wa s unintell igible a s i f he hadsome of those tablets in hi s mouth that a ctors use tomake the ir voice thick . He made no more trouble .He bowed and sm irked and backed out of the door .The la st thing ‘I heard wa s a s illy kind of l augh .
By this t ime I was full of suspicions . He hadquieted down much too quickly. Besides , there wa s
Thieves’ Wit 157
something famil ia r about the horrible old man . Ihad Miss Reilly enquire of the elevator bOys . Theysa i d the old man had been in three times . Lastevening as well a s twice to-day. Last n ight he cameup in the elevator with operat ive S . C . To-day, Ibel ieve
,he hung around down-sta irs until he saw Mr.
Keenan go out .
S . C . called up about this t ime to repo rt that Milbourne had not le ft his boarding-house all day . Mr .Keenan questioned the operative over the phone a tmy prompting
,and we dis cove red that S . C . had no
proof that Milbourne wa s in the house . We learnedthat S . C . had lost Milbourne about 3 :30 yesterdayamong the several entrances to a department store .He had merely supposed that he had gone homelater .I then ventured to ca ll up Milbourne’ s boarding
house . I f he had been there , I would, of course ,have lost the connection
,but he was not. His land
lady told me that he had telephoned her yesterdaya fternoon that he had been called out O f town , andnot to expect him home unti l to-night . Which showshow li ttle we can depend on these operat ives . Sincetalking to this woman I have re ce ived D . B.
’
s reportfrom ins ide the house , confirming what she told me .Puzzl ing ove r in my head what it could b e that
gave the old man a familia r look, I suddenly got it .Do you remember when Milbourne first j o ined MissHam erton
’
s company he played the part of the oldforger , a fterwards given to Richa rds ? The m an
158 Thieves’ Wit
agem ent thought Milbourne’ s conception was tooreali stic , but Milbourne him self was childishly proudof his make-up in that part . He showed us a photograph, do you remember ? Well , that wa s the sameol d man , wrinkles , scraggly hair , mean sm il e and all .The same clothes .It i s ea sy to figure out nowwhat happened . After
giving the operative the slip in the department store ,M ilbourne went to some friend ’ s room or th ieves ’
hangout and disguised him sel f. He then returnedto the neighbourhood of the boa rding-house on 4othstre et and watched the watchers there . When S . C .
was reli eved by A . N . at five , Milbourne followedS . C . into the o ffice . He was smart enough to see
on his first vi s it to-day that Mr. Keen—in was not thereal he ad of the o ffice
,and so he bothered us until
I betrayed mysel f. Hence the laugh when he wentout.
I need not say how sorry I am for the a ccident .I blame myself quite a s much a s S . C . Luck playedr ight into M ilbourne’ s hand this t ime . I see howimportant it i s . He knows of the connection between you and
,I , consequently a ll your trouble to
l et it b e supposed that you a re out of the ca se goe sfor nothing now .
I have replaced S . C . with the new man, W. J. ,
who came so well recommended . I have put S . C .
a t cleri cal work. Shall I discharge him altogether ?
160 Thieves ’ Wit
stone out of my wi fe ’ s engagement ring. The ringitself she still wore with its empty setting. Suchwas the pathos o f the tale that I almost succeeded inconvincing mysel f that it was true . It didn ’ t matter,of course , whether the pawnbroker believed i t ornot, but it had to be a good story on the face of it,because it would be fata l to my chances of success i fI gave the impress ion of be ing a fool .The hard eyes gave no sign one way or another.
One could hardly expect a pawnbroke r to be movedby a hard luck story. He told me to come back on
Monday at noon , and he would see what he could dofor me .I ha stened up there a s soon as we were relea sedfor the lunch hour to-day. There were two menloitering in the store ; men of the same kidney a s thea stute p roprieto r apparently, very sprucely dressed .
Mr him sel f ignored me for the moment and thisprecious pa ir gave me the “ once over” as they say.
I could fee l the ir eyes boring into me like gimlets .However
,i t i s poss ible to be too sharp to be di s
cerning. They were dece ived . A scarcely perceptible s ign passed between them and the pawnbroker, and the latte r suddenly became aware of theexi stence of his shabby customer .He now showed me what he intended for a rea lfriendly a i r. He couldn’ t buy my diamond himsel f,he sa id, but se e ing he felt so sorry for me he wouldsend me to a diamond broker he knew, who woulddo business with me if I sati sfied him i t was on thel evel . He gave me an address nea r by. I enclose
Thieves ’ Wit 161
the ca rd, but ne ither the name nor the addre s s meansanything of course . I went there at once , ri sking acall down from the foreman i f I wa s late getting backto the shop .
It was a room on the second fl oor of a typi ca lThird avenue house, shop below, furnished room sabove , and the elevated road pounding by the windows . Evidently there had been a hasty attemptto make it look like an oflice ; a desk had beenbrought in and the bed removed . Behind the desksat a fat man rolling a ciga r between hi s thi ck lips ,and trying to look as i f he were not expecting m e.
He looked prosperous in a common way, with hiss ilk hat on the back of hi s head, and hi s im mensegaping cutaway. His fa ce wa s red and what pa ssesfor good-humoured with l ittl e p ig eye s lost in fat .A huge moustache with curled ends , de corated it, thekind o f moustache that I thought even New Yorkpoliti c ian s had given up nowadays . In a phrase ,the man looked l ike a ward leade r of fi fteen yearsago. The most cha ra cteristi c thing about him wa shi s bustl ing energy, unusual in one so fat .This alleged diamond broke r wa s making out tobe very much occup ied with business . He kept mewa iting a while . As soon a s he took the diamondin hi s hand I saw that he knew‘ nothing about stone s .He didn ’ t even have a gla ss to exam ine it . Ev i
dently the word had been passed to him that it wasall right . But i f he knew nothing about diamonds ,he was well expe rienced in humanity. He put methrough a gruelling cross-exam ination which I sup
162 Thieves ’ Wit
ported a s be st I could . My deli cate problem wa sto lea d him to suspect I was a crook, without lettinghim think I wa s a fool . To this end I elaboratedthe story o f my old wife ’ s engagement ring. Heli stened to it with a leer in hi s l ittle eyes , as much as
to say : “Pretty good old fellow ! But you needn ’ ttake all that trouble with me l”
He expressed himself a s satisfi ed,and we pa ssed
to the discuss ion o f the price . I a sked somethingnea r the stone ’ s real va lue . He laughed, and of
fered me a fi fth of that . We were presently hotlyengaged in humankind ’ s first game , barga ining. Heloved i t. Unfortunately I wa s handi capped by theneces sity of getting back to work. We agreed on aprice whi ch wa s about a qua rter o f the stone ’ s value .No doubt he would have had more respe ct for mei f I had held out longer. He paid me out o f anenormous roll of grea sy bi ll s .I wa s sorry to see the stone go. It was a good
one, nearly two carats . It wa s not sa fe of course tomark it in any vis ible way, but I have had this andthe othe r decoy d iamonds care fully de scribed andphotographed , so that we will have no diffi culty inidenti fying them later.As I was about to leave he shook my hand infriendly fa shion , and still with that indescribableleer , expressed a hope that he might do furtherbusiness togethe r.I mumbled something about a pa i r of ea rrings .Good l
” he sa id . Let me see them . Even i fyou don’ t want to let me have them, I
’ l l app ra ise
164 Thieves ’ Wit
a stuteness . It was my game to make out that I wassta rtled to be found in that neighbourhood, and thatmy conscience wa s none too good . It wa s hi s gam eto put me at my ease and have it understood thateve rything went between friends . Nothing wassa id , howeve r, about hi s business or m ine .I stuck to my lately-arrived immigrant story, and
he sym phathised with my lonesomeness in a strangeland . He was a bachelor, he sa id, and often lonesome himsel f. This line led pre sently to an invitat ion for me to j o in him la st n ight for a littl e sociabil ity at the Turtle B ay Ca fé on Lexington Avenue .I accepted it . I am sure by hi s eagernes s to cultivate my acqua intance that he knows I work inDunsany
’
s .
I met him at e ight o ’ clock, and we secured a l ittletable to ourselves in a sort of alcove . The TurtleBay i s just one of the usua l saloons, mahogany, plateglas s and electri c l ights . The principal lure of suchpla ce s i s the dazzl ing flood of l ight they ca st on thepavement . They have discovered the subtle p sychologica l appeal Of light. Away with night and itsterrors !My fat fri end was l iberally hospitable . I allowed
my susp iciou s sullen manner to be cha rmed away bydegree s . In a way he is really enterta ining with hi sgross humour and rude vital ity. I suppose any onecan charm when they have a mind to. The clovenhoof, however, peeped out in hi s bruta l snarls atthe news ie s and beggars who came to Our table . Onthe whole I enj oyed myself . It was a lot better
Thieves’ Wit 165
than mooning in my wretched room , or wanderingthe sultry streets thinking of the cool and comfortable club .
The Wi ll b e ing good on both s ide s we got alongfamously. No actual confidences have passed between us yet, but we are ripe for them . As we mellowed togethe r I allowed it to peep out that I had abitte r grudge aga inst society, and would stop at
nothing to feed it. He enthusi a stically applaudedmy sentiments .Life i s a bank ! he sa id, that
’ s got to be bustedinto i f a man wants to enj oy any of the good things !I am to call him George Pawling . We have a
date to meet at the Turtle B ay aga in to-morrownight . I hinted that I might have another d i amondor two .I wa s glad to hea r from you that thi s man i s
undoubtedly one o f the gang. So I am on the righttrack !
I 7
DON ’T want to give you too much o f the operat ive s ’ reports . I tell myself it i s not to be ex
pected anybody would have the same absorb ing interest that I have in all the ramifications of theca se . So I will go on with my story in the ord inaryway.
After the catastrophe , it will be remembered, Mis sH amerton and Sadie had gone into the country to al ittle retreat I chose for them . After a day or twoSadie , see ing that Miss Hamerton could be le fta lone , would in fact be better alone, returned, andtook up her work on the ca se a s ha s been seen .
Later, that i s about the first of June , Miss Hamertonwa s so fa r recovered a s to be able to go to Southampton, and open her cottage for the season .Now, towards the end of the month, I learned thatshe had come to town for a few days to ta lk ove rnext season ’ s plans with her manager . All of whichwas encouraging a s far a s her health and sp iritswere concerned . But thinking of my fri end Rol
l
and,I wa s not anx ious to se e her recove r too quickly .
I had kept my promise to him,and Miss Hamerton
was unaware that I was still busy on her ca se .I was shy about going to se e her . My feel ing
was , considering her pos iti on and mine , that i f shewished to keep up the conne ct ion she ought to give
166
168 Thieves ’ Wit
Mount ’ s greeting was affable and chilly—l ike wintersunshine . I fell into step bes ide them .
“Why haven ’ t you been to see me ?” she de
m anded .
“Why didn ’t you let me know you were in town ?”
I countered .
“ I didn ’t l ike to bothe r one so busy, she sa id.This to me from her ! I walked on a ir.“How is business , Enderby ?
” Mount a sked in afa intly sneering tone .
“Poor,” I sa id calmly. Eve rybody appears to
be behaving themselves .“Ah l” sa id he .“What storie s he could tell u s i f he would ! my
dear lady sa id adm ir ingly.
I sm iled, a s I suppose was expected of me . Littledid she suspect that the only ca se I had was hers .We walked on chatting idly. What was sa id
wouldn ’t be worth repeating, I expe ct, even i f I couldremember it . For me the mere sound of her voicewa s enough .
There wa s no m ention o f the unhappy thingsthat were past. We were all engaged in a tacitconsp ira cy to look forward . She told me of the newplay that was proposed for her . ” She ins i sted thatI must read it be fore the matte r wa s finally determ ined.
“You have such wonderful good sense !” she sa id .
And not at all affected by the a ctor ’ s point of view.
Mount ’ s face looked a little p inched a t this warmprai se . I wondered, had he been consulted about
Thieves’ Wit 169
the play . I f he re ally honoured me with hi s j ealousyhe was fooli sh . I did not dream of a sp iring to beanything more than her honest, faithful fri end .
Sadie,I hoped
,was my destined mate while Irma
Hamerton wa s—why she was the sun over us all .Sadie hersel f felt the same towards her a s I did .
On the other hand I was j ea lous of Mount. I considered him presumptuous to a sp ire to our sun, a she pla inly did. He wasn ’t half good enough—half—he wasn ’t worthy to tie her shoe . Besides , I wa sanxious about Roland .
At Forty-second street they were turning West tothe theatre di strict , and I bade them good-bye .Miss Hamerton covered me with confusion by asking me to dine with her at her hotel the same night .I s it to be a pa rty ?” I a sked .
No , indeed,” she sa id .
“Nobody but Alfred .
This “Alfred was new . It had always beenMr. Mount.” It set my teeth on edge .I a ccepted and le ft them .
Dinner wa s se rved in he r exqui s ite l i ttle drawingroom now loaded with sweet pea s . For somere a son that I have forgotten , the t ire some old Mrs .Bleecke r wa s not in evidence—still I did not have agood
’
t ime . I bel ieve none o f us had .
“Alfred” sti llstuck in my crop . I reflected j ealously
,that i f it had
not been for the accidental meeting with me , Mountwould have been alone with her . No doubt he wa sthinking of that, too . Everything from hors
d’ceuvres to char treuse was exqui site , but I had noz est in it .
170 Thieves ’ Wit
It was Alfred thi s and Alfred that. Reallyit seemed a s i f my dear lady wa s rubbing it in . Isuppose that wa s her delicate way of letting meknow of her intentions . I fanc ied I perce ived acerta in apprehensiveness in her a s to how I -was going to take it . Perhaps I flattered myself . Anyhow it was enough
’
to make the angels weep . Shewas not in the lea st in love with him, she could not
have been , but a fter the way of dea r, ignorantwomen she wa s trying to persuade hersel f that shewas . Hence the “Alfreds .” I thought of my pass ionate young friend eating his heart out in a hallbedroom and my food choked me .Irma made some half laughing re ference to the
rel ie f of be ing freed from Mrs . Bl eecker ’ s presence .“ I f she bothers you why don ’t you let her go ?”
s a id Mount .“Poor soul ! What would she do ?” sa id Irma .
She ’d never get another s ituation , she’ s so disagree
able . Bes ide s , I don’t know that ‘ I could do any
better .“Hardly worth while , s a id Mount. You won ’tneed a chaperon much longer.”
This wa s pla in enough . It ~ kil led conversationfor a moment or two. I wa s sure Irma sent an im
p loring glance in my direction , but I kept my eyes onm y plate . Was i t imploring me not to judge her,or imploring me to support her in what she meantto do , or imploring me to save he r from it ? Howwas a man to tell ? I am sure she would have beenglad i f I had forced the question into the open, but
172 Thieves ’ Wit
have no use for e ach other, yet love stories st illsell .”
We laughed aga in . You had to admit Mountwa s a good man at a dinner table .I excused myself early on the ple a of business , and
went direct to Roland . Here I find I am a l ittleahead of my sto ry, for I have not told you of hispre sent ci rcumstances .Roland had forsworn the stage . In this , a s in
everything else , he was an extrem i st, and he had cuth im sel f off absolutely from his forme r life . Peoplewere always dece ived by Roland’ s quietness . Thatcomposed face and indifferent manner concealed acapacity for white hot pass ion . As a matte r o ffact, I suppose , really pass ionate people a re a lwayslike thi s , they couldn
’t l ive with themselves else ,but we a re blind to i t. Roland had the sp irit of afanati c. He wa s always torturing himsel f one wayor another . You couldn ’t help being fond O f him hewa s so noble—and so s illy .
Now, i f you plea se , he had sold everything hepossessed , and with the proce eds had pensioned off
his old se rvant with an annuity. The mysteriouslegacy which had counted so against him , he hadturned over to me with instruct ions to use it inbringing the thi eves of I rma ’ s p earls to justice . Icouldn ’ t ve ry well re fuse the money without confess ing that Walter Dunsany was backing me , andno one in the world , not even Sadie , was to know of
the relations between Mr . Dunsany and me . ‘
Be
s ides , i f I hadn’t taken it he would have done some
Thieves ’ Wit
thing more fool ish with it . So I wa s holding it intrust .Havm g dive sted himsel f l iterally o f every cent,Roland set about finding a job. Among his old
acquaintances there were severa l prominent men whowould have been glad to put him in the way of agood berth , but of course he would not apply tothem . I could have done something for him mysel f,but he would not let me . He wanted to stand on
his own bottom , he sa id . He set about drisweri'
ngadverti sements , and vis it ing employment bureaus likeany green lad from
’ the country .
Roland with hi s romantic good looks could not
be insignificant in any sphere however humble . Hehad some quaint experiences . More than once hehad to fall back on his good looks to save himsel f,a s he thought , from starvation . He served as ademonstrator for a while , and another t ime a s amodel . Roland used to say at thi s t ime that hehated his good looks , and I really think he meant it .He finally landed a job a s a ss istant bookkeepe r
and invo ice clerk with a coffe e importer on Wate rstreet . How he hypnoti sed them into bel ieving hecould keep books I can ’ t say . His salary was tendollars a week, and he lived within it, which youwill grant was something of a change for the latedarl ing of the matinees . He had a hall bedroomon Ea st Seventeenth stre et, and ate outside . In theevenings he boned shorthand . His idea was tobecome first an expert law stenographer, and finallyto study law .
174 Thieves ’ Wit
I found him as usual in the wretched little room ,
bending over the shorthand manual with a greenshade over hi s eyes . I was his only vis itor in thosedays . He was thinner than of yore , not so hara ssedperhaps , but grimmer . There were deep hawkl ikel ine s from hi s proud nose to the corners o f hi s b itte rl ips . It made me savage to see him wasting hi ssplendid youth in this fashion .
“I’
ve just had dinner with I rma , I sa id.Yes ?” he sa id calmly.
You never could get any change out of Roland .
Whatever he felt he never dropped that hawk mask .
Mount was there .”
Charming fellow, Mount .Do you like him ?
” I a sked amazed .
I ne ither l ike him nor disl ike him , he sa idevenly.
“He ’ s a charming fellow, i sn’ t he ?”
“Oh , that’ s the tag they put on him , I sa id im
pat iently.
He returned his attent ion to the shorthand book .
This unnatura l pretence of indifference exasperatedm e beyond bea ring.
“ I beli eve they ’ re preparing to get married, Isa id brutally .
“We expe cted that, d idn’ t we ?”
Don ’ t you care?”
Not overmuch .
”
I knew he li ed .
What do you want to put on this pretence withm e for ?” I demanded .
“ I f you were really a s calo
176 Thieves ’ Witam thinking of her. You think of nothing but yourself and your childish prideBravo , Ben !
” he sa id mockingly.
I can ’ t stand a side and see her marry Mount .He ’ s too old. There ’ s an evil spot in him somepla ce that I can ’ t put my finger on.
“Well , what are you going to do about it ?”
I came to you to get you to let me off my promiseto say nothing.
”
That roused him as nothing else could . Hesprang up , his face dark with passion . He actuallythreatened me with his fi st .
“You swore to me !” he cried . By God ! i f you
break your oath“Keep your ha ir on , I sa id. Am I not here
a sking you to let me off“ I will not let you off, he sa id. This i s my
affa i r, and mine onl“How about her ?” I put in .
He did not hea r me .“You mean to be my friend, but fr iendship has no
right to dictate another man ’s private affa irs . I leadmy l ife a s I have to . You lead yours . No interference . That ’s the only way we can be friends .The only way you can help me in thi s is by bringingthe thieves to book .
”
“But that ’ s going to be a long chase , I groaned .
Meanwhile Mount i s making hay. What’ s the useof publishing the truth i f the mischie f i s a lreadydone ?
Thieves ’ Wit 177
He shrugged . I f she can bring herself to marryMountThe sel f-sufficiency of a passionate young man ! I
could almost have wept at my helplessness aga insthi s obstina cy .
“Be fa i r !” I cri ed .
“ It i s our ex
perience, our knowledge of men that warns u s aga instMount . How can she tell ?”
“This does no good,” he mutte red .
In hi s b itter wrongheadednes s I bel ieve that healmost wished that Irma might find out her mistaketoo late .But I would not give up , though I felt it wa s
useless . “What happiness can there be for anyof us i f Irma comes to grie f ?” I sa id .
“Oh , for God’ s s ake drop it !” he cri ed pa infully.
What’ s the good of tea ring open these old sores .You ’ re off on the wrong tack . I ’ve told you oftenenough . What i f you did te ll her I wa s innocent,and she turned back to me . That would be worse .I have nothing for her. I don’ t believe in her .She ’ s dea d to me . You can’ t revive that sort ofthing.
“Very well , then , I sa id. It would be moremerci ful never to tell her that you are innocent.
”
Th‘
at touched him .
“Oh~ he sa id sharplytaken aback A man doesn’ t l ike to dwell unde rthat sort of a ccusati on ! He quickly recovered himsel f. “Just a s you think best,
” he sa id hardily.
But let him make believe all he l iked , the onel ittle glimpse had convinced me that he wa s humana fter all .
T was on the way home from Roland’ s room inthe dark and silent s ide streets that I first dis
covered I wa s be ing tra iled . Since receiving Sadie ’ sreport of Milbourne’ s vi sit to her o ffice I had expected th is . It troubled me l ittle . My position a scommander-in-chie f kept me behind the l ines , andthey would not learn much by following me . Mymail I got from the post-Oflice myself, and our telephone conversations a s a rule would not have conveyed anything to an outsider, i f he did succeed inintercepting them . At the same time it wa s annoying to know onesel f watched . I wondered i f therewas any advantage to be gained from a counterstroke . Since they had succeeded in bringing meinto the open, I had a mind to take an open shot atthem . I began to lay my plans forthwith .
My shadow p icked me up a s I i ssued from myhouse next morning. He waited outside the restanrant where I had my bre akfast and accompan i ed meto the offi ce . Looking out of my o ffice window Icould actually see him sitting on a bench in BryantPark Opposite . He was a slender young man withan unwholesome complexion and mean , sharp eyes,a “ sleuth” of the cheapest type . I wondered somewhat since they thought me worth following, thatthey had not chosen a bette r instrument than that .
178
180 Thieves ’ Wit
The l ittle building where I have my o ffice is givenover entirely to bus iness , and i s closed for the nightat ten o ’ clock . Like the othe r tenants , I am prov ided with a latchkey, in case I have to get in a fterhours . I am often there late , but I have neve r metany of the othe r tenants a t night.I t a ll went through as on rolle r bea rings . I
walked down Fortieth street softly whistl ing“Mighty Lak’ a Rose,
” which wa s my signal to thetwo men . They were posted in the shadow of thela st doorway I had to pass be fore turning into m y
own. The block i s a quiet one at that hour.I let myself into my building and wa ited just ins ide
the door . When gum-shoes came a long all nususpicious , my two fri ends jumped him, and holding hismouth , hustl ed him in a fter me , be fore he well knewwhat had struck him . We improvised a gag out ofa handkerchief, and ca rried him up
-sta irs to myO ffice The fellow did not even kick.
We dumped him in a cha i r and turned on thel ights . Then we stood off , and the three of u sburst out l aughing simultaneously . You never sawa more comica l s ight than the expre ss ion of that poorbloodhound who suddenly found himsel f treed byhi s quarry ! I now had no furthe r use for the twomen , so I tipped them and they le ft us . I lockedthe door a fter them and put the key in my pocket .I told my pri sone r he might unfa sten his gag, and Is at down at my desk facing him . On the desk Iprom inently displayed a wicked-looking automati c.
Thieves’ Wit 181
I had no idea o f using it, but it made a potent argument.Having laughed at the man I felt almost friendly
towards him . I offered him a ciga rHe ignored it , and I put it away. What do you
mean by this outrage !” he demanded .
I laughed a fresh .
“Come off, Jack !
” I sa id .
You must think I ’m a downy chick .
”
At that he climbed down , and a sked for the cigarquite humbly.
“What do you want of me ?” hemuttered .
“Just a little heart to hea rt talk, I sa id grinning.
You can ’ t make me talk,” he growled .
I played with the revolve r. “There ’ s not a soulin the building but ourselves , I sa id offhand .
The j anito r l ived on the top floor, but I supposed‘
he didn ’ t know that .He wilted right down . He had no nerve at a ll .I a in ’ t got nothin
’ against you personally,” he
whined.
“ I only got my living to make the same asyoursel f.
“Who hired you to tra il me ?” I a sked .
I don ’t know what guy’ s got i t in for you, hestammered .
“Honest , I only got my orders fromthe ofli ce.
”
“What ‘
office
I f you queer me there I ’ ll lose my j ob . I ’m amarried man with two children .
”
“ I ’ ll tel l them I put a gun to your head .
Aw, let me go . I a in’t got nothin’ aga inst you .
182 Thieves ’ Wit
I pi cked up the gun . Come across ! Who hiredyou .
“The Detective Agency, he stutte red.
He named one of the large st Agencie s in town .
Of course , I didn’ t know but what he was lying, but
I meant to find out before I let him go . I turneda threatening scowl on him , and let my hand straytowards the gun aga in .
“ I want the truth ,” I sa id .
He watched my hand l ike one hypnoti sed . Littledrop s of sweat broke out on hi s forehead . ForGod’ s sake , Misten—l
” he chatte red .
“For God’ ssake I ’m telling you the truth . I ’m only apoor operative . I don ’t know who wants to get
you !”
“You ’ l l have to prove it, I sa id.Call up the Agency,
” he stuttered. They’reopen a ll night. My name i s Atterbury. I ’m number 68.
The instrument wa s at my hand . I got the number, and was p resently answered by a brash youngvoice demanding to know what I wanted .
“This i s B . Enderby,” I sa id, of number West
4oth Street . Have you got an ope rative workingfor you named Atte rbury, number 68 on yourbooks ?”
“ I don ’ t know you , returned the voice . Wedon’t give any information over the phone . Calla round and let us look you ove r.” He hung up .
This l ittle pa ssage made me downright hot , and
184 Thieves ’ Wit
to Mr . Atterbury. I f you take my advice, old m an,
you ’l l go into some other l ine .”
He made grand time on the sta i rs .
The head of the Dete ct ive Agency wasDongan , a well-known and able man, once the headof the New York Detect ive Bureau . He belongedto a school o f investigat ion different from mine , butI respected hi s abi l ity and I knew him to be abovereproach . I wa s sure in this s ituat ion I could notdo better than go direct to him . I called next mornmgSo you ’ re in the same l ine ?” he sa id looking at
my card.That accounts for my bus ines s with you , I re
plied .
“What can I do for you ?”
Haven ’ t your people told you what happened inmy office la st night ?”
N0 . Expla in yoursel f.We are in the same l ine . Hunting down crooks .
The supposit ion i s that we handle only clean bus ines s .”
“What are you getting at ?” he demanded scowl
I came to a sk you to expla in why you’re track
ing me in the legitimate pursuit o f my business .You will agree , I think, that i t looks fi shy.
“ I don ’ t know anything about it, he sa id crossly .
I don ’ t know you .
”
“ I will wa it while you enquire , I sa id mildly.
Thieves ’ Wit 185
He went into hi s oute r offi ce . In about five minute s he returned bringing a younger man .
“Well, you seem to have the goods on us,Enderby,
” he sa id ruefully.
“ It wa s a small joband I was not consulted .
”
Our client never told us you were a dete ct ive ,sa id the other man .
“ I will make the excuses , sa id his employe rdryly.
“Describe the man who engaged us to tra i lMr . Enderby.
”
“Gave his name as Lawlor. Fle shy man aboutforty-five years old . Red face
,big bla ck or dark
brown moustache . Wears a cutaway coat and silkhat, very a ct ive in hi s movements
“Has unusually large feet ,” I added , which he
slap s down in a peculia r way when he walks .”
Why, yes ,” sa id the young man , surpri sed .
You know him ?”“Not so well as I would l ike to , I sa id dryly.
What addres s did he give you ?”
We haven ’ t got hi s address ?”
Where were your reports to be sent ?”
The young man consulted a card Box 229,
Stat ion W, New York .
”
“Well , that’ s something, I sa id, and rose .When you report to him plea se don
’ t mention thatI ’ve been in .
”
“There will be no more reports , s a i d Donganshortly.
“We ’ l l return hi s money.
”
“ I f you want to make up to me for the troubleyou ’ve put me to , make him one more report ,
” I
186 Thieves ’ Wit
suggested . Simply tell him that upon lea rn ing thatI was a detect ive , Mr. Dongan d i rected that thebusiness be re fused
“ I will do that, Dongan sa id.When would you ordina rily report to him ? I
a sked.
“This morning, the young man repli ed. Iguessed from hi s fool i sh expression that a lurid ac
count of the la st night’s proceedings had alreadybeen written .
“Good !” I sa id . Will you ple a se send i t r ightoff ? I want to watch the letter box.”
Dongan agreed .
I hastened to Oscar Nil son’
s shop . An hour orso later I i ssued from under hi s hands , a s perfe cta specimen of the snuffy old man , the shabby genteel ,a s you could have found in any publi c reading-roomfrom Chatham Square to Cooper Union . Oscar i sa wonder.By noon I wa s at Station W, which i s away up
town on Columbus avenue . Peeping through theglass front of Box 229 I saw that the lette r fromDongan had not yet arrived, at lea st the box wasempty. A little while later I had the sati s faction ofs ee ing the lette r with the Dete ctive Agencyimprint on the corner shoot into the box.For a weary two hours there a fte r I made beli eve
to amuse mysel f with the store windows of the block,up and down , both s ides . Since I wa s the very p icture of a harmless old loa fer, my movements at
tracted no notice.
188 Thieves ’ Wit
one of the reports I learned that hi s nicknamewas“Jumbo . Herea fter I shall call him that .I loafed up and down the street debating my next
move . It i s a crowded street and I was not consp icuous . Many an ol d dodderer walks up anddown watching the children ’ s game s with a vagueglance . I wa s very keen to have a look at the ins ideof Apartment 14 . Thinking of I rma and Rolandand the necess ity o f a ccompli shing something quickly,I am a fra id I wa s not content to act with the cautionthat Mr. Dunsany and I had agreed was necessary .
The most obviou s suggest ion wa s to send Jumbo afake telegram , call ing him out . But
‘
in that case ,when he di s covered the sell he would know that Iwas on to him . I wanted to be sure o f a case again sthim fi rst .While I wa s st ill pondering the matter, Jumboi ssued forth aga in accompanied this tim e by a womanof hi s own age and type who might have been hi swi fe. From the style o f he r dres s I judged thatthey were off on an expedition , and my heart beathigh . I made sure that they were really leaving thene ighbourhood, by see ing them on an Amste rdamavenue ca r bound down-town .
Returning, I rang the bell in the vestibule severa ltime s to make sure the re wa s no one else at home .The latch never cli cked. I took advantage of someone ’ s coming out to enter, and climbed the sta irsuntil I came to the door marked 14 . I knockedwithout rece iving any answer . The doors o f thesefl ats a re childi shly easy to open unle ss the tenant
Thieves ’ Wit 189
puts on a speci a l lock . In thi s ca se it had not beendone . A calling ca rd properly manipulated did thetrick. I found myself ins ide .I shall not go into a lengthy description of the
p la ce because there wa s nothing to de scribe . It wasan ordinary fl at of four small room s, and from thelook of i t m ight have been outfitted complete by aninstallment house . There wa s nothing to suggestthe taste of the owners , at lea st not until you cameto the kitchen . Here there was an immense icechest crammed with the cho icest and most expens iveeatables and drinkables . That wa s where the irhearts lay ! There was a lso a great store O f finel iquors and cigars .One bit of evidence rewarded my search , and only
one. There were no letters , no papers , not a scrapo f writing of any kind, except two lines on a p iece ofpaper which I found under the blotting-pad of thecheap little desk by the s itt ing-room window. I thad evidently slipped under and had been forgotten .
A clever crook, of course , i s no cleverer than anhones t man . He i s sure to make a l ittle slip somewhere . In the two line s o f writing I once more beheld the famous cryptogram . I pocketed it in highsat is fa ct ion .
I had got a s fa r in my sea rch a s the im i tationJapane se vase s on the mantel-piece . I wa s peep ingins ide one of them when I heard a slight soundbehind m e . I tu rned around and beheld Jumboswelling and purpling with s ilent rage in the doorway. I con fess I was a good dea l shaken by the ap
190 Thieves ’ Wit
parition, though I managed to put down the va sewith a good appearance of composure . He hadstolen in as noiselessly a s a cat . No matter howclea r one ’ s conscience may be , one i s taken at a disadvantage di scovered in the posture of a burglar .For a while we looked at each other in s ilence . I
cautiously re a ssured mysel f that my gun was s a fe inmy pocket . I saw that Jumbo was making a trem endous e ffort to hold himsel f in, and I re al i sedthat he had more to fear from a showdown than Ihad . I began to bre athe more ea s ily. I had takenoff my hat for coolness , and the wig was sewn ins idethe band . He obviously knew me . Perhap s it wasa s well for me . I f he had supposed me an ordinarysneak thie f he might have struck me down from behind with a blow o f that mighty fi st .He began to swea r a t me thickly and softly . I
remembe r wondering i f he were going to have anapoplecti c s e izure , and hop ing he wouldn
’ t becausei t would spo il my ca se .
“ I have you covered from my pocket, I warnedhim , in ca se hi s fe elings got the better of h is judgment .
“Yah ! I ’m not going to touch you !” he snarled .
I don’ t have to .
”
He got hi s rage under partia l control . Go aheadand finish looking,
” he sa id with a grim sort o f humour.
“ I have finished , I sa id.
Well, what did you find ?”
Nothing.
”
192 Thieves Wit
bourne ’ s name wa s Evan Whittlesey . A s for themention of blue p earls , there were no others butI rma ’ s in the world . Thi s amounted to re al prim e
fd eie evidence then , the first b it I had secured .
Would they find out that it was in my pos sess ion ?It must have been tem porari ly mi sla id
,they were
in all other things so careful . Afte r my vis it p erhap s Jumbo would begin to think back . I wa s notle ft long in doubt a s to the matte r. They struckat me with a boldness and skil l I wa s l ittle preparedfor.
I 9
REPORT or J . M . 9
June 25th.
O-DAY as I came out of the work-people ’ s entrance to Dunsany
’
s at noon Jumbo passed byon the s idewalk . He tipped me a scarcely perceptible wink, and kept on , a s I wa s with my fellowworkmen . I suppose that he wished to catch mein the act, so t o speak . In othe r words he wants tohave it understood between us that he knows I workthere . It i s a step towards more confidential comm unications .
We met a s usua l to-night at the Turtle Bay Café ,but something had happened in the meantime , because Jumbo was glum and sour . I made believenot to notice it . After he had a drink or two hevolunteered the rea son .
“A fellow broke into my rooms to day, a sneakthie f,
” he sa id .
“No ! What did you do to him ?” sa id I .
Oh , I half killed him and let him go . He didn ’ tget anything.
This wa s obviously no explanation of hi s worried a i r. I continued to question him about thea ffa ir with a friend’ s natural curiosity, but he suddenly became susp iciou s, so I let it drop . I donot know i f
”
this ha s anything to do with yourI 93:
194 Thieves’ Wit
other activit ie s , but I give it for what it’ s worth .
Later in the evening when Jumbo ’ s good-humourwas somewhat restored, he re ferred to our noonmeeting in a fa cetious way .
“Thought you sa id you we re out of a job, he
sa id :I made beli eve to be somewhat confused . Ahh,
I wasn’ t go ing to tell eve rything I knew to a
strange r,” I sa id .
He made haste to commend me . He a ffected a
ce rta in adm irat ion of my a stutene ss “You ’re a
deep one , English ! I bet you could teach me a trickor two l”
Have I mentioned that “Engli sh 18 becoming mym onaker ?
By thi s time it i s thoroughly understood between‘Jumbo and I that we are both “good sports ,
” i . e. ,
dependably crooked . It saves a lot of blufling onboth s ides .Jumbo a sked me what my j ob was at Dunsany
’
s .
I expla ine d how I handled all the stuff that was sentin to be reset, my particula r j ob being to remove thej ewel s from thei r old settings be fore handing themon to the expert cra ftsmen .
“What a chance !” said Jumbo wistfully. But Isuppose they have you watched .
”
“Oh , yes ,” I sa id, and I went on to expla in all
the precautions aga inst the ft and loss , “but, ofcourse Here I made believe to be overtakenby caution .
196 Thieves ’ Wit
a ll mine . But a in’ t the stone s all cut different ?”
he a sked .
“Say, you want to know as much a s I do , I sa idsarcastically .
He fawned on me . You ’re dead right, ’boe .That ’ s your p rivate affa i r .After we had another drink or two I made be
l ieve to drop my guard completely. I le ft out theifs and the coul ds and adm itte d that my game atDunsany
’
s wa s a s I had described it . To prove itI brought out a couple of beauti ful unset diamonds ,which completed the conquest of Jumbo .
“ It ’ s a cinch ! a cinch !” he cried .
“A couple o fgood men could make fifty thousand a year easy andsa fe . Fifty thousand a fte r the comm i s s ion wa staken out .”
“What commission ?” I demanded.
Thirty-three and a third pe r cent to them thatdisposes of the stone s ,
” sa id Jumbo evasively.
I thought it wi se r not to question Jumbo any fa rther in that direction at present .Jumbo went on enthusia stically . You and me ’ ll
be pardners ! This i s our little private graft. Wewon ’ t let anybody else in, see ? You on the ins ide ,me out, we were made for each other !
”
The coyer I made out to be, the more friendlywa s Jumbo .Finally, coming down to pract i ca l matters , he
a sked me what the stones were worth . I told himthe market value .
“Of course I can’ t get anything like nea r that ,
Thieves ’ Wit 197
he sa id . But I ’ ll make the best dicker I can. I ’ lllet you know before I close with them .
”
After some more persuas ion I finally handed overthe stone s . I knew he wouldn ’ t play me false a slong as he thought there were larger ga ins in p ros
pect.
We haggled for an hour over the divis ion of theprofits . I p assionately re fused to cons ider fiftyfifty, s ince the work and the ri sk were all mine .Half a dozen times the budding partnership seemedabout to end . We finally agreed on sixty and forty.
By holding out a s I did , I bel ieve I have lulled Jumbo ’ s susp ici ons foreve r .The compact wa s cemented with a drink .
We talked on about diamonds , and I saw a newidea form and grow in Jumbo ’ s l ittle swimm ing eyes .Studying me speculatively, he put me through alengthy cross-examination concerning my knowledgeof preci ous stones .
“You ’re one of these here experts yoursel f, a in’t
you ?” he sa id at la st .I modestly accepted the des ignat ion .
What did you le ave England for ?” he a sked suddenly .
“What’ s p a st i s past, I sa id scowling.
Sure , he sa id hast ily. I don ’t want to pry intoyour affa irs .”
He changed the subje ct , but I could see him stillchewing over the same idea , whatever it was .We were s itting a s usual at one of the l ittle tables
down the s ide of the bar-room . Jumbo excused
198 Thieves ’ Wit
himself for a few minutes . When he came back hetalked about one thing and another, but it wa s manifestly to ga in t ime . He glanced a t the door fromtim e to time . I wondered what was saving for meAt about ten o ’ clock, a man came into the pla cealone, and went to the ba r without, apparently,looking at us .
“Why there ’ s Foxy ! cried Jumbo in great surpr ise .He ha iled hi s friend, and had him join us a t ourtable . They overd id the ca sual meeting a little . Ibegan to suspect that Jumbo had telephoned thi s manto come and j o in us , and I wa ited with no l i ttlecurios ity to se e what would come of it .The newcomer wa s a man of Jumbo ’s age, but
looking much younger because he wa s slende r andwell built. He was one o f the pla ine st men I haveever seen but not in the sense o f be ing repuls ive ,j ust pla in . He was a blonde with a shy, colourle s sha ir, and feature s o f the
“hatchet” type , that i s t osay sha rp nose , narrow, retreating forehead , withthe ha i r beginning some di stance ba ck . Foxyd idn’ t s eem to fit h im very well, because he lookedheavy-witted, stupid, but perhaps he can be sharpenough when he wants . He had a dull
,verbo se
style o f talk, and a conce ited air l ike a third-ratea ctor .Jumbo informed me with a sca rcely concealed lee r
that Foxy was a good fellow,
” in other words acrook like ourselve s . Veri ly, words come to strangepasse s !
200 Thieves Wit
Have you eve r hea rd of Mrs .Foxy a sked .
*
Of course I had, she i s one o f my best customers .I shook my head .
He gave me some deta il s o f her history whichwould have astoni shed Cora -
i could she haveheard them .
“She has a fine str ing of sp arklers ,”
he remarked in conclus ion .
“Has she ?” I s a id innocently. I had sold themto her .
“ She ’ s a t Newport now, sa id Foxy ca sually.
Hell !what ’ s the use of beating round the bush !sa id Jumbo in his hearty way .
“Ain ’ t we all friendstogether ? It’ s worth a nice little sum to you , English , i f you can find out and report i f i t’ s the genuine stones that she wears around town up there .”
“But I can ’t le ave my j ob ,” I obj ected .
Sure , he can’t le ave his j ob , sa id Jumbo at once .
He can go up on Saturday night’ s boat, and comeback Sunday, can
’t he ?” s a id Foxy .
The matte r wa s so arranged . I suppose I am infor i t next Saturday . Will you see that Mrs .i s warned in some manner ?In the meantime I am to be taken to se e ‘ thefriends” that buy and sell di amonds . Here ’s hoping that this may prove to be the grand headquarters of the gang .
When we le ft the pla ce , Jumbo excus ing himself,pulled Foxy a side , and held a brie f, whispered con
* He nam ed one of the m ost prom inent society wom en in NewYork—B. E.
Thieves ’ Wit 201
sul tation with him,which boded ill for somebody .
The i r fa ces were distorted with anger. Foxy tookthe west-bound cross-town car , and we walked ove rto the subway .
Jumbo anxious , I suppose , to make me feel thatI had not been le ft out of anything, sa id :
“Me andFrank had a littl e t rouble to-day. There ’ s a bullpoking his nose into our private business .”
Hoping to hea r more , I heart ily j o ined with himin consigning the whole ra ce of “bulls” to perdition .
“Oh , thi s is only an amateur-l ike ,” sa id Jumbo .
He ’ s running a l ittle private gra ft of hi s own. Hea in ’ t dangerous . Me and Foxy
’
s got it fixed totrim him nicely .
This was all I could get . I mention it, thinkingthat it may be of interest to you.
I suppose i f e ither of my worthy friends ever su s
pected that I wa s not a good fellow,
” my li fe wouldnot be worth a j a ck-straw . The same menace lurksbehind Jumbo ’ s swimming p ig-eyes , and Foxy
’
s dullones . But I am enj oying the sp ice of danger . Theonly thing that irks me are the tir esome hours atmy work bench in Dunsany
’
s . I ’ ll be glad when thegame becomes l iveli er . Thi s i s l i fe !
REPORT OF A . N .
June 25th.
K . Milbourne came out of his boarding-house atto-night . Walked East to Seventh avenue ,
North on Seventh to Fi fty-e ighth street , and East
202 Thieves Wit
to a reso rt ne ar Third Avenue call ed Under theGreenwood Tree . This is a saloon and restaurantwith a large open a ir ga rden in the rear where a
band plays .I wa ited outs ide upwards of an hour . Then I
went in to see i f I had my m an sa fe . I found therewas a ba ck entrance from the garden out to Fiftyn inth street , and he wa s gone . I ’m sorry, but “
ac
cidents will happen !” I returned to the boardinghouse . Milbourne came home at and judging from the l ight in his room, went di rectly to bed.
204 Thieves ’ Wit
not come in , sa id Keenan , nor had she sent any word .
I wa s downright anxious by thi s time . Sadi e mustknow that I would call he r up , I told myself . Surelyshe would neve r stay away so long without sendingin word, unless she were prevented . I called upher s i ster with whom she l ived . They had notheard from her there since she had le ft a s usua l thatmorning.
I spent a horrible a fternoon , condemned to ina ction , while my bra in busied itself suggesting all thedreadful things that m ight have happened . Curiously enough I thought only of the ordinary accidents of the streets . The truth never occurredto me .The blow descended about half-past four . Terrible a s it wa s i t was like rel ie f to hea r anything. Itcame in the form of a speci al delivery lette r
,mailed
a s in irony from Station W . Within were two linesmore of that damned cryptogram, thus :
SP JAH FUXLJG QCXQ WYE DFB&U OWKMZM&YW SY EUS UYHJL FVDH QMWZCDBKQBC OYFG YB UOWX .
Meaning“ I f you return what you stole yesterday in the
first ma il to-morrow all will be well .”On the back of the paper was wri tten another
me ssage :“They have got me , Ben . Save me !
This went to my breast l ike a kni fe . It was. umquestionably Sadlie
’
s handwriting. The wild words
Thieves ’ Wit 205
were so unlike my clever sel f-conta ined girl i t brokem e all up . For a while I could not think, could notplan . I could only reproach myself for having putone so dear to me in danger .Fortunately for humans , old habits of work rea s
s e rt themselve s automati cally. My bra in screweditsel f down upon the hardest problem of my ca
reer . There wa s not the slightest use in flying upto the flat on One Hundredth street . There wouldb e no one there . Neither could I call on the policefor a id without precip itating the cata strophe . I fSadie was to be saved it must be by una ided wits .I thought of Mr . Dunsany with hope and grati
tude . In him I had a line on the gang they did nota s yet suspect . I immediately called up Dunsany
’
s
and asked i f I m ight speak to Mattingly in the j ewels etting department. It was a ri sky thing to do , butI had no choice . Knowing how the gang watchedDunsany
’
s it would have been suicidal for me to havegone there to meet him .
I finally heard hi s vo ice at the other end of thewire “Thi s i s Enderby,
” I sa id . “Do you getme ?”
“Yes , he sa id , what is it ?”
I had to bea r in mind the possib il ity of a curiousswitchboard operator in Dunsany
’
s l i stening on thewire . “Are you going to meet your friends ton ight ?” I a sked in ordinary tones .
“Yes , he sa id,“ same a s usual .
Those fellows have played a trick on me , Is aid .
“They have copped my girl .”
206 Thieves ’ Wit
Not Sadi e ! he sa id agha st .Yes , I sa id .
“ It’ s a deuce of a note , i sn’t it ?
He took the h int, and his voi ce steadied. “Whatdo you want me to do ?”
“Find out i f you can without g iving yoursel f awaywhere they have put her .”
“ I ’ ll try. Where can I meet you ?”
We can ’ t meet. But watch out for my friendJoe the taxi-driver . He stands outside your j ointup on Lexington avenue . The number of his l icence i s 1 10 1 8. It’ s pa inted on the sidelam ps .
”
“ I get you , sa id Mr. Dunsany.
I cannot give a very clea r account of the nexthour or two . It wa s l ike a n ightmare . I knew ayoung fellow that drove a taxi which he hired froma big garage by the day . I wa s depending on himto help me out. I had o ften employed him . Is earched him out
,taking suitable precautions against
be ing tra iled . He agreed to h i re me his cab forthe night and I went to his room to change clotheswith him . The vi sored cap in itsel f wa s a prettygood disgui se . I had made an engagement by telephone with my good friend Osca r Nilson , and hefixed m e up so my own mother wouldn ’ t have knownme .In my anxious eagernes s I a rr ived at the Turtle
B ay Ca fé long be fore the hour. None of the menI was looking for had arrived , and I was compelledto drive around the street s for another half houror more . I turned down the l ittle flag on the meter,
208 Thieves Wit
What a lucky chance it was that had led me to him .
He wa s a wonder !The other two were an ugly-looking pa ir at that
moment , the one fa ce gros s and mean , the othersharp and mean . They had dropped thei r masks .I wondered now how I could have thought even fora moment that Milbourne was stup id . His longnose , his close-set eyes, the whole eager thrust-forward of his gaunt face suggested the evil intelligenceo f the devil himsel f. Not for nothing was thi s mancalled Foxy .
After a while they seemed to come to an understanding. Jumbo sat ba ck and putting hi s hand inh i s pocket, looked around for the wa ite r . I madea quiet exit to my cab outs ide where I wa ited theturn o f events .They must have had another drink for it wa s still
some moments before they i ssued from between theswinging doors . I saw English ’ s eyes go at once tothe number on my side l amp s, which he read off withvi s ible satis fact ion . He gave me a fl eeting glance a sI sat nodding on the driver ’ s sea t . English wa smaking out to show the effects o f his l iquor a little .The other two were cold sober .
“Say, boys ,” sa id Engli sh , let
’ s taxi it up ; I’ ll
blow .
”
I made believe to come to l i fe , hea ring that , andhopping out touched my cap and opened the door .Foxy frowned and held back .
“What’ s the use ?”
he grumbled.
“Aw,
come on, s a id Engli sh . I a in’ t had an
Thieves Wit 209
auto ride s ince I landed . His slightly fool ish air
was beauti fully done .Neithe r Jumbo nor Foxy liked the idea , but they
l iked les s calling attention to themselve s by a discussion in the stre et. So they all p iled in. Jumbogave me a number on Lexington avenue which wouldbe about half a mile North of where we then were .There wa s a hole in the front gla s s a t my ear for
the purpose of allowing fa re to communicate withdriver . With the no ise o f the engine , however, Icould hea r no more than the sound of thei r voice s .It seemed to me that both Foxy and Jumbo wereadmonishing English not to drink so much i f hecouldn ’ t carry it better .I found my numbe r on a small ish brown stonedwelling facing the great sunken ra ilway yards , anddrew up before i t . It was one of a long row ofhouse s, all exa ctly alike .As my fares cl imbed out, Engli sh sa i d to JumboHow long will we be in here ?”“Not long,
” was the answer.“Then wait ,
” sa id Engli sh to me . A glance of
intelligence pas sed between us .
“You must l ike to throw your money away,
grumbled Foxy, a s they mounted the steps .They were adm itted by a negro man-servant .I exam ined the surroundings more parti cularly .
The excavating of the great yards opposite ha s damaged the neighbourhood as a res idential distri ct andthe tidy l ittle house s were somewhat fallen fromthe i r gentee l estate . Small , cheap shops had opened
2 10 Thieves ’ Wit
in one or two o f the ba sements , and beauty parlours ,or dry-cleaning e stabli shments on the parlour floors .Only one or two house s of the row reta ined a sel fre sp ecting a ir, and of these the house I wa ited before wa s one. The stone stoop had been renovated,the door handle s were brightly pol i shed, and thewindows cleaned . Simple, artistic cu rta in s showedwithin . In fact i t had all the earmarks of thedwelling o f a well-to-do old-fa shioned family whichhad refused to give up its old home when the firstb reath of disfavour fe ll upon the ne ighbourhood.
I should furthe r expla in that the houses werethree story and basement stru ctures with mansardroo fs over the cornices . At the corner of the street ,that i s to say three doors from where my cab wasstanding, there wa s a new building four stori e s high ,which conta ined a brightly l ighted ca fé on the streetl eve l and rooms above . In othe r words what NewYorkers call a Raine s ’ Law Hotel .The thre e men remained ins ide the house aboutforty-five minutes , I suppose . It seemed like threet ime s that space to me , wa iting. They appea red atla st, ta lking in sl ightly heightened tones , which suggeste d that they had partaken o f sp irituous refre shment ins ide . Thei r talk as fa r as I could hea r itwa s all in respectful pra i se of a lady they had justle ft . She was a “good fellow, a
“wise one ,” “ long
headedf’
At the cab door they hes itated a moment a s i f indoubt o f the i r next move .
2 12 Thieves ’ Wit
structing her to go there for certa in evidence . I didnot se e her . I understood from their talk that sofa r she i s all r ight .”
“The house is occup ied by a woman they ca ll Lorina or Mrs . Mans-field . Handsome , blonde womanof forty ; great force of character . She i s a memberof the gang, perhaps the leade r O f it . Anyway, theya l l defer to her . She has a bette r head than e itherJumbo or Foxy. I wa s taken there ton ight for the
purpose of having her s ize me up . Appa rently she
approved of me .”
I understood that the girl i s sa fe until to-morrowmorning . Then they plan -his voice began toshake here to— to do away with her .”
“Unles s I come acro s s with the paper they want ?”
I interrupted .
“Whethe r you do or not, he sa id grimly. Theyhave no intention of letting her go . They plan to
get you, too , to-morrow .
”
HowI don ’t know . I wa s not consulted .Go on.
The— the job they are trying to force on me ,he faltered ,
“ i s to dispose of her body. They chosem e because I am not suspected by you , not followed .
I am to ca rry it out of the house p iecemeal . Ohit
’
s horrible !”“Steady !” I sa id . I promise you that won ’ t b e
n ece ssa ry . Any more particulars ?”“Mrs . Mansfield lives alone ,
”he went on. She
has three coloured servants , two ma ids and a man .
”
Thieves ’ Wit 2 13
,
D i d you find out where they slept ?”
Yes . The two maids on the top floor in thefront room
,the man somewhere in the ba sement .”
“Are they in the gang ?”
N0 . They do not know that Miss Farrell i s inth e house . But the man, I understood, could be dep ended ou ab solutely. Which means that he i sready for any bla ck deed . He is a s ugly and stronga s a gorilla .
”
“What about the other interna l arrangements o fthe house ?”
“On the fi rst floor there i s a parlour in front,din
ing-room and pantry behind . On the second floorthe front room i s a s itting—room or o ffice . Thetelephone i s here . Mrs . Mansfield sle eps in the rea rroom on this floor . Between her bedroom and theo ffi ce there i s an interio r room , and that i s whereMiss Farrell is confined . This room can be enteredonly through Mrs . Mansfiel d
’
s bedroom .
”
“Did you notice the locks on the doors ?”
N0 . There wa s nothing out of the common . Onthe front door a Yale lock of the ordina ry pattern .
”
“Anything more ?”
One thing. Mrs . Mansfield goes a rmed . Sheha s a small automati c p i stol with a maxim s ilencerwhich i s evidently her favourite toy . I hope I gotwhat you wanted. They were at me every m inute .I could not look a round much .
“No one could have done better !” I sa i d heartily .
What do you want me to do now ?”
Where a re you ?”
2 14 Thieves ’ Wit
In my own boarding-house . The party at theTurtle Bay soon broke up . The telephone here 1s
in the restaurant in the ba sement, and everybodysleep s upstairs .
“You had bette r stay at home until morning, I
sa id, a fter thinking a moment .“ It i s very l ikely
that they a re having you watched to-night.”
“But I must do something. I couldn ’ t sleep .
There i s really nothing you can do now. Staywhere you can hea r the telephone and I
’ l l call you i fI need you . I ’ l l call you anyway when I get her outsa fe . I f you do not hear from me by say, thre eo ’ clock, go to poli ce headqua rters , tel l them all thecircumstance s , and have the house surrounded andforced .
”
“ I understand .
To-morrow morning i f all goes well , you mustgo to work a s usual . I don ’t mean that we shalllose all our work so fa r i f I can help it . They mustnot su spect you .
Don ’ t t ake too b ig a chance, Ben , the gi rlDon ’t worry. The girl i s worth fi fty ca ses to
me . But I mean to save both.
”
2 16 Thieves ’ Wit
In one s ide p ocket I carried a small but effi ci entkit of tools , in the other a bottle o f chloroform anda roll o f cotton . My pistol was in my hip pocket.I went up the three fl ights without meeting any
one, lighted by a red globe on each landing. Therewas a fourth fl ight ending at a closed door which Ifigured must give on the roof. It was bolted on theins ide , of course , and I presently found mysel f outunder the sta rs .Thi s building, you will remember, was half a
story higher than the row of dwel lings which ad
j oined it . It wa s there fo re a drop of only s ix fe etfrom the parapet of one roo f to the parapet of theother . Easy enough to go ; a little more di fficultperhap s to return that way. From the parapet Istepped noi selessly to the roo f o f the first dwelling,and crossed the two intervening roo fs to the houseI meant to enter . I had nea rly two hours be foreMr . Dunsany would put the police -in motion , amplet ime , I judged . Probably the first few minute s inthe house would decide succes s or fa i lure .There wa s a flat scuttl e in the roo f which , a s I
expected, was fastened from within . I could haveopened it with my tools , but it seeme d to me quickerand sa fe r to ente r by one o f the windows in ‘ themansard . In any ca se I would have to deal with themaids on that floor, and it wa s l ikely they slept behind locked doors .The cornice made a wide , flat ledge in front o fthe se windows . It was a simple ta sk to let myselfdown the sloping mansa rd to the l edge and creep to
Thieves’ Wit 2 17
the window . Had I been seen from the p avementa cros s the way it would have ruined all , but thestreet was deserted a s far a s I could see up anddown . There were no houses opposite .Pausing with my head ins ide the window I hea rd
heavy breathing from the ba ck of the room . I cautiously le t myself in. Then I could distinguish twobreathings side by side , and knew that both womenwere sleep ing in the s ame bed . I got out my cot
ton and chloro form . Fortunately for me negroe sa re generally heavy sleepers . I let ea ch womanbreathe in the fumes before the cotton touched herface . They dri fted away with scarcely a movement .I le ft the saturat ed cotton on the i r fa ces without anycone to reta in the fumes . In thi s way they couldnot take any injury . The potency of the drug wouldsoon be diss ipated in the atmosphere .It wa s a hot night and the door of thei r room
s tood open . I didn ’ t see until too late , that a cha irhad been placed aga inst the door to prevent the dra ftfrom the window slamming it . I stumbled over thecha ir . It made l ittle noi se , but the j a r caused m e
to drop the precious bottle , and be fore I recoveredit the contents wa s wasted . Th is was a ser i ous loss .I crept down the first fl ight of sta i rs . Thi s
landed me on the floor where the mistre ss slept . AsI approached the door of her room a shrill yappingstarted up inside . I cursed the animal under mybreath . Engli sh had not told me that the womankept a dog. It made things twice a s diflicult . Thenoise sounded through the house loud enough , i t
2 18 Thieves ’ Wit
seemed t o me , to wake the dead . I hea rd somebodymove ins ide the room , and I ha stened down thenext fl ight o f sta irs, and crouched at the back of thehall outside the dining-room door.Ov
,er my head I heard the bedroom door unlocked
,
and presently the upper hall wa s floode d with l ight .I was sa fely out of rea ch o f it s rays . I offered upa s ilent prayer that the lady would not be moved todescend the sta irs , for I p i ctured her carrying theautomat i c with the s ilence r. True , I had my owngun, but for obvious rea sons I wa s averse to fir ing i t .She did not come down . The dog apparently was
s ati sfied that all wa s well , and ceased his yapping.
From his voi ce I judged the animal to be a Pomerani an . Mistres s and dog finally returned to the b edroom and the door wa s locked aga in . With thedog and the lock on the door my problem was noea sy one . I had to enter that way before I couldrea ch my girl . She le ft the light burning in the ups ta irs hall.Before attempting to deal with the mistress i t
seemed to me necessary to di spose of the negro inthe ba sement . I went on downsta ir s not at all relishing the prospect . There were swing doors both
at the top and the bottom of the basement sta irswhich had to be opened with infinite caut ion to avoida squeak. On the sta irs between it wa s as dark a sErebus . On eve ry step I hal f expect ed to find thegorilla-like creature crouching in wa it for me , butwhen I finally edged through the lower door I wa s
220 Thieves ’ Wit
to the negro ’ s sleep ing-room . He was still snoringvociferously. He lay on hi s back with hi s brawnyarm s flung above his head like an infant , and hi sgreat chest rose like a b illow with every inhalation .
The bed was a small iron one with low head andfoot . It looked strong, but I knew that these thingswere generally of fl imsy const ruction .
First I la id my gun on the floor where I couldsnatch i t up at need. Then with infinite care Ipa ssed my long trunk strap under the bed and overhi s ankles , and drew it close , but not tight . Thiswas intended for a merely temporary entanglement .He never stirred . I made a noose out of one o fthe p i ece s of rope and passed it care fully, care fullyover his two hands . During this he began to sti r .The snores were interrupted . I passed the ropearound the i ron bar a t the head of the bed, and a she came fully awake I gave it a sharp j erk b indinghis hands hard and fast . I knotted the rope .I flung a pillow over hi s head, and sat on it to stillany crie s while I made a permanent j ob o f truss inghim up . His great frame heaved and plunged on
the bed in a paroxysm of bruti sh te rror , finding himsel f bound . You have seen a cat with a rope aroundi t . Imagine a mad creature thirty t imes the bulk o fa cat . But every thing held . The bed rocked andbounced on the floor, but there were four closeddoor s between me and the woman sleep ing up-sta i rs ,and I hoped the sound m ight not carry .
It was all over in a moment or two . The ropeswere ready to my hand . Every time he heaved up
Thieves’ Wit 22 1
I pa s sed a fresh turn under him . Presently I hadh im bound so tight he could not move a muscle .True to the chara cte r of hi s race , he gave up thestruggle all at once and lay inert . There was amoment in which he might have cried out when Ichanged the p illow for a gag made out of the sheet,but by that time he wa s gasp ing for b reath . I knotted the gag firmly between his teeth . Smotheredgroans i ssued from under it . I went over all theropes twice to make sure nothing could slip . I expected, of course , that he would wriggle out in theend , but I only needed a l i ttle while .Before p roceeding furthe r I gave my stretchednerve s a moment or two to relax . The big ta sk wa sstill to come . Finally I stole up-sta irs aga in . WhenI closed the doors behind me I could no longer hea rthe negro ’ s smothered groans . The house was pe rfectly quiet . As I softly crept up on all fours sta i rto sta ir I was bus ily debating how to open the at
ta ck . Locked door, s ilent gun and dog made theodds heavy against me .By the time I was half way up the ma in sta irway
I had made a plan . Ris ing to my fe et I mountedthe re st of the way with a firm tread . Instantly thel ittle dog ins ide broke into a franti c barking. Iheard his mistre ss spring out of bed . I hastily uns crewed the electri c light bulb , and throwing a legover the bani sters sl id noise lessly down to the firstfloor aga in . As be fore I sought the security of theback hall .She unhes itatingly op ened the door—she wa s a
222 Thieves ’ Wit
bold one. I heard he r catch her breath to find thehall in da rkness . Her hand shot out, I heard theclick of the switch , but of course there wa s no l ight .Instantly she began shooting. The light “ping” of
her weapon had an inexpre ss ibly deadly sound . Thebullets thudded viciously into wood and pla ster .From the direction of the latte r sounds , she wasshooting along the upper hall and down the sta i rs .I knew she had ten shots , not more , and I counted
them . After the tenth , running forward in the hall ,I set up a horrid groaning . She was silent above .I kept up the groaning, and threshed about on thefloor alongs ide the sta irs .Suddenly she came running down . This was what
I had prayed she m ight do . She reached the switchin the lower ha ll and light fl ared out. In stantly Isp rang up the outs ide of the sta irway
,vaulted over
the banisters and stood half way up the sta irs , cut
t ing her off, I hoped , from addit ional ammunition .
She stood at the foot of the sta irs gun in hand ,glaring up at me . I s aw a large , handsom e womanwith a rope of coarse blonde ha i r a s thick a s mywrist hanging down her back and eyes like lambentblue flames . By her snarl I saw that I had the ad
vantage for the moment , but her eye s never qua iled .
To give her her due she was as bold a s a l ion . Iknow of few other women of her age who would lookhandsome under the circum stance s . She was wearing a p ink negligee robe over her n ightdress . Herfeet were bare , they were pretty feet, too . The l i ttle dog sheltered himsel f behind her skirts barking
224 Thieves ’ Wit
rear hall, the l ittle dog whimpering in terror at herheels .The door at the head of the ba sement sta irs
banged open and she plunged down , call ing on herservant . I had to make a quick deci s ion . The waywa s presumably open to Sadie , but there were plentyof knives in the kitchen and i f she liberated the manI would have to fight m y
'
way out of the house aga instthe two o f them . I ran a fter her . A rough housein the ba sement followed, doors slamm ing, cha irsoverturned, and the cea sele ss yelping of the dog .
She ran into the front room,saw the negro ’ s pre
dicam ent, and ran back through the pantries to thekitchen . I wa s close at her heels . She knew justwhere to find her kni fe , and she was out of the roomaga in by the other door before I could stop her .She ran back through the hall to the front room ,
slamming both doors in my face to delay me . Shetried to lock the se cond door, but I got my foot in it.She flung herself on the negro , sawing at his bonds
with the kni fe . Fortunately there was some lightin this room . I dragged her off the bed . I hadonly one arm free on a ccount of the gun . She torehersel f fre e from me , and turning, came at me stabb ing with the kni fe . I thought my la st hour hadcome . I fired ove r her head . She ran out of theroom .
I stopped to look at my pri soner’ s bonds . I foundthem intact . In bending ove r him my foot strucksomething on the floor . I picked up her gun . Shehad been obliged to drop it in order to use the kni fe .
Thieves’ Wit
I ran a fter her. As I put foot on the upper sta irsI heard her slam her bedroom door and turn thekey . So there I had my work to do all overr—butnot quite all, for I had the gun now, and it wa shardly likely she woul d have another.
HAMMERED on the door with the butt o fmy revolver—a l ittle noise more or le s s
s carcely matte red now, and commanded he r to
open it .She was not so ea sily to be intimidated . Through
the door she consigned me to the nether world .
“ I fyou break in the door I ’ ll croak the girl ,” she thre atened.
I beli eved her capable of i t. Remembering thekn i fe she carried, I shuddered .
We spent some moment s in exchanging amenitie sthrough the door . I wished to keep her occup ied ,while I thre shed around in my head for some expedient to trap he r.All right ! I cri ed, giving the door a final rat
tl e.
“ I ’ ll get the poker from the furna ce .She laughed tauntingly.
Of course I had no such intention . I had suddenly remembered the open windows on the roo fo f the extens ion . It seemed eas ier to drop fromabove than climb from below, so I went up-sta irs .The room over Mrs . Mansfield
’
s bedroom wasunlocked and untenanted . I took off my shoe s atthe threshold , and crept a cros s with painful care toavoid giving her warning below . Unfortunately theWindows were closed . I lo st p reci ous time open s
226
228 Thieves ’ Wit
she turned a round . I t wa s well that i t was so , because the door into the inner room stood wide . I
saw my girl lying on a couch . Like a fla sh thewoman had the lights out. Quick as a —cat she wasthrough the door, knife in hand . But I had got mybearings with that one glimpse . I was hard uponher . I flung my arms around her from behind, p inioning her close . I dragged her back into the outerroom . She was surpris ingly strong for a woman ,but I was just a little stronger . She sp it out cursesl ike an angry cat.I dragged her acros s the room to where the
switch was . I had to take an arm from her to sea rchfor it . She renewed her struggle s . It took half adozen attempts . Once she e scaped me altogether .She sti ll had the kni fe . I do not know how I managed to escape injury . She sl it my coat with it .At la st I got the blessed l ight turned on . Shewa s still j abbing at me with the knife , but I couldsee what I was doing now. The l ittle dog fa stenedhi s teeth in my ankle . I kicked him acro s s the room .
Between the two doors I have mentioned there wasa third door, which evidently gave on a closet . Ithad a key in it . I dragged my captive to it, andsomehow managed to get it open . I flung her in ,kni fe and al l , slammed the door, locked it, andleaned against the f rame sobb ing for breath . I washalf blinded by the sweat in my eyes . The womanwa s all in , too, or I never should have got the doorclosed . For a while she lay where she had fallenwithout sound or movement. When his mistress
Thieves ’ Wit 229
di s appeared the dog ran unde r the bed . His l ittlep ipe was now so hoarse he could scarcely make himsel f heard .
Presently the woman recovered her forces .Springing up , she hurled hersel f aga inst the doorwith a s much force as she could gather in that na rrow space . The door opened out, and the lockwa s a fl imsy one . I saw that I couldn ’ t keep he rthere for long. I ran into the inner room .
My dearest girl wa s lying on a couch , fullydressed and unfettered, but strangely inert, stupefied. I wa s t err ified by her a spect . However, herbody was warm and she was breathing, though notnaturally. She was not wholly unconscious . Herhead moved on the p illow, and her m i sty eye s soughtmine with a fa int returning gleam of sent i ence . Ob
viously she had been drugged, and the effect wa sjust now beginning to wear off .
I could not stop to restore he r the re . I gatheredher up in my arm s , snatched up her hat which wa slying nea r, and ran out through the bedroom . Ihad no more than got the bedroom door locked behind me , when the door o f the closet burst open ,and the woman fell out into the room . She im m edi
ately threw hersel f aga inst the other door, but a sregarded that, my mind was ea s ie r . It wa s a muchheavie r a ffa ir, and it opened towards her . I neednot point out that there i s a cons iderable differencebetween bursting a door out
,and pulling it in .
I carried my precious burden down the sta irs ,murmuring phra se s in he r e ar that I did not know
230 Thieves ’ Wit
I had at my command. She com menced to weep , avery encouraging s ign . I believe I wept with her .She was dearer to m e than my l i fe .I paused at the front door to t ry to bring her tosomewhat be fo re venturing out into the street . Un
fortunately there was no wate r within reach . I wasa fra id to take much t ime . The woman up
-sta ir shad obta ined some kind of a weapon with which shewa s battering the door. In her insane pass ion she
had forgotten all cons ide ration s of prudence . Shefinally managed to split one of the panels ; the key,however, was sa fe in my pocket . She hurled im
p recations a fter us .I opened the oute r door a l ittle , and the fresh a i rrevived my dearest girl marvellously. Presentlyshe wa s able to stand with a little a ssi stance . Herfi rst consciou s a ct wa s to p in on her hat with a p iteous a ssumption of her usually composed manner.For a long t ime she could not spe ak, but she knewme now, and le aned on me trustfullyI knew how best to reach her. Brace up ! I
whispered urgently.
“Pull yoursel f togethe r. Ineed you. Show me what you can do 1
”
She smiled a s much a s to say she wa s ready foranything. Such was her temper .We went out, clos ing both doors behind us . Ifully expected to see a knot o f the curious on thestep s , a ttra cted by the strange sounds from within .
But the street was still empty. There must be alot of strange things happening that no one eve rknows of . We did not meet anybody until we got
232 Thieves ’ Wit
Sadie by thi s t ime could speak for hersel f. She tookmy part .I telephoned from here to Engli sh at his board
ing-house a s I had agreed . I still had more thanhalf an hour to the good .
He gave a restra ined whoop when he heard myVOice.
“You ’ve got her !” he cried .
“You ’ re bothall right ?”
“Right a s ra in !”
Ben , you’re a wonder !
At that moment I was quite p repared to believe it.“How did you manage it ?” he a sked.
“Can ’ t t ell you now. The game i s only start
What am I to do ?Go to bed . Above all keep them from suspect
ing you . The whole ca se depends on you now . Iwill write you care Dunsany
’
s on Monday.
”
Take care of yourse l f !”
Same to you !Warning the girl s to be ready to start for thecountry in an hour , I borrowed a pa ir of brother-inlaw ’ s shoes and returned the taxi to its garage . Ithen went home and washed and dressed mysel f inmy own clothe s . Afterwards I got out my own littl e car and went back for Sadie . By thi s t ime thedawn was breaking. It wa s Sunday.
I found Sadie quite her own self aga in,and flatly
rebell ious at be ing ordered to give up the game andreti re to the country . In vain I expla ined to her thatthe se p eople had the ir ba cks aga inst the wall now,
Thieves ’ Wit 233
and that our lives were not worth a farthing dip ifthey eve r caught s ight of us . Sister was now on
my s ide , not, however, without a few back shots atthe one who had first got her Sadie into the crooks ’
bad books . It was not unti l I sa id that I was m ysel f going to lie low for a while that Sadi e gave in .
I ’m afra id a t that, that he r op inion o f me suffereda fall for the t ime being.
The dearest girl was furious when she learnedthat I had almost been frightened out of my witsby the message from her they had sent me
,so much
so that I had been prepared to drop the whole caseto save he r.
“That wa s what they were a fter !” she cr ied . I
had to write it, of course , because she held a p istolto my head . But I wa s sure you would understand .
I f I had thought for a moment that you would leti t interfere with the ca se I would have le t her shoot .”I shuddered . One did not know whether to
pra ise or blame such game folly. However, I rege
istered a l ittle vow privately not to let Sadie ’ s enthusiasm le ad her into danger again . Meanwhile Ihugged her right there with s i ster looking on. Shepromptly slapped my face—but not so hard a s usual .I took the si sters to that same little sanatorium
at Am ityville , Long Island, where Sadi e had beenbefore with Miss Hamerton . The do ctor-proprietor wa s an old friend of m ine . A single warningword to h im , and I knew they would be a s sa fe a sI could guard them myself .Notwithstanding Sadie ’ s V iolent obj ections (she
234 Thieves ’ Wit
sa id she had be en lured to Am ityville under falsepretense s!, I motored right back to town . I didintend to lay off for a day or two but I had to putmy oflice in order first ; It was about e ight o ’clockwhen I got back to Manhattan . I put up my ca rand had an excellent breakfa st . I thought i f I wasgoing to be plugged it might as well be on a fullstomach . I did not dece ive mysel f a s to the ri sk Iran in vi siting my ofli ce, but it wa s ab solutely necess ary for me to secure certa in papers and destroyothers .I took a taxi down and ordered the man to wa it.I cl eaned everything up in ca se the pla ce should b eentered during my absence . What papers I meantto take with me I deposited in a satchel, and tookthe precaution o f strapp ing i t to my wri st . ThenI locked up and returned down sta irs . I found thatmy chauffeur had moved away from the doorway alittle , consequently I wa s exposed for a moment ortwo on the s idewalk.
It wa s suflici'ent. I heard that deadly l ittleping” and simultaneously a sound like a slap onbare fl esh . I did not know I was h it, but I fell down .
Then a pa in l ike the searing of a hot i ron passedthrough my shoulder .
“ I ’m shot !” I cri ed involuntari ly .
I reali sed that I was not ser iously hurt . However, I had no mind to get up and make myself ata rget fo r more . I made believe to close my eyes ,and lay still . My mind worked with a strange clea rness. I saw the woman acro ss the street . She wa s
236 Thieves ’ Wit
already seen the reporters , and by the exercise of
persuas ion and diplomacy had managed to keep thea ffa ir from be ing unduly exploited in the papers .The police , good fellows , were hard at work on theca se , but they could hardly be expected to accompl ishanything without the evidence which I did not intendto let them have . The doctors who hate to seeany one e scape out of the i r hands so eas ily did the irbest to persuade me to stop a while in the hospita land rest” but how could I rest with so much to doouts ide ?Having decided that I must le ave the hosp ita l , i t
wa s a matter of considerabl e concern to me howthi s was t o be effected without exposing myself to afresh danger . I had rece ived a disguised telephonemessage from English to the e ffect that they werewa iting for me . I decided to confide in the vi s itingsurgeon , an understanding man .
“Sir,
” I sa id, “ I am a private detective . I havea gang of crooks almost ready to be rounded up .
Knowing it, they are desperate . That i s the explanati on o f the attack on me . Now the chance sare that the instant I step outs ide the hosp ital I ’ llstop another bullet . What would you do i f youwere me
“Call on the pol ice , he sa id, of course.
I can ’t do that without exploding my charges prematurely .
As I sa id , he was an understanding man . Hedidn’ t bothe r me with a lot o f questions , but took
Thieves’ Wit 237
the ca se a s he found it. Afte r thinking a while , hesa id ‘
“How would it do i f I had you transferred in anambulance to my private clin ic on —1 Street . You
see you ’ ll be loaded on out o f sight in the hosp ita lyard here
,and you will be driven right ins ide my
pla ce t o be unloaded . You lie flat in the ambulanceand no one can see ins ide without climbing on thestep , and a surgeon s its there .Fine !” I sa id .
“You ’re a man of resource .He gave the order, and it was so done . Arrivedat hi s private hospital I dressed myself in streetclothes, borrowing a coat to replace my bloody one,and calling a taxi had myself carri ed to OscarNilson ’ s shop .
23
HAVE ment ioned, I beli eve , that Oscar Nilsonwas a wig-make r, the best in New York . His
l ittle shop on a quiet side street North of MadisonSquare i s qua int enough to be the setting of an oldfa shioned play . The walls a re l ined with old cutsof histori ca l personages and famous Thesp ians a shi stori ca l personages , all with pa rt i cula r attentionto the i r hirsute features . On the counte r stands arow of forms , ea ch bearing some extraordinary kindof scalp . Osca r deals in make-up a s a s ide l ineand the a ir bears the intox i cat ing odour of greasep a int and cold cream .
Oscar’ s busm ess i s chiefly with the theatrical profession, but many an old beau and fading belle havefound out that he knows more about restoring youththan the more fa shionable beautifiers . Osca r loveshis busine ss . His knowledge , historical , a rt i sti c,scientific, i s immense—but all in terms of human hair .He can tell you offhand how Napoleon wore his in1 803 or any other year of his ca reer, and will makeyou an exact sketch o f the toupee ordered by theDuke of Wellington when hi s fell out .Osca r himsel f, strangely enough , or perhap s
naturally, ha s next to no hai r of hi s own, merely al ittle mousy fringe above the ears . He has a j ollyrubicund face and is held in high affe ction and esteem
238
240 Thieves Wit
I se e you have an idea of your own,” he sa id .What i s i t ?”“We ’ve used several rough-neck disgui ses , I sa id .
Suppose you fix me up a s a swell thi s t ime . I havea mind to stop at a fa shionable hotel .
“The very thing !” cried Oscar . A curledtoupee , slightly s ilvered ; a wash for the skin to givean interesting pal lour ; a l ittle touching up about theeye s for an expression of world weariness ; waxedmousta che , monocle—T
“Easy ! The burning-glass would give me deadaway. You have to be born to that .
“Well you don ’ t have to have the monocle , sa idOsca r regretfully.
“But it ’ s very aristocratic .The costume must be exqu i sitely appointed—it willb e exp ens ive
‘Expense is no obj ect in thi s ca se , I sa id .
He set to work and an hour later I le ft hi s shopa changed man . In the event of such a contingency Ihad already secured from Mr . Dunsany the name ofhis ta i lor, and I now left him a rush o rder for several suits . Meanwhile I bought
. the be st I couldready made . I went to the most fa shionabl e outfitters and inve sted heavily. Until they di splayedtheir stock here , I had no idea that men might indulge such extravagant taste s . All thi s wa s to besent to the Hotel Rotterdam where I engaged anexpens ive su ite . I bel ieved that it would be thela st p la ce in town where the gang would think o flooking for me .I wished to persuade them that I had been s ca red
Thieves’ Wit 241
off . After having the cryptogram receipt photographed, I returned it in a pla in envelope to Jumbo ’ sfl at . By telephone I instructed Keenan to di schargeall the operatives , close the Forty-second street ofliceand advert i s e it for rent . This pla ce had outlivedi ts use fulness . Jumbo , Foxy , et a l .
,had proved
themselve s more than a match for such operative sa s could be hired .
This done , I went out to Amityville to spend a daywith Sadie . I had p romised to lay off for a l ittle ,and anyway I had to wa it until my new clothes weredone before be ing seen around town . Afte r themad excitement of the pa st few days , we spent aheavenly pea ce ful interlude under the oaks o f myfri end ’ s big pla ce .While I wa s out there an interesting report from
my sol e remaining operative arrived .
REPORT or J . M . # ro
June z7ik.
As soon a s I hea rd that you and S . F. were allright I went to bed a s you instructed . It seemedto me that I had scarcely fallen a sleep when I wasawakened by my landlady at my door to say that am an
’
wanted to see me . I t wa s no more than daybreak then . Hard upon her knock Jumbo enteredthe room . I had barely t ime to pull on my fal se ha irand fix it. Herea fter I shall have to sleep in i t .Jumbo was in a state of no little excitement . He
gave me his vers ion of what had happened . Lorina ,having apparently j ust e scaped from her room , had
.
242 Thieves Wit
called him up about hal f an hour before . I am notsure but what Jumbo came to me because she hadsuggested a susp icion of me . However , I think itmore l ikely that he just wanted moral support . Hewa s badly frightened . Jumbo for all hi s bluff, i snot a strong chara cter . He is dependent both on
Foxy and on the woman, and now seems disposed tole an on m e . I f he was susp ici ous my sleep iness andbad- temper upon being awakened must have rea ssured him .
I dressed and we went right up to the Lexingtonavenue house . Being Sunday, I had the day to m yself. Mrs . Mansfield had gone out leaving wordthat we were to wait until she came in or telephoned .
The maids believed that she had gone to consult thepolice . These two were full of highly-coloureda ccounts of the supposed robbery of the night before .The hulking black man , however , was s ilent andsullen . He knew. I wonder what you did to him .
I don ’t think I eve r saw a more repuls ive humancreature —or one more powerful .Foxy a rrived shortly a fte r we did. I am now
adm ifted to term s o f the close st equal ity by the setwo . The understanding i s that each knows enoughto the discredit of the others to ensure fa ithfulne ssall around . We all chafed at the enforced inaction ,but dared not go aga inst Lorina’
s instructions . Sheis the boss . The other two hal f expected the poli ceto descend on the house momentari ly .
About ten o ’ clock Mrs . Mansfield returned in ataxi-cab . This taxi , by the way, i s her property
244 Thieves ’ Wit
thi rd was to re cover her gun a fte r the excitementwas over and return it to her.The first of these , an evil-looking young black
guard, came in while we talked . He reported nosucces s . The satchel wa s strapped to your wri st,he sa id, and when he sta rted to unfa sten i t the crowdbegan to murmur. He sa id that you had been shotin the shoulder, and had been ca rri ed to Bellevue .He gave i t a s hi s op inion that you were not a s badlyhurt a s you made out. This cheered me greatly .
Bitte r disappointment wa s expressed around thetable .Later another of Lorina’
s men reported by telephone that he had lea rned through an orderly in thehosp ita l that you had suffered only a slight fl eshwound, and would be able to le ave the hosp ital nextday . On hearing this she gave her order s to haveevery exit from the hosp ital watched . Instruction swere to shoot to kill . I f it can b e found out in advance what t ime you are going to leave, she means tobe on hand hersel f.A s soon a s I could get out without exci ting sus
picion, I sent you a warning by telephone .
June a8th.
To-day I had to go to my work a s usual , so Ididn ’ t se e any of the gang until night . In our present state o f excitement and uncertainty we have aban
Thieves’ Wit 245
doned the Turtle Bay as a meeting place . I foundmy partners in anything but a good humour.In the first place they had learned through the
friendly orderly that in sp ite of all the i r mea sure s ,you had been sa fely sp irited out of the hosp ita l inan ambulance . It wa s learned by way of the ambulance driver that you had been ca rrie d to Dr .
’
s
private hospital . It wa s then too l ate to do anything. By the t ime they got there , you had le ft, andthe town had swallowed you up .
The entire strength of the gang, excepting me , ha sbeen devoted a ll day to p icking up your tra il, so fa rwithout any success . They have watched all yourusual haunts, your flat , your restaurant , S. F .
’
s homeand your offi ce on Fortieth street . Foxy broughtin word that the International Bureau on FortySe cond street had been closed, and all the operative sdischarged. He tra iled Keenan , the supposedmanager to the office of the Ra ilway, where hewas re-engaged for hi s ol d position .
Jumbo came in with the information that the p ieceof evidence which they rega rded a s of such importance had been returned to him . I don ’ t knowwhat this was . Lorina , exam ining it, sa id that i tappeared to have the rema ins of paste on the corners , and that you had probably had it photographed.
Foxy gave it a s hi s op inion that you had beenscared off .
“We know there is no one backing him ,
”
sa id he . He has no financi a l re sources . He can ’ tkeep it up .
Lorina would have none of it . Her eye s become
246 Thieves ’ Wit
incandescent with hatred when your name is mentioned now .
“Don’ t you beli eve it,” she snarled .
“That man will never give up . I have seen his fa ceand I know ! He ’ s a bull-dog. He will never restuntil he ha s pu l led us down , unle ss we stop him witha bullet .Jumbo became panicky . His suggestion was for
the gang to scatte r and li e low for the t ime-be ing .
Lorina scorned him . She p roceeded to point outto us all just where you stood. She appea red toknow a s well a s you do . Her ins ight i s uncanny .
You have no case , she sa id, except poss ibly aga instFoxy . You a re too conce ited to be satisfied withone. You will not strike until you have a chance o flanding the whole gang.
“BUt how about the kidnapping ?” a sked Jumbo .
The poli ce would have been here before this i fEnderby wanted to proceed on that,
”she sa id .
“Why, he watched me walk away a fter I shot himand neve r sa i d a word . No, I tell you he hasn
’
t
got the evidence yet, and we’re sa fe until he gets it .
He ’ s a iming to make a grand haul of the whole gangtogether, and get his name in the headlines .
”
The others were considerably impressed . Theyasked for instructions .
“We ’ve got to go on just a s we are , said Lorina .
Foxy must keep the room on Forty-Ninth street,Jumbo the fl at on One Hundredth street
,and I stay
here . Let everybody go about freely, and meet herea s u sual , that i s , all except Engli sh . Engli sh mustn ’ tcome here aga in . Enderby i sn’ t on to him yet .
24
N Wednesday morn ing I motored to town andtook up my res idence in the Hotel Rotterdam .
I hardly knew myself amidst such grandeur. Forsevera l days the s ituat ion rema ined in s tatus quo.
I learned from English ’ s da ily reports that Lorinaand her gang were sti ll wa it ing for my first move .I , for my part, was determined to make them movefi rst .Only one of his reports gave me anything to do .
I quote from it
Among all the men who come and go in thi s denof crooks there is one that ha s particularly excitedmy interest and compass ion . I t is an extremelygood-looking boy of e ighteen or thereabouts whomI know simply a s Blondy. He seems so l ike a normal boy, j olly, frank and mischievous , that I keepwondering how he fell into Lorina’
s clutches . Herem inds me of my boy Eddie at hi s age . Lorina ha shim thoroughly intimidated . She i s more overbearing with him than the othe rs . He seems not to betrusted very fa r, but i s used a s errand boy and spy.
His extreme good looks and ingenuous a ir, make himvaluable to them I fancy.
“Blondy’ s instinct seems to have led him to makefri ends with me , though a s fa r a s he knows I am nobetter than the rest . At any rate we have had a fewtalks together and fee l quite intimate . Without any
248
Thieves ’ Wit 249
suggestion from me , he ha s kept this from the others .It is quite touching .
“ I would like ve ry much to get the boy out of thisb e fore the grand catastrophe . I ’m sure he ’ s worths aving . Naturally in my position I can ’ t undertakeany miss iona ry work. Could you with sa fety arrange for some one to get hold of the boy ? He tell sm e that he lives at the Adelph i Association House ,No . West 1 25th street . Apparently it i s asemi-philanthropi c club or boarding-house for youngmen . He passe s the re by the name of RalphManly.
I wa s in almost as unfavorable a positi on forundertaking “miss i ona ry work” as Mr. Dunsany .
After thinking the matte r ove r I decided to againa sk the help of the famous surgeon who had hefriended me in the hosp ital . I called at his officefor the o stens ible purpose of consulting him a s tomy health . When I was alone with h im in hi s consul ting room I made mysel f known . Being a humankind of man , notwithstanding hi s eminence , he wasinter ested in the dramati c and mysterious elementso f my story. Far from abusing me for taking uphis valuable time , he expre ssed himsel f a s ve ry willing to help save the boy.
We consulted a directory of chariti e s in hi s o ffi ce ,and he found that he wa s acqua inted with severa lmen on the board of managers of the Adelphi Assoc1at ion . This offered an opening. He promisedto proceed with the greatest caution, and prom i sedto write to me at my hotel i f he had any luck .
Three days late r I hea rd from him a s follows ‘
250 Thieves ’ Wit
I took my friend on the Adelphi boa rd partlyinto my confidence , and between him and the doctoremployed by the a ssociation to sa feguard the healtho f the boys , the matte r wa s ea sily arranged . Thedo ctor ’ s regular weekly vis it to the institution fellyesterday . He saw the boy, and making believe tobe struck by something in his appearance , put himthrough an examination . He hinted to the boy thathe wa s in rathe r a bad way, and instructed him toreport to my offi ce for advice thi s morning .
“The young fellow showed up in a very soberstate of mind . He 15 re ally a s sound as a dollar, butfor the present I am keep ing him anxious withoutbe ing too expli ci t . He appears to be quite a s attraet ive a youth a s your friend sa id. I am very much interested , but am not yet prepa red to make up mymind about him . He i s coming to-morrow at twothirty . I f it i s convenient for you to b e here , I willa rrange a meeting a s i f by a ccident .”
Needle ss to say, I was at the doctor’ s o ffice at the
t ime specified . I found the blonde boy already wa iting among other patients in the outer offi ce . It wasea sy to recognise him from Mr. Dunsany
’
s descript ion . He was bette r than merely good-looking ; hehad nice eyes . He was dressed a l ittl e too showilya s i s natural to a boy of that age when he is allowedto consult his own ta ste exclus ively.
There happened to be a vacant cha i r bes ide himand I took it . Presently I addressed some friendlycommonplace - to him . He responded naturally.
Evidently he was a ccustomed to having people l ikehim . Soon we were talking away like old friends .I wa s more and m ore taken with him . Primarily, it
252 Thieves ’ Wit
I have no brothers , he sa id. My father i sdeadfi
’
“Well , s ince you’re a fatherle ss son , and I
’m a sonles s father—with an appendix, perhap s we can cheere ach other up a l ittle , I said .
“Will you havedinner with me at my hotel to-nightBoys never see anything susp icious in sudden over
ture s of friendship . Ralph accepted, blushing withpleasure .The dinne r wa s a great succe s s . I don ’t know
which o f us wa s the better enterta ined . My youngfriend ’ s prattle , ingenuous , boastful , l ightheaded,renewed my own boyhood. It wa s rathe r pa in fulthough to see one naturally so frank, obliged to pullup when he found himself, approaching dangerousground . Then he would glance at me to see i f Ihad notice d anything.
I had him severa l t imes a fter that . It wa s a r1sk,of course , but one must take risks . At the samet ime I wa s pretty sure from Mr . Dunsany
’
s report sthat Ralph never talked of hi s outs ide a ffa irs to anyof the gang. At le ast he never told Mr . Dunsanyanything about hi s dinners with Mr . Boardman atthe Rotterdam, and he wa s friendly with
‘
him .
The dénouement o f thi s incident re ally belongs al ittle later in my story, but for the sake o f continuityI will give it here .I soon saw that I would have no di fficulty in win
ning Ralph ’ s full confidence . His gratitude forfr iendlines s wa s very affecting. I could see that he
Thieves’ Wit 253
o ften wished to bare hi s p a inful secret. I l et himtake his own t ime about it .It wa s the doctor ’ s offering him a posit ion in a
friend’ s o ffice that brought matter s to a head .
Ralph refused it with a pa inful a i r . He could giveno rea son for it to the docto r. Afterwards when Ihad him alone with me I saw that itwas coming.
That certa inly wa s decent of Dr . he sa iddiffidently.
“ I don ’t know why he ’ s so good to me .Oh , you
’ re not a bad sort o f boy,” I sa id l ightly.
You, too ,” he sa id shyly .
“Especially you . L
I never had a man friend be fore .”
I smiled encouragingly .
I suppose you wonder why I couldn’ t take the
position ?” he went on.
“That ’ s your a ffa ir .But I want to tell you . I—I wouldn ’ t be al
lowed to take it. I am not a fre e agent .”“Perhaps we could help you to be one , I sug
gested .
“ I don ’ t know. Maybe you wouldn’t want to
have anything more to do with me . Oh, there’ s a
lot I want to tell you !” he cried imploringly. “ButI don
’ t know how you ’ l l take it .”“Tr y me .
”
Would you—would you kick me out , he sa id ,agitated and breathless ,
“ i f you knew that my dadhad comm itted a forgery, i f you knew that he haddied in prison ?”
“Why, no ,” I sa id calmly, I suspect you were not
respons ible for that .”
254 Thieves ’ Wit
A sigh o f relie f e scaped him . You a re kind !—But that’ s only the beginning,” he went on. ButI feel I can tell you now. I ’m in an awful hole . Isuppose you will think I
’m a weak character for nottrying to get out of i t more , and I am weak, but Ididn ’ t know what to do !
”
“Tell me all about it, I sa id .
And he did ; all about Lorina and Foxy and Jumboa s he knew them . They didn ’ t trust him far . Heknew nothing of thei r actua l operations , but hishone st young hea rt told him they were crooks .Lorina held him under a spell of terror. He hadnot up to thi s t ime been able to conce ive of the ideaof escap ing her . There are those Who would blamethe boy, I have no doubt, but I am not one of them .
I have seen too often that a mind which may after~
wards become strong and sel f-reli ant i s at Ralph ’ sage fata lly subservient to older minds . Those whowould blame him should remember that until he metthe docto r and me he had not a di s interested fr iendin the world . They must grant that he instantly reacted t o kindnes s and decent feelings .
“How did you first get into thi s mess ?” I a sked,strongly curious .
“ I ’d have to tell you my whole li fe to expla inthat .”
“Fire away .
I will give you Ralph ’ s story somewhat abridged .
My mother died when I wa s a baby,” he sa id .
I do not remember her . My father and I livedalone with se rvants who were always changing. We
256 Thieves ’ Wit
and taken to the Tombs . Mrs . Mansfield took meto her house , not the same one she ha s now. Shetreated me all right, but I hated her. Young a s Iwa s I held he r responsible . I didn’ t se e much of
her. I don ’ t know i f you remember the tria l“Something of it,
” s a id I .The papers were full o f i t. I was not allowed
to attend, but, o f course , I got hold of all the papers .They sa id that my father had got hold of blank stockcertificate s by corrupting young clerks , and had thenforged signatures to them and sold them on the
stock market. He was sentenced to Sing Sing forseven years . They took me to se e him before hewa s sent away. He had aged twenty years . Hewasn ’ t able to say much to me .
“Mrs . Mansfield told me I must change my name ,and sent me to a good school in Connecti cut. She
pa id the b ills . I was pretty happy there , thoughthi s thing was always hanging ove r my head. In thesummers I wa s sent away to a boy ’ s camp in themountains . Mrs . Mansfield told me nobody wasa llowed to see my father or to write to him and Ibelieved he r . So it was the same to me a s i f hehad died .
One day last winte r in school I received '
a l etters igned “Well-Wisher,
” a sking me to meet the writerat a certa in spot in the school woods that a fternoon .
Naturally I wa s excited by the mystery and all that .I was sca red, too . But I went. I didn ’ t tell anybodyf
’
“ I found a queer customer waiting for me . A
Thieves ’ Wit 257
man about fi fty with close-cropped hai r. He toldme right off that he was just out of Sing Sing. Whyhadn’t I ever come to see my dad, he asked . Hesaid it was p iti ful the way he p ined for me .”
“ I stammered out that I didn ’ t know anybodycould see him . He told me about the visit ing days .‘Anyhow you could have written ,
’ he sa id.
”
‘He never wrote to me ,’ I sa id .
Sure , doesn’t he write to you every writing day !
He ha s read me the letters . Elegant letters .‘I never got them !
’ I sa id .
That ’ s why I came ,’ he sa id .
‘Dave sa id hethought that woman had come between you .
’
“The old fellow told me how to address a letterto my father, and he gave me money to go to SingSing when I could . I had an allowance from Mrs .Mansfield, but not enough for that . I wrote to myfather that night .”
“ It was Easte r before I had the chance to se e myfather . I made out to Mrs . Mansfield that theschool closed a day later than it did, and I used thatday to go to Sing -Sing. My father wa s in the infirm ary. I scarcely re cognised him . They let mestay all day . Even I could see that he wa s dying .
”
“For the first time I hea rd the truth of the case .
It wa s Mrs . Mansfield who had got the certificate sout of the young clerks , and had brought them tom y father to be fi lled in . When they were found outshe carried on so , that he took the whole thing on
himsel f . He thought he might a s well , s ince he hadto go to j a il anyway, and he knew he would die there .
258 Thieves ’ Wit
Besides she promised him to have me ’ educated andlooked a fte r. He had no one else to leave m e with .
At that t ime he stil l’
bel ieved in he r.“But in the prison he met men who knew abouther of ol d . My father wa s not the first she hadbeen the means of landing in j a i l . It was then myfather began to be a fra id for me
,and m anaged
‘
to
send me word .
“He died ’ in April . Mrs . Mansfield immediatelytook me out o f school . She told me my fathe r wasdead, and that it was t ime I went to work . I thinkshe must have learned by her sp ie s that I had beento se e my father, for she no longer took the troubleto put on a good face . Now it wa s, do this or tha tor it wil l be the worse for you . When I saw how allthe other men gave in to her
,I wa s a f ra id to resi st .
I hated her, but what could I do ? I had no one togo to . I had no experience . I wasn ’ t sure of m ysel f. The understanding up there is that Lorinacould reach you wherever you went . And if you didanything to cros s “her , look out ! She ha s sp i e severywhere !
“ I wonder why she didn ’ t turn you adrift a ltogether ?” I sa id .
“ I th ink I am useful to them because I look honest, the boy sa id wretchedly
“ I run errands forthem , but I never know what it
’ s a ll about .”“Have you ever heard talk up there of a bos s
greater than Mrs . Mansfield ?” I a sked .
He nodded .
“But only vague talk. I’
ve neverseen him .
N the meantime Lorina Mansfield, wea ry of theinaction I had forced on her, or persuaded per .
haps that I had dropped the pursuit, boldly resumedher designs on Mrs . r
—’
s di amond necklace . Forconvenience ’ sake I shall ca ll thi s lady , Mrs . Levering. He rea l name is one to conjure with inAmerica .
Mr. Dunsany or English reported that he hadb een deta iled to go to Newport on Saturday to spyon the lady, and what should he do about it ? The
p lucky gentleman who never hes itated to put himsel f in danger, be came uneasy when it was a quest ion of a ctually comm itting a crime .We arranged a chat over the telephone , and I
gave h im the best reasons for going ahe ad with thescheme . We had so much to talk over that I toldhim I would go up to New England by a differentroute , and i f he wa s not sp ied upon he could come tome at Providence ea rly on Sunday and we could goover everything. All the t ime we had been workingtogether we had never exchanged a word fa ce tofa ce in our natural characte rs .We succeeded in pulling off the meeting. Mr .
Dunsany a ssured me he had not been followed . Wel a id out our plan of campa ign . I convinced himthat the quickest and sure st way to land the whole
260
Thieves ’ Wit 261
gang would be to allow them , even to a ss i st them ,
to carry out a robbery from start to finish . Let
them stea l Mrs . Levering’ s j ewels , I sa id, let themget clean away with them . We ’ l l return theml aterf
’
“ Suppose some one gets hurt, he sa id ne rvously.
“Not likely,” I sa id .
“They play too sa fe a game .We will be on our guard .
He agreed with me , but sa id i f we fell down onthe ca se he would feel obliged to give he r anothernecklace of equal value . This was a matter o f
“We are not going to fall down on i t, I sa id.What followed can be st be told by Mr. Dunsany
’
s
reports .
REPORT or J . M . # 15
Newpor t, Sunday, July 4 th.
My patience wa s rewarded shortly before noon today by the s ight of Mrs . Levering walking to theCa sino accompanied by a gallant gentleman unknownto me . She did not noti ce me , of course . I f I hadbeen in my own person I warrant she would not
have passed me so indifferently . What marvell ousfa culty i s it that enables a lady to know without looking at a man whether he i s worth looking at ?I soon sati sfi ed mysel f that she wa s wearing herveritable diamonds . Foolish woman ! When Isold them to her I warned her not to exhibit themin publi c . At the time there was a lot of gossip
262 Thieves ’ Wit
about what Levering pa id me for the neckla ce , andI suppose eve ry thief in the country has it on his l ist .But Cora Levering was a lways feather-headed.I telegraphed to Lorina in the code we had agreed
on, and had my dinner while I wa ited for her answer .It came presently, instruct ing me to meet her in acerta in hotel in Providence to-morrow , two-thirty .
To-morrow being a holiday, I am not expected a tDunsany
’
s . This means that I have to put in along, empty twenty-four hours here . The place 13
full o f my fri ends eating and drinking themselvesbla ck in the face , while I have to stay at a fourth-ratehotel .To-morrow night there is going to be a greatenterta inment at Fernhurst, one of the palaces onthe cliffs .
# 16
Newport, July 5th, 9 P .M .
Al l i s set for the drama tor-night , and I amnervously awa iting my cue . Heaven knows what thenext few hours may bring forth ! When you readthi s i t may be up to you to get me out of j a il . I fwe pull i t off all right I have no doubt the newspaperswill s ay, a s they always do , that the robbery gaveevidence of long and care ful planning, wherea s itwas all fixed up in a few m inutes .I went over to Providence to-day shortly be fore
the hour set by Lorina , and found Foxy waiting
64 Thieves’ Wit
instruction s he had been particularly cultivating hersoci ety of late . He was to be the decoy. Furtherm ore,
’
he drew for us with rather a shaky hand, aplan o f the house and grounds at Fernhurst, showing the location of roads , paths , benches , shrubbe ry,etc . Lorina used this plan in i ssu ing her instruct ions .
“Dancing i s to begin at nine-thirty, she sa id,but all the guests will not have arrived until nearlymidnight . So we will fix on midnight to turn thetrick
,or a s soon a fter a s poss ible . We have deci ded
on thi s bench that I have marked with a cross forthe sp ot . Get its pos it ion well fixed in your mind,all of you. It i s quite a way from the house you see ,few, i f any, of the dancers will go so fa r . It i soff the ma in paths . It i s near the street fence , buti s h idden from the street by thi s dense shrubberybehind it .
“Mrs . Levering ha s p rom i sed Frank the firstdance a fter she arrives . He will then make an en
gagem ent with her for another dance to fall justbefore midnight a s near a s he can figure it , and afte rdancing with her the second t ime will take her outto this bench .
Foxy and English will already be in hiding in theshrubbery behind the bench . Foxy ha s an invitationto the a ffa i r, and he will go in evening dress and m ixwith the guests until he see s Frank dancing withMrs . Levering the second time . He will then goout of the house and conceal himself in the shrubbery.
Thieves ’ Wit 265
English will already be waiting there . Englishmust be there by eleven to make sure . Englishwears hi s ordinary clothes , and sl ip s in by the serviceentrance to the grounds , marked on the plan here .Once ins ide the gates he must make hi s way undercover to the shrubbery behind the bench . Engli shwill ca rry an ol d ove rcoat for Foxy which will beprovided . There will b e a mask in one s ide pocket,a cap in the othe r. As soon as you two meet, Foxywill put on the things .
Now a s to the actual trick . It i s perfectlys imple . Frank i s keep ing Mrs . Levering in conversation on the bench . Foxy sneaks up behind withthe nippers, cuts the neckla ce , and tosse s it back toEngli sh , who rema ins in the bushes .
“The ‘woman will scream , of course . Foxy willstand up and show himsel f, and run in this ~direction,
that i s , towards the house . Frank will take a fterhim for a way, and then go back to the woman .
Foxy will double around thi s shrubbery that conceal s the stable entrance . As soon a s he i s out ofs ight of the woman he will throw off the cap , maskand coat, and go back to Mrs . Levering a s one ofthe -first attracted by her cries . I f she doe s not cryout, he can m ix with the crowd in the house until heha s a chance to make a getaway.
Meanwhile , English li e s quiet in the shrubberyuntil the excitement ha s pa ssed out of the vicini ty .
Then he sl ips out by the service gate , the same wayhe went in . Jim will be wa iting with the ca r aboutfive hundred feet beyond the service entrance , to
266 Thieves ’ Wit
wards town . We have been over thi s ground .
There 13 a b ig clump of rhododendrons ins ide thes idewalk at this point .English , without stopp ing, will toss the necklace
ins ide the car . But i f he i s pursued he had bette rdrop it among the rhododendrons . Mind you
,Eng
l ish , i f there’ s anybody a fter you, don
’t make anythrowing motion with your arm . I f there i s a chaseJim can j oin in i t , and help Engl ish make hi s getaway . Later he can return and get the diamonds .Engli sh takes the trolley to Providence , and the
owl tra in back to New York . Jim secrete s the di amonds in the secret pocket in the car, and waits fo rFoxy. I f Foxy i s pursued, however, he must notlead them to the car . Jim waits until one-thirty.
I f Foxy has not arrived, he takes the car to theAtlantic garage . You , Jim , a sk them to let yousleep in it, see ? a s you
’ re expect ing a call from yourmaste r . Foxy can get the car from the garage anyt ime a fte r that .”
Lorina went over all thi s twice . At the end sheconsulted her watch . I f any of you want to haveanything expla ined, speak up . I
’
ve got to catch thefour o ’clock back to town .
”
Frank was the only one who had any obj e ct ion tora is e to the arrangements . “Look here , sa id he ,“ thi s will queer me for good with that
’
lot, even i fthey can
’ t fa sten anything on me .Lorina fixed him with her hard blue eye .How ?” she demanded .
268 Thieves Wit
pra ct ice i f they felt it nece ssa ry . We scattered . Ireturned to the little hotel in Newport where I hadtaken a room . I have not seen any of them s ince .It i s now nine-thirty and I am wa iting in my hotel
until it i s t ime for me to go out t o Fernhurst. I willpost thi s to you on the way, so that in ca se anythinghappens you will at lea st be in full pos sess ion of
our plans . I beli eve I wa s not cut out fo r a li feof crime . It i s too madly excit ing. A s the hourdraws close my knee s show an inclination to knocktogether, and my teeth to chatter .
26
REPORT OF J . M . No . 17
P rov idence,1 :30 A .M .
HEN I got to the service gate Of FernhurstI found it guarded by two men , detective s
unm i stakably. Thi s wa s di sconcerting. I p ass edon . They bored me through with their gimlet eye sand I broke out in a gentle sweat all over. Presently
,however
,I realised it was but the i r profes
s ional manner of looking at anybody who wa s notwell dressed, and I calmed down .
I t filled me with a kind Of terro r to think that Im ight be prevented from carrying out my part o fthe even ing’ s enterta inment, so you will se e I wa swell worked up to it by thi s t ime . I went a roundthe block and prepared to try again . On my waytowards the service gate I had the luck to fall inwith a crowd of waiters clearly bound for the showand it wa s no trouble at all to mix in with them .
My make-up was of the same genera l style a s the irs .We passed through the gate without question .
Once ins ide I began to l ag behind the bunch , andpresently sl ipped away in the darknes s . I reachedmy specified hiding-place in the shrubbery behindthe bench without further adventure . The pla cehad been so carefully mapped
,the re wa s no poss i
bil ity of mi staking it .
270 Thieves ’ Wit
I had to wa it over an hour for Foxy. It was nota pleasant time . Lorina
’
s plan seemed perfect, butyou neve r can te ll . And my inexperi ence in this linewas such that I didn ’ t feel overmuch confidence inm yself should an emergency ari se . Not far behindme I could hear the steady process ion Of motorsbringing guests to the party. In the distance I couldhea r the mus ic . They had picked their spot well .In all that time no one passed that way .
In the end Foxy’
s com ing gave me a great start .Creeping through the bushes without the rustle of alea f, he was beside me be fore I heard him com ing .
He was dressed in the he ight o f fashion . I caughta gleam of a monocle dangling aga inst his Whitewa istcoat . I s ilently pa ssed him over the coat Ihad brought, and standing in a l ittle open space , heput it ~on together with the cap and mask. Then wecrouched down s ide by s ide under the leaves , with theback of the bench in pla in vi ew be fore us . Foxyla id the nippers on the ground ready to his hand .
We did not speak to each other.Bye and bye we heard voice s approaching, and mypoor heart se t up a tremendous how-de-do . On theother hand something told me Foxy was enjoym g 1t .
Mrs . Levering and the youngman called Frank camestroll ing dimly into v1ew. I was nea rly suffocatingwith excitement .
“This i s the pla ce , Frank sa id.How cosy ! she sang.
Shall we s it down ?” he suggested .
Let ’ s !” sa id she . “ I ’ ll have a cigarette .
272 I’
hieves’ Wit
Another gasp ing cry, not loud, broke from thewoman “There he i s !”
Frank flung himself on the back O f the runner,and they rolled over on the ground, all exactly a s Ihad seen it rehearsed a dozen times in the hotelroom . They sprang up , grappled, swayed andfinally Frank was flung with apparently great v iolence to the ground . Foxy disappeared .
Frank struggled to his feet, seemingly hurt . Heattempted to stagger in the dire ction the fugitivehad taken , but Mrs . Levering clung to him . Onemay suppose he was not sorry to be prevented .
At this moment the tragic-farce was interruptedby the entrance of an actor not on the b ill . Thiswas a man with an ele ctr i c fla sh, a detect ive to allappearances . I suppose they had them posted aboutthe grounds
,and this man had heard the disturb
ance , slight though it was . The fla sh terrified me .I softly and precip itately retired under the leave sinto the thickest of the shrubbery .
“ I have been robbed !” I heard Mrs . Leveringgasp .
“My diamond necklace ! He came fromthere . He went that way .
The detective threw his l ight a round. Fortu
nately for me I had put a screen of leaves in frontof me . I wa s not disposed to l inger in the neighbourhood. I ran along close to the fence wherethere was a narrow open space . As I passed out ofhearing, I heard othe rs come running up . Excitement runs l ike electri city. I had no doubt that Foxyin immaculate evening dress
,was among the first to
Thieves ’ Wit 273
reach the scene . I took care to survey the servicegate from a discreet distance before presenting m y
sel f there . It was well that I did so. I saw thatit was closed, and the two men sti ll on guard . Notknowing at what instant an alarm might be ra isedbehind me , I dared not apply to them with any talehowever ingenious . Those diamonds were red hotin my pocket . On the other hand, I would have toretrace my step s nearly a quarter of a m i l e to reachthe ma in entrance , and I was not suitably dressed tob e seen there . I could not cl imb the fence at anypoint, for i t wa s a smooth , high iron a ffa ir, moreover, the street outs ide wa s brightly lighted . Iknew nothing about the cl iff s ide of the grounds .For a moment or two I felt decidedly panicky .
Before my mind’ s eye headlines in the next day ’ spapers were vividly emblazoned
WELL-KNOWN JEWELLER STEALS THEDIAMONDS HE SOLD”
or something like that. Finally I recollected thatthe road to the service entrance of Fernhurst ranquite close to the bounda ry of the next e state . Idete rm ined to try that wayTo reach the boundary I wa s obl iged to make a
long detour. Still there were no sounds behind meto indicate that an alarm had been ra is ed , a t anyrate a publi c alarm . The line between the two es
tates was marked by a thorn hedge and a wi re fence .
Choos ing a dark spot I managed to struggle through
274 Thieves ’ Wit
without rece iving any serious damage . I finallygained the street through the servi ce gate of thi spla ce .This brought me out beyond the point where Jim
was to be stationed with the motor ca r, and I had toretra ce my steps . The car wa s in the appom ted
spot . Jim was on the front seat with his headcraned in the other directi on whence he expected me .I gave him a little s ignal . He was much troubledto se e me come from that way thinking the plan hadfallen through, but wa s reassured no doubt by thefall o f the necklace on the floor of hi s ca r . I wa sthankful to be rid of the cursed thing.
There were several cars standing across the street,with the ir chauffeurs chatt ing together, and I wasa fra id O f attra cting attention to myself or to Jim byturning back at that moment . I kept on. I wa sstartled half out O f my wits when a motor patrolwagon full of pol ice came flying up the street pas tme . It turned in at the service gate of Fernhurstahead . S ince I wa s travelling in that dire ct ion Ihad to keep on.
A man stepped out a s I approached . Se iz ing myshoulder he swung me half a round so that the lightfell on my face . “What are you doing here ?” hedemanded .
I thought it wa s all up with me . I just wantedto have a look at the swells ,
” I stammered .
Another man jpined him . Hold this guy, sa idthe first . While the second man kept a hand twistedin my colla r, the first one fri sked me expeditiously.
27
REPORT or J . M . No . 18
New York,July 6th, M idnight.
HAVE just returned from a celebration up atLorina
’
s house . Everybody made a clean getaway last n ight, and the diamonds are sa fe inLorina
’s desk, so the gang made merry. The news
paper storie s o f the a ffa ir caused us the greatestamusement . The police , a s you have seen , a re Verywide of the mark. Of us all , only Frank has fallenunder susp ici on . It appears that I wa s right in myguess a s to hi s ident1ty. The affa ir will ru in himsoci a lly, though it i s not l ikely to lead to hi s a rre st .I can ’t say that I feel sorry for the youth . Of allthe parts in thi s sordid drama , Frank, the decoyplayed the most contemptible .In the general loosening of tongues to-night I havesome rather inte re sting matter to report . When Iarrived at the house a ll the gang except Lorina werein the dining-room . Spencer, the negro , told meshe wa s up in the Office , so I went up-sta irs to makemy report . The o ffice door was open a cra ck, anda s I wa s about to knock I heard Lorina’
s voice within . She was talking over the telephone . The firstsound of her voi ce froze me where I stood in a stonishm ent . The tone wa s that of a woman distra ctedby love and longing. Think o f it , Lorina !
276
Thieves’ Wit 277
I hea rd her say : “ I ’ l l do anything you tell me .But I want to see you . I must see you sometimes ,dear ie . What is the use of all thi s working andworrying
,what am I doing it for i f you neve r even
let me se e you ? I can ’ t stand it . I can’ t go on. Iwon
’
t stand it !”
DO you wonder that I wa s amazed ?There was a s i lence
,and she went on in a broken ,
humbled tone : “No—I didn ’ t mean that . I willObey you. You always know best . But don ’ t b eso hard on me . Plea se , dearie , pleaseAt this point Foxy came running up-sta irs . I wa scaught rather awkwardly .
“What are you doing here ?” he demanded .
I came up-sta irs to report to Mrs . Mansfield, Isa id
,
“but I don ’ t like to disturb her . She seem s tobe having a private conversat ion .
”
He listened at the door for a moment, then pulledme away.
“Beat it ! s a id he . She ’ s talking to the boss .She ’d kill us i f she found us here .”
One other thing that I had heard Lorina say wasThen I ’ ll keep the coal here , until I hea r from youagain.
”
“Coal or white coal i s thei r slang for diamonds , so I suppose she meant the necklace .I returned down-sta irs full of speculations regard
ing this wonderful and mysterious “boss .” Whatkind of man must he be , thus to bring the imperiou sLorina who commands us like slaves , to her knees ?Frank was not present at the party in the dining
278 Thieves ’ Wit
room . He i s not a regula r member o f the gang.
Beside s Foxy, Jumbo , Jim the chauffeur and myself,there were several of the younger fe llows , but notBlondy
,I am glad to s ay
, for I should not l ike tosee that n ice boy drinking . Lorina appeared onlyonce or twice and then but for a moment . Thelady’ s ga iety was forced . However, she was l iberalin her hosp itality . Champagne flowed like water .Jumbo got very drunk and even Foxy drank
enough to make him indiscre et . It wa s then thatintere sting anci ent history wa s retold . It woulda stonish you to see Foxy at such moments . Therei s nothing about him of the dull , prosy bore that heordinarily a ffects .Jumbo was toasting him with maudlin pra ise .Drink to Foxy, fellows !
” he cried .
“There ’ s thelad that brings home the bacon ! The sl icke st,smoothest article of them all !Foxy took it a s no more than his due .“ Say, Foxy, a sked another adm ire r, what wa s
the hardest tr ick you ever tu rned ?”
Naturally I have to let others a sk these questions .Curiosity on my pa rt would be prejudici al to myhealth . I am on the quz
'
salve for the replies, though .
“Oh , s ix months ago, when I l ifted an actre ss’
p earls ,” drawled Foxy.
Fancy how I pricked up my ears .“Tell us about it,
” sa id the same youngste r.All the young ones s it a t Foxy
’
s fe et, you under
Foxy was nothing loath . Elegant pearls , he
280 Thieves ’ Wit
t el l which wa s whi ch . I had a rranged to have afellow who was in with us , a pearl expert call onme between the a cts ; I saw him at the stage door ,and showed him the str ing I had. He said theywere phony. SO I had to do it all over .
“During the third a ct , however , luck was with me .The actres s’ maid not having seen anything new inthe second act le ft the dres sing-room of her own ac
cord to watch the scene . I went in aga in . This timeI found the real thing in a pocket Of the petticoatshe had worn in the second a ct . I left the phonystring in i ts place .
“And they never got on to you !” sa id his ad
mirer .“Nah ! That wa s where Enderby came in . He
fixed the crime on the young leading man and brokeup the show. Lord ! I laughed . It let me out,
too . I was si ck of the fool business of act1ng everynight. It wasn ’ t t ill l ately that Enderby got it inhi s head that he ’d made a mistake . It’ s too latenow. The pearls have been sold and the swagdivided .
”
Jumbo took a hand in the tale a t thi s point . Letme tell you the j oke about sell ing the pearls , sa i dhe . “Me and slim Foley set up an elegant Offi ce onMaiden Lane , with stenographers and oflice boysand all , everything swell . We were brokers inprecious stones , see ? We sent out decoy letters tothe leading man Foxy mentioned, and I
’m blest i fwe didn ’ t sell him the string of pea rls back aga in .
Thieves ’ Wit 281
Then he gave them to the actress , the fool , and shefired him and bust up the company.
“But I don ’ t understand,” sa id the young fellow,
what did you want to sell them to him for ? Riskybusiness I should say .
”
“Don ’ t a sk me , sa id Jumbo with a shrug.
Orders from higher up .
”
This suggests a new line O f thought, doesn’t i t ?
During one of Lorina’
s bri e f vi s its to the diningroom , she wa s plea sed to commend me for my worklast night . She a sked me to come to her down-townOffice to-m orrow afternoon a s soon a s I finishedwork. I enclose the ca rd she gave me with her address .* Subtle i rony, eh ?To—morrow n ight I ’ ll report on what happens
there .
J . M. # 19
New York,July 7th.
The number on Fifth avenue given me was not agreat distance from Dunsany
’
s and I was there by‘
this a fternoon . It i s one of the older o fficebuild ings and i s fi lled with the most respectabletenants , mostly firms engaged in some form of rel igious bus iness : publi shers , miss ion boards , church
‘ The card enclosed by Mr . Dunsany readTHE EARNEST WORKERS PUBLISHING CC .
,
NO. Fifth Avenue, New York.Mrs . Lorina Mansfield, Manager.
282 Thieves ’ Wit
suppli es , etc. It is amus ing to think of Lorina insuch company.
Lorina’
s o ffice , of course , was no whit less respectable in appearance than a hundred others in thebuilding. There wa s a respectable elderly stenographer, a subdued o ffi ce boy, and Lorina hersel fplaying her part of the saleswoman of religiousl iterature in a starched shirt wa ist . She waved meto a seat bes ide her desk
,and started right in to
sell me a consignment o f tra cts . I confess I wa s abit dazed by the scene .At five-thi rty the respe ctable stenographer and
the subdued office-boy asked her humbly i f she des ired them any further, and upon rece iv ing a negat ive departed .
When the door closed behind them Lorina yawned ,stretched, and swore softlyr
—to take the religioustaste out O f her mouth, I suppose . I l aughed, butshe didn ’t l ike it . I have discovered that laughte rmakes these people uneasy .
“Cut it out !” she sa id frowning.
I apologi sed .
Engli sh ,” she sa id , Jumbo told me that you
would be glad to get a l ittle extra work as a diamondexpert .I nodded, wondering what was coming next .There ’ s a friend o f mine a j ewel-broker next
door,” she went on, nodding towards the adj oining
room . His busines s i s so full o f r isks from thieves ,you know, that he decided the best way to fool themwould be to take an humble little office in thi s build
284 Thieves ’ Wit
a handsome sala ry . For the present I was to workfrom 5 :15 to every evening, a s well a s Saturday a fternoons , and Sunday mornings i f ne cessary .
I do not like to work late at night, sa id Freernervously It attra cts a ttention .
”
Freer unde rtook then and there to expla in mydutie s . “My work is with the pearls ,
” he sa id,and the diamond end of the busines s has been me
gleeted s ince I lost my la st a ss i stant two monthsago .
”
“He d ied, remarked Lorina with a peculia r lookat me .I got her meaning.
Against one wall of Freer ’ s o ffice wa s a largeletter fi le with drawers that pulled out, and a shutte rto pull down ove r the whole at n1ght, and lock . I twa s built enti rely of steel a s the modern custom is .
Freer pulled out one o f the drawers but instead of
letters ins ide , m y amazed eyes beheld a heap of
gleam ing diamond j ewelry. There were neckla ces ,dog-collars, lavalli eres , pins , bracelets , rings . Iwondered i f the thirty-Odd rema ining drawers werefilled with l ike trea sures , and made a breathle s smental computation of the ir value—millions ! Itwas a modern burle sque o f the scene in Aladdin ’ scave !Freer, re fe rr ing to the drawer he held open sa idThese are cons ignments of diamonds lately re
ceived, which I have not had the t ime to inventory.
You see each article i s tagged with a number . You
a re to take them in numerical order,ente r a care
Thieves ’ Wit 285
ful description and valuat ion in a j ournal,then de
mount the stones , weigh them , grade them and putthem in stock.
”
He opened several other drawers which conta inedprincely treasure s of unset diamonds lying on whitecotton . They were care fully graded according tos ize , colour, quality. Here apparently i s the loot O fyears past . I could not begin to give any estimateof its value . I have not seen the pearls yet .
“The other part of your work,” Free r went on,
will b e to fill the orders for diamonds that a rereceived .
” He showed me several orde r slips , evidently from the phraseology, made out by experi
enced j ewellers , but bearing no shipp ing directions .“Am I to send these orders out ?” I a sked with
a s imple a ir .He shook hi s head. Enter the orders in the or
der book, fill them from stock, and turn them over tome .
“Mind you do not carry your work to the window,
” put in Lorina sha rply .
I nodded.
M ind you do not le ave anything about at n ight ,added Freer,
“no tools , no p apers . The womencome in here to clean a fter we are gone .He showed me where the tools O f my trade were
kept . In addition to everything else needful , ina locked cabinet there i s a beauti ful l ittle electri ccrucible for melting down gold and platinum .
I immediately set to work under the eye s o f LOrina and Free r.
286 Thieves Wit
You can imagine in what excitement I now writ ethis . Our work i s done —Or almost done , for wehave not yet got a line on that myster ious and terrible “boss .” For a moment I thought it m ight beFreer , but he i s a s subservient to Lorina a s the rest .Man ! Man ! What a haul we shall make—if therei s no slip ! We must do our best of course to en
sure complete success , but I beg o f you not to ri sktoo fa r what we have in our gra sp , in the hope ofgetting more . I confess I am a little scared by themagnitude O f the developments to-day. Do notwa it too long before delivering your master stroke !
J.M .
288 Thieves ’ Wit
was a myth invented by Lorina to keep them in awe .I had
,however, good rea son in my reports to know
that the boss was a real man.
I put the most skil ful woman operative I couldprocure on Lorina’
s t ra il . It appeared , however ,from her first report that Lorina wa s instantly awar eof being watched, and fooled the Operat ive at he rplea sure . Thus she became a danger to me insteadof a help
,s ince Lorina with he r infernal cleverne ss
might very ea s ily have found a way to intercept ourcommunications . So I discha rged the operat ive twodays a fter I hi red her .In justi ce to Mr. Dunsany, who hourly ran such
a terrible ri sk, I now took the poli ce into my con
fidence. The chie f of the detect ive bureau at thi st ime wa s Lanman , a man I had always respectedfor hi s contempt of spectacula r methods and hisstrong sense . I went to see him .
He did not know me , of course . He listened tomy story with an incredulous grin . He ha s an a s
pect a s grim and forbidding a s a granite cl iff. Buta s I p iled up my evidence , and rea d from Mr . Dunsany
’
s report, I shook the cliff. I had the satisfact i on o f see ing the granite betray excitement.When I wa s done he was convinced . He wasfrankly envious of my luck in obta ining such a case ,and of my succes s with i t, but he showed a di sposit ion to play absolutely fa ir . I had been a fra id thathe might try to rob me of the fru its O f my successwith the publ ic.Lanman agreed that it was best to hold off for a
Thieves’ Wit 289
day or two longer in the hope o f gettm g the boss .In the meant ime he secure d a room at Fifthavenue on the same floor where Lorina had her Offices , and there every day during the hours whileMr . Dunsany wa s at work , waited s ix men withincall . We next secured qua rter s in the little hotelthree doors from Lorina
’
s house,and every night
ten of Lanm an’
s men were dom i ciled there . Signal swere agreed on in ca s e o f need .
Matters stood thus a t the end of the week whosebeginning had witnessed the Newp ort robbery . OnFriday morning Irma Hamerton came to town aga in .
I witnessed her a rrival in the lobby of the Rotterdam , which you will remember wa s he r hotel be foreit had been mine . Every one sat up and stared .
She was a s lovely a s only herself, but I thought,l ooked hara ssed. Mount wa s attending her l ikea shadow, smoother, more elegant and more complacent than ever .With a fanci ful , sentimental feel ing I had engagedrooms on the same floor of the hotel a s I rma ’ s . Hersuite was rented by the year. During the morninga s I went to and fro in the corridor O f the eleventhfloor , I could not help but notice an unusual sti r inthe neighbourhood of I rma ’ s rooms . Messengerswere flying, package s a rriving, and the switchboardbusy .
There i s a telephone switchboard on ea ch floor o fthe Rotterdam, opposite the elevators . In additionto answering the call s , the Operator i s supposed tokeep an eye on things generally. While I wa s wa it
290 Thieves ’ Wit
ing fo r the elevator I a sked the girl on our fl oor
what wa s the cause o f the excitement . She sa id shedidn ’t know, but sa id it with a simper and a tossof the head that added to my unea sine ss . Downsta irs I asked the clerk with whom I was Ou friendlyterms , but with no bette r succe ss .While I was hanging around the lobby, I rma andMount came down . They took a taxi at the door.Following a sudden impulse I engaged the next inline
,and ordered the drive r to follow them . They
led me through the maze of down-town tra ffic d irectto the Municipal Building. They dis appeared inthe bure au of Marriage License s , and my worstfea rs were confi rmed .
This t ime I dete rmined to a ct without consultingmy passionate , headstrong fri end . I ha stened backto the hotel . I had evidence that the ceremonywasto be performed there , most likely the same a fternoon . I wrote Irma a note b egging her to see me
p rivately on a matter O f the greatest importance .I signed it with my assumed name Boardman , but Ihad worded it in such a way that she would knowi t was from me . Moreover she knew my handwriting. I sent it to her room in advance o f herr eturn . There was a chance of course that someone else m ight open it, but I knew she made a generalp racti ce of opening her own letters .A little be fore two o ’clock, I got a summons andhastened to her sui te . She started back dubiously
at the sight o f me , but I soon i dentified myself. She
292 Thieves’ Wit
I shrugged . I don ’ t know . I have no re ason s.You should be guided by your inst inct .”
“He is good to me , she sa id defiantly.
Naturally, he see s hi s intere st .”
I can ’ t remember all that wa s sa id on both side s .The conversat ion was sufficiently pa inful . She wasno match for me . Finally she began to tremble .
“Why did you leave me ?” she fa lte red .
“ I askedyou to help me . You have avoided me all thes eweeks . I needed you . It
’
s cruel and usele ss foryou to come now, when it i s too late and—and
“ I have been working for you !” I cried . Ithought I could trust your instinct .”
“ I had no intention o f marrying at first, she
sa id.
“You saw a while ago what wa s coming .
Why didn ’ t you speak then i f you had anything tosay. It ’ s too late now.
“ It ’ s never too late i f you have a doubt, I cried .
But he—Alfred will be here at four, she stammered
,and the clergyman—and my fri ends
“Let Alfred go away aga in ,” I sa id coolly.
Her eyes widened like a fr ightened child’ s . Idare not !” she whi spered.
“You don ’ t know ! He
i s a terrible man !”“ I ’ ll ba ck you up , I sa idNo ! No !
” she cried . I will not ! I cannot !Plea se go !”
I took a new tack .
Why don ’ t you a sk m e the result o f my workthe la st few weeks ?” I a sked .
“What do you mean ?”
Thieves’ Wit 293
I had brought for the purpose, that report of
Mr . Dunsany’
s in which Foxy had told how the theftof Irma ’ s p earl s had been accompli shed . I expla ined to Irma how thi s report had been secured,and then I read it to her . Joy and horror struggled togethe r in her face .
“You knew thi s long ago !” she cried accus ingly .
Why didn ’ t you tell me be fore ?”
Roland forbade it I am breaking my word tohim in telling you now .
“He no longe r cares then what I think !”
I shrugged .
She walked up and down the room like one d i straught .
“Knowing that Roland i s innocent would you dareto marry Mount ?” I a sked .
“ It is too l ate !” she cried.
At thi s moment we were warned by a sound in thenext room to pull ourselve s togethe r. The doorop ened and Mrs . Bl eecker
’
s fawning countenanceappeared in the opening .
Oh , I beg your pardon, she sa id , cringing . Ididn ’t know you were still engaged . She di d notwithdraw, however, but favoured me with a good ,long
T
stare.
I never saw the gentle Irma so angry . Leave theroom !” she commanded .
“ I told you I wa s not tobe disturbed !”
I f she had always taken the same tone with thatwoman it would have been bette r for he r. Mrs .Bleecker pre cip itately ret1red .
294 Thieves’ Wit
Irma continued to pace the floor . What shall Ido ?
” she murmured , twisting her hands together .I have not the strength to face him out .“Don ’t try, I sugge sted.
What do you mean ?”
“Beat i t,” I sa id in homely slang.
A gleam of l ight, of mischief appeared in her tortured fa ce . But how —where ? Will you go withme ?” she cried b reathl e ssly.
“What will I do aboutthe women here ? What explanation shall I make ?”
“One th ing at a time !” I pro 'tested. Make noexplanation . You a re your own mistre ss . I f youl ike you can leave Alfred a note saying you havechanged your mind . As to the women—r
—J ’
“ I can trust Marie .Very well . Send Mrs . Blee cker out on an er
rand . NO trouble to invent an e rrand at this juncture . You can be gone when she returns .
“Will you come with me ?”
I shook my head .
“Matters are rap idly ap
proaching a cri s i s ,” I sa id .
“ I must stay on the j ob .
“But where will I go ?”
That’ s up to you. I can only offer a sugges
t ion“Yes ! Yes ! Don ’ t tea se me .You have a difficult time ahead o f you . I think
you need a man’ s support .”
A cr1m son tide swept up from her neck.
“ I would put on my oldest and pla inest suit, IWent on wickedly, “ and go register. a t some qui etl ittle hotel, the la st pla ce they would think of look
FTER I had seen Irma sa fely out of the Rotterdam (I thought she looked more adorable in
her pla in black dress and modest hat than in all herfinery!, I went back to my own rooms in the hotel .I wa s expecting a telephone report from a manwhom I had sent to p ick up what he could at thegarage where Lorina stored her car . MeanwhileI gave myself up to’ the j oy of p1ctur1ngMrs . Bleecker ’ s di smay when she returned from her hypothetica le rrand , and Mount
’ s bla ck rage when he dropped inat four to be married and found himself minus abride . I had always suspected that Mount conceal ed t igeri sh tendencie s unde r his too-smooth exterior .
By and by my telephone did ring, but it was notthe man I expected . An agitated young voice ha iledme ove r the wire , which I had some difficulty in recognising a s Blondy
’ s . He wa s so excited I couldnot make head or ta il o f h is message . When I gothim stra ightened out i t ran something like this
“ I have just been at Mrs . Mansfield’
s O ffice , Imean the down-town office . She told me la st nightto come tod ay as she had a package to be taken toa man at the Hotel Madagasca r . I was s itting bes ide her desk and she wa s writing a letter to go withthe package , when the telephone bell rang. She
296
Thieves’ Wit 297
knows how to talk over the telephone without giving anything away. All she sa id wa s ‘ye s ’ and ‘
no’
and ‘repeat that,
’ but I saw that it was important because her face changed and her eyes glittered . Whenshe looks like that it means danger .She was talking to a woman called Bella .
She made some notes on a pad . As soon a s sherang off she jumped up . She sa id she wa s calledout and told me I needn ’ t wa it because she wouldn ’ ts end the package until to-morrow . When sheturned to get her hat I managed to catch a glimpseof the note s she had put down . She had written
Elegantly-dressed man of fifty .
Silvery toupee , waxed mousta che , pale fa ce .Brown suit, waistcoat edged with white .White spats , white gloves .Expensive Panama hat, fancy band green and red.
Room 1 104”
This is your description , and this i s the numberof your room . I wa s sca red when I saw the expression O f her face . She sent me home . She le ft atthe same time , and took a taxi at the door . Sheca rrie s her gun in a kind of pocket in her skirt . Lookout for her !”
I get you, Old boy ! I cried . You ’ve done mea good turn and I shan ’t forget i t . Don ’t youworry.
I hung up the rece iver , and did a l ittle thinking .
I was struck by the name of the woman who hadcalled Lorina up , Bella . It i s not a very common
298 Thieves ’ Wit
name . It wa s Mrs . Bl eecker ’ s name . Was thi s anew thread in my extraordinary tangle ?It was decidedl y awkward to have my disgu ise
la id ba re just at this moment . However, forewarned i s fore a rmed . I set about putt ing my affa irsin order . I did not know whethe r Lorina wouldVi s it the Rotterdam or not, but I was sure she wouldnot do so without making her usual care ful arrangements, and not probably, without disgui s ing hersel f,all O f which would take time . I gave mysel f anhour, anyway.
I gathered my papers together, and despatchedthose of them I valued to Dr . who had beenso good to me already . I wrote notes to Mr . Dunsany, Blondy and other agents instructing them tosend thei r reports in the care of Oscar Nilson untilthey heard from me aga in . All the beauti ful sa rtorial effe ct s I had to leave behind me . Maybe Icould redeem them later i f they were not sold bythe hotel to pay my bill .It wa s close upon four and I supposed the wedd ing-guests were gathering, when my telephone summ oned me again .
“Miss Sadie Farrell i s calling, sa id the voice atthe other end .
My heart jumped, but s imultaneously Cauti onheld up a warning finger. “One moment, I an
swered .
I did some rap id thinking. I did not keep thegi rl wa iting an appreciable moment, but in that timeI thought a whole chapter, a s one may do in a cri s is .
300 Thieves ’ Wit
key to the other room in hand . I inse rted it everso softly in the parlour door
,and turned it . But
she hea rd ! She rushed to the door and shook it .By that time I was a round the corner of the cor
ridor .
The telephone girl looked at me somewhat cur iously a s I pressed the elevator button , but did notquite like to question me . She knew , of course , thata caller had just been shown into my room .
“ I ’ ll b e back in a minute ,” I sa id ca relessly .
Just then I saw the number o f my room 1 104 dis
played ou the switchboard . Lorina had rushed tothe phone .
“ I s there a drugstore in the hotel ?” I a sked thegirl at random , to distra ct her attention .
“NO, sir . There i s one opposite the Thirtyfourth street entrance .”
The elevator wa s approaching my floor Ineeded one more second to make my getaway . I si t a reli able place ?” I a sked .
she sa id, holding the plug ready inher hand , one O f the largest in town .
The elevator door was now open , and I steppedaboard . The operator shoved the plug in , and an
swered the call . I was ca rried down .
I could not tell , of course , what form Lorina’
s ap
pea l for help would take . In case she might telephone to have m e intercepted in the lobby, I tookthe p recaution to get Off at the mezzanine floor . Ipassed around the gallery to the othe r s ide of thebu ilding
,and ga ined the street without interference .
Thieves’ Wit 301
SO there I was sa fe , but once more hom ele ss .A ga ily-dressed couple le ft the hotel immediatelyin front of me . The woman wa s talking rather excitedly . Reach ing the pavement I saw that thetalker was Miss Beulah Maddox, late of Irma ’ scompany . Of course ! NO difficulty in gue ssing Whatshe wa s excited about . They turned West on
Thirty—fourth street . I wa s bound in the samedire ction . I heard her say
“Of course nobody bel ieves she ’ s s i ck. What canbe the matter ?”
They ’ve had a row I suppose , repl ied her companion .
Half a dozen step s fa rther along, they met another couple likewise gloriously arrayed . I did notknow these two , but it required l ittle p ersp icacity toguess that they too belonged to the profession .
Miss Maddox greeted them with a squeal o f excitement .
“Oh , my dears !”
It was risky, but I could not forbea r stopping amoment to listen . I made out to be looking for ataxi
“What do you think?” cr ied Miss Maddox .
There ’ s no use your going any farthe r ! Thereisn ’ t go ing to be any wedding !”
( CWhy ?H
“Nobody knows . Another extraordina ry capriceo f Irma ’ s ! Everybody is told a t the desk that sheis i ll , and the ceremony postponed, but of coursethat ’ s only an excus e. I had a glimpse of Mr .
302 Thieves ’ Wit
Mount and he looked s imply furious, my dear !And so on ! And so on ! A taxi drew up and I
jumped in .
I had myself taken to Oscar ’ s shop , and in oneof the little cubi cles , the distinguish ing marks of theelegant Mr . Boardman , late o f the Rotterdam, wereremoved . It would have been fun to adopt anotherswell makeup and go back to the Rotterdam to seewhat was happening, but it wa s too ri sky . It wa ssa fer for me to play an humble character now .
Oscar provided me with a longish m op of blackha ir, and a pa ir o f heavy black eye-brows . He wentout himsel f to get me the rough clothes I needed .
An hour a fter I had gone into hi s shop I came outaga in
,a typ ical representative of tough young New
York . The Hudson Dusters would not have t e
jected me .It wa s now nearly hal f-past five. The hands ofthe clock reminded me o f the meeting that I hadarranged to bring about at that hour. My hea rtwas very keen for the succes s of thi s meeting, yet Iwas full of uncomfortable doubts . Now that I hadchanged my chara cter I felt that I might sa fely goand see how things turned out, so I turned my stepsin the direct ion of the American ca fé on Thirdavenue .When I got there Roland wa s already eating hi ssupper . No sign of Irma yet . The American isone of those older lunchrooms where they havelong mahogany tables ea ch decorated with a row of
sugar bowls and sauce bottle s with squ irt top s . In
304 Thieves ’ Wit
on . Had she given up ? My heart sunk. NO,
presently she came stroll ing back . She meant t owa it for him outs ide . I approved her good sense .Pla inly dressed though she wa s , her entrance intothat place would have created a sensation .
Roland, all unconscious of what was in ! store , gotup , sl ipped the book in hi s pocket , paid
‘
his s corewith an abstra cted a ir, and went out. He neverlooked at me . His bra in wa s full of shorthandsymbols .I followed him at once , though I had but sta rted
my supper. Nobody ca red so long a s I pa id .
I wa s just in time to see them come face to faceon the pavement outs ide .
“Roland !” she whi spered with the loveliest sm il esurely that ever bedecked the human countenance ;wistful , supplicat ing and tende r.He sta rted back as i f he had been shot, and gazed
at her with a kind of horror. He did not speak . Iexpect he could not . Passers-by stared at them curiously. I rma lowered her head, and slipping herhand ins1de his a rm with affecting confidence , drewhim fo rward away from the stares. Still he d id notspeak. He wa s oblivious to the pa s sers-by, and toeverything else but he r. He gazed at her l ike aman in a trance , his dark eye s full of a pass ionatehunger . She only sp oke once more . Raising hereye s to hi s she moved her l ip s . I could re ad them .
“ I love you ,” she whispered .
H i s lips began to tremble . Where were all hi sproud vows then ?
Thieves ’ Wit
She drew him around the corner into the quieters ide street. She wa s weep ing now. When shelooked at him I could see the bright drops . Theywere more potent than any words she could havespoken . Roland suddenly came to l i fe . Hestopped short
,flung an arm a round her , turned up
her fa ce and kis sed her mouth , carele ss i f all NewYork saw .
SO that wa s all right .The sight induced me to take the first tra in out
to Am ityvill e where I might dine and sp end theevening with my dear girl . We were much mystifiedupon rece iving a telegram during the evening s ignedby my name . To my astoni shment I saw Englishand Freer on the tra in returning from Am ityville .The explanation of all thi s wa s forthcoming in themorning.
EXT morning a s soon a s Osca r opened hisshop , I wa s on hand to get my mail . I found
that big things had happened during the night.
REPORT OF J . M . No . 23
Lorina’s House
Saturday, July 1 1 th, 3 A .M .
It i s unfortunate that this should be the firstnight of our a ssoci ation that we are out of touchwith each other . I sent home an hour ago to seei f there wa s any word from you. I got your letter ,but that only gives me the address of the wig—maker ’ sshop which is , of course , closed until morning. Ihave to rema in on watch here
,and I cannot make
the hours pa ss better than by writing you an a ccountof all that ha s happened. It will save time whenwe meet .I have done the best I could . I followed yourinstructions to the lette r. I do not see how I couldhave acted di ff erently. I hope you will not blameme .
As soon a s I wa s through work at Dunsany’
s thisa fternoon , I went down to No . Fifth avenue ausual , to continue my inventory of the gang’ s diamonds . Freer i s always there when I am, of course .
306
308 Thieves ’ Wit
engage for murder—a woman too. I won’ t do it !I ’m done with you a ll !
”
And I flung down my tools.
Lorina took thi s outburst calmly. She i s accustom ed to it no doubt . She mere ly looked at Freer,and he got between me and the door.Don ’ t be s imple-minded , English , she sa id con
tem ptuously.
“This i s no child ’ s game , that youcan re fuse to play i f you don ’ t like the rule s . You ’ rein it for bad or for worse like the rest of us . And
I have the means of enforcing my orders !”“Not that !” I begged .
It wa s agreed long ago that this woman and thi sman have got to be put out of the way. You ’rethe only one of the crowd that ha sn ’ t been te stedout, and the other boys a re compla in ing. Here ’ syour chance to make good . You understand there ’ sno afternative You ’re a valuable m an to us ,butI can give you no i dea of the effect with which shesa id thi s . She i s a terrible woman . Her eye s werelike points o f i ce . Meanwhile I wa s thinking hard .
I f I did not go , she would undoubtedly find some onee lse . I m ight b e prevented from warning you . Icould not warn Sadie direct, because you had neve rgiven me her address . In the end I agreed.
Lorina smiled on me .“What are my instructions ?” I a sked.The girl i s a t Dr . —’
S sanatorium, saidLorina “You should not get out the re before dark ,so the seven-thi rty tra in will be the best . There is a
Thieves’ Wit 309
train ba ck from Amityv i lle a l i ttle a fte r ten whichwill land you in town be fore midnightShe then told me how to reach the sanatorium ,
and described the layout o f the grounds .My report says that the Farrell girl
’keep s closeto the house during the day,” she went on, “ andwalks out at night. Her favourite spot i s a pool a tthe bottom of the lawn , which is surrounded byjuniper tree s . There i s a bench at the southerlys ide of the pool that she always vis its . It i s nea rthe publi c road , and will be no trouble for you toreach . The th ick growth of young tree s make splenty of cover .”
“What am I to do when she comes ?” I a sked .
Lorina turned her back on me a moment . Whenshe faced a round she handed me an automat i c p i stolwith a curious cylinder affixed to the end of thebarrel .
“Use thi s, she sa id . It make s no sound .I sl ipped i t in my pocket.Free r will go with you , s a id Lorina .
Thi s se emed fatal to my hopes—I had to keepcommand of my face though . I made bel ieve itwas a matte r of indifference . To give Free r credit,he did not appear to rel ish the a ssignment, but hedared not obj ect e ither .
“As soon a s you get back you wil l both come di rectto my house ,
” sa id Lorina .
Such were our instructions .We went to take the seven-thi rty tra in a s ordered .
As Freer never le ft my side I had no opportunity to
310 Thieves ’ Wit
call you up . I know now that you weren ’ t at thehotel anyway . In the station Freer went to buy thet ickets . I wa ited on a bench in pla in sight of him .
Next to me sat a nice,sensible looking girl , and I
had an insp iration .
Will you send a telegram for me ?” I askedsmiling at her .Naturally she was somewhat taken aback .
What do you mean ?” she a sked .
Don ’ t look so surprised,” I sa id, sm il ing sti ll .
There ’ s a man watching me . He mustn ’ t know.
It ’ s terribly important—a question of a life , maybe .’
I wa s lucky in my girl . She had an adventurousspirit . She sm i led back .
“Who to ?” she asked .
“Have you got a good memory ?”
First-rate .Miss Farrell , care Doctor
’
s Sanatorium ,
Amityvi lle . ”“ I have it .Just s ay : ‘
Do not le ave the house to-night.Right . Signature ?”‘B . Enderby .
’ You ’ ll find the money to pay fori t on the seat when I get up .
Freer, having secured the t ickets, now came towards us . I met him half way . He look at mehard .
“ I made a friend, I sa id, grinning a s men do .
Humph !” he sa id sourly .
“ I shouldn’t - thinkyou ’d be in the humour now.
I went out to the tra in W i th him , giving an amourOus backward glance towards the girl .
312 Thieves ’ Wit
No good, I sa id . The girl never came .Hm !” sa id Lorina . That was all .It struck me that she must have known already
that we had fa iled .
Lorina a sked for her p istol , and I handed it over .“Boys,
” sa id Lorina ,“we ’ ll go up to the o ffi ce and
have a council . I wa s just wa it ing for these twoto come in . We ’ve got to decide what we ’re goingto do about this bull Enderby. He ’ s a ctive aga in .
There wa s something in the tone o f thi s sp eech ,or in the look which accompanied it , that caused thescalp behind my ears to draw and tingle . I beganto wonder i f I had not risked too much in venturingback into the l ion ’ s den thi s night . However
,i t
wa s too late for regrets . I put the best face on i tI could .
We trooped upwstairs . Some of the boys had beendrinking. There wa s a good bit of noise . Theo ffice a s I have a lready expla ined is the front roomon the second floor . It extends the width of thehouse , and it ha s three windows . That on the le fti s over the porti co and stoop .
At the right of the room is a la rge flat-toppeddesk . Lorina sat a t it with her back to the fireplace .She motioned me to a seat a t he r right . The menlounged in cha i rs about, some of them with thei relbows on the desk . Lorina ordered the doorclosed . I wa s wonderm g i f I
’
d’
ever leave that roomal ive .
Lorina rapped on the desk for attent1on.
Thieves’ Wit 313
Boys,she sa id bluntly, we ’ve got a spy
among us .Instantly every pa ir of eyes turned on me . I
jumped up . My back was in the corner. I bluffedthem a s best I could .
“What ’ s the matter with you ?” I cried . I didn ’ ta sk you to take me in . You came a fter m e. You
gave me your work to do . Haven ’ t I done it ?Didn ’ t I deliver the goods at Newport ? Didn ’ tI unde rtake a nasty b it of work to-night ? AskFreer there . And now you turn on me !”
“Keep quiet !” commanded Lorina . You ’ llhave your hearing.
To the men she sa id : For a week I ’ve knownthere wa s a leak somewhere , and I wanted to te sthim . I gave him a j ob out at Am ityville , and I sentFreer with him . I had an agent in the house out
there . Well , he didn’ t pull the j ob off.
“Was that my fault ?” I cried . Ask Freer.She turned to Freer . How about it ?”
I—I didn ’t se e anything,” he stammered .
Were you with him all the t ime ?”
He was never out of my sight .”
Be care ful how you answer,” she sa id
, or I ’llbel ieve you ’ re in with him .
”
Freer’ s face wa s pale and sweaty Well—well—he fl irted with a girl in the station . I couldn ’ thear what he sa id because I wa s buying the t i ckets .It looked all right .
“Looked all right ! snarled Lorina . You fool !One of Enderby
’
s sp i e s tra cked you !”
314 Thieves ’ Wit
I swear we weren ’t tra i led !” cried Freer. Iwatched pa rti cularly .
”
“What time was that ?About quarte r pa st seven .
At e ight O ’ clock a telegram wa s delivered at theSanatorium ,
” sa id Lorina .
“My‘
agent called meup . It sa id : ‘
DO not l eave the house to-night,’ and
was s igned ‘B . Enderby.
’
The gang looked at me with a new hatred .
Lorina laughed harshly.
“Oh , this i sn’ t Ender
by, she sa id. Enderby was at the Sanatoriumto-night see ing hi s gi rl . We had the two of themtogethe r
,and thi s tra ito r double-crossed us !”
They began to move thre ateningly towards mycorner .
“Keep back ! cr i ed Lorina . Let ’ s hear whathe ha s to say fi rst .”
I licked my dry lip s and did the best I could fo rmyself . You’ve got no proof !” I cried .
“Howcould I have sent a telegram . I was neve r out of
Freer’s s ight . Why should I have signed it Enderby i f Enderby was out there ? You all know I ’m nobull but a workman at Dunsany
’
s . I can a ccountfor every minute o f my tim e since Jum bo first p ickedme upLorina wa s neare r me than any of the men . She
took a step forward . I guarded my face . Butthat wa s not her point o f atta ck . Her hand shotout, and the wig was snatched from my head. ThereI stood with my bare poll . The j ig was up .
A loud l augh broke from the men—j a ckals’ laugh
3 16 Thieves ’ Wit
Lorina dropped it in the m iddle drawer. Therewas nothing else incrim inating upon me .
“Down on the floor with him !” cried somebody .
Wait !” sa id Lorina .
“We ’ l l se e what we canfind out first .”
I caught at the l ittle straw o f hope that showed .
Send them out and I ’ ll talk freely,” I muttered .
“ I ’ve no mind to be shot when I ’m not looking .
”
Over-confidence betrayed her . With a gun inhe r hand she felt hersel f more than a match for anyunarmed man . By a fata l overs ight she neverlooked to se e i f he r weapon was loaded . She didn ’ ttrust that mob very far, a s I knew , and perhap s shethought I might have something to say which it wa sbetter they shouldn ’t hea r. They grumbled
,but
she wa s absolute mistre ss there . She ordered themout of the room .
Shut the door, she sa id . Wait outs ide . Donot come in unless I call you .
I f I could get that door locked , and get my gunback ! I crept along the wall oppos ite the windowsa l ittle at a time . Lorina made no serious attemptto stop me , because there was no poss ible e scape onthat side o f the room .
“What have you got to tell me ?” she sa id .
What do you want to know ?” I p arri ed . Everysecond I could ga in wa s precious .
“Stand still !” she commanded . Where isEnderby to-night ?”
“At the Sanatorium, you sa id .
He returned on the same tra in you did.
Thieves ’ Wit 317
I didn’t know it. I wish I had.Well
,where i s he now ?”
At the Rotterdam, I suppose .He ha s not come ba ck there . I have the place
watched .
”
Then I don ’t know where he is .You l ie ! Where do you have your meetings ?”
We have never met but once s ince I ’ve been on
the case .”“Do you expect me to bel ieve that ? Stand stil l !I don ’t care whether you bel ieve it or not . It ’ s
the truth .
Meanwhile I wa s moving a few inche s at a t imearound the wall towards the door the men had goneout by. Since Lorina knew the dozen of them werejust outside the door, indeed we could hea r them,
she cared little . My hands were still elevated of
cours e .“How do you communica te with h im ?
” she a sked .
By letter or telephone .”
Where ?”
At the Rotterdam .
Her eyes gl ittered “I’
ve had enough of thi sfooling,
” she sa id . I f you ’ve got anything that ’ sworth my while you ’d bette r say it . My finger
’
s
1m pat1ent.
”
I needed a few seconds yet . I adopted a whiningtone . Why should I split on Enderby ? You ’ regoing to croak me anyway . What ’ ll you do for meif I tell ?”
3 18 Thieves ’ Wit
For the la st time , tell me what you know, or I’ ll
hand you ove r to the boys !” sa id Lorina .
~
I had reached the door now . The key was in it .I had ca lculated every move in advance . Downcame my hands, I turned the key, and flung it out ofthe Open window. Lorina began to shoot . Thegun make s so l ittle noise a t any time that she hadpulled the trigger several t imes before she real isedit wa s not - loaded . By that t ime I was half wayback to the desk. I got the drawer open and myhand on my gun
,a s she leaped on my back. I flung
her off.
She was crying for help by this t ime . The menouts ide tried the door, then flung
’
them se lves aga inst1t. It could not hold long aga inst that we ight . But
I needed only a few seconds . I reached the windowover the portico . Somehow or other I sl id down ap illa r to the steps . As soon a s my feet touchedsomething sol id I fired three shots in the a ir . Thiswa s the pre-arranged s ignal to the men in the hotel .I vaulted over the balustrade , and crouched in
the areaway o f the adj oining house out of range ofany shots from the windows . Foxy undertook to
follow me . As he dropped to the stoop I shot himin the legs . He fell in a heap . The others looking out, thought better o f imitating him .
Almost immediately the men came running out ofthe hotel, and Lorina
’
s gang disappea red like magicfrom the windows . But a s i t ha d been arrangedthat some of the dete ctive s were to approach over
320 Thieves Wit
We have a ll o f them that matter though—except thegrand boss . Unfortunate ly the noise of thi s capture will give him warning, but I have done the be stI could . Lorina
’
s other establi shment i s wellguarded , but will not be broken into until morning.
Come quickly when you get thi s .WALTER DUNSANY.
(J . M . no longer .!
HE tremendous popula r excitement that followed on the c apture of Lorina and her gang
does not help on my story, so
’”
I will pa s s over itqu ickly . The haul we made in the modern cave ofAladdin staggered the public imagination . Muchaga inst Mr . Dunsany
’
s advice the j ewel s were publ icly exhibited in police headquarters for three days .Mr . Dunsany and I were elevated into the position
of newspaper heroes . He at least deserved it, butI doubt i f he enj oyed his honours . I know I didn ’tenj oy what fell to me . I couldn ’ t help but thinki f we had only been able to hush up this noi se fortwenty-four hours , maybe the grand boss of the outfit m ight have walked into our welcom ing arms .I will s imply say that a thorough combing of
Lorina’
s house , and of her o ffices , revealed not theslightest b it of evidence leading to the man wesought . She was a wonder at covering her tra cks .In the m i dst of all the popula r pra ise s I was di scoura
’
ged . There wa s nothing as far a s I could seeto prevent the organise r O f the gang from presentlyorganis ing another . Meanwhile I was in hourly expectation of receiving his compliments in the shapeof a bullet .I had one small hope le ft, and that was in Blondy .
The fact o f hi s e scape had been duly publi shed, and321
322 Thieves ’ Wit
I wa s praying that Lorina , deprived now of anybetter instrument might be led to u se him . I carefully stayed away from the boy, keep ing in touchwith him by lette r and phone . I would not
,o f
course , put him up to communicating with Lorina .That would instantly have a roused her susp i cions .Any move must come from her. I append some ofBlondy’ s letters .
July l oth.
DEAR MR. ENDERBYThe house was p inched la st night , a s you know
by this t ime . I had gone to the back room on thethi rd floor by myself because I thought they weregoing to murder a man in the Offi ce , and I wa s si ckened by it . I don ’ t know i f he got away or not . I
suppose the whole story will b e in the evening papers . Anyhow I heard the three shots outs ide , whichyou told me would be the s ignal , so I beat i t up theladder to the scuttle . You told me i f any one elsetri ed to get out that way, I was to let them go onahead of me and hide in the hall closet , but I was alla lone . There was a deuce of a racket down-sta irs .The se rvants in the front room were holle ring, butthey didn ’t come out. I got out on the roof and metthe detectives com ing over from the hotel . Theygrabbed me and threw a light in my face . See ingwho it was they let me go . I was glad . I wa sa fra id maybe you had forgotten to give them in
structions . I went down to the street through thehote l , and chased home a s quick a s I could . Ac
cording to your instru ct i ons I shall go on l iving herea s usual until I hear from you .
Yours respectfully,RALPH ANDRUs .
324 Thieves ’ Wit
could not but feel though that there was somethingbehind thi s vi s it, because , of course , Lorina knewthat Blondy could tell next to nothing about hera ffa irs , and that little not to her credit .I finally decided that she must have used the young
lawyer a s a kind of cat ’ s-paw to di scover Blondy’ ss ituation and present di spos ition towards hersel f .I f I wa s right there would no doubt be developments presently. I awa ited the event in no l ittleanxiety .
Sure enough , three days late r Blondy called me upto tell me he had just rece ived a long letter fromLorina that I ought to read at once . I arranged tomeet him in an hour at the oflice of the doctor whohad fi rst brought us togethe r . He was instructedto make sure that he wa s not followed there .Lorina
’
s lette r enclosed a second letter. Theenclosure was not sealed . The fri endly tone of thefirst so different from Lorina’
s attitude towards himout of j a il, excited the boy
’ s deri si on . It read
DEAR BLONDYI am so glad you made your getaway. The
lawyer told me about it . You ce rta inly were lucky.
He tell s me you are broke . I have been worryingabout thi s . He will take thi s letter out to post , buthe doesn’ t know what I am going to say to you .
That’ s between ourselve s . I know I can count on
you not to spl it on a pal . Burn this a s soon a s youget the contents fixed in your mind .
I can ’t s end you anything from here , because these
Thieves’ Wit 325
devi ls have stripped me . They have even taken mykeys , so I can
’ t send and get into my sa fety depositbox for funds . But i f you will help me , I
’ l l be in aposit ion to do something handsome for you . I havea duplicate set of keys that nobody knows about , andI want you to get them for me .I enclose a letter to Mrs . Bradford who is the
j anitre ss of the house at No . East Fifty-Ninthstreet . I kept a room there that I could go to whenI wanted to be qu iet . Read the enclosed letterthen seal it so she will think you don ’ t know what’ sin i t . Do everything just a s the letter says . Don ’ tforget that my name is Mrs . Watkins to this woman .
You will find fifty dolla rs in my pocketbook there .Give her thirty for the rent and ten for hersel f .You keep the othe r ten . Get a re ce ipt for the rent.The keys a re in the pocketbook . Be very care ful
of them . In a few days a man will call you up anda sk you i f you have them . You ask him his name ,and he will say Thomas Wilkinson . Then he willtell you what to do , and you must obeyhim exa ctly . As soon a s he gets the keys andcan open my box he will send you five thousand dolla rs in b ills , which will set you up in business or giveyou a good time , whichever you like .I f thi s turns out all right there will b e a chance
for you to make other good things out of the crowd .
1’
I enclose the combination to the sa fe on a separate3 1p .
Take care of yourself,With love ,
LORINA .
PS . You mustn ’t think from my lette r to Mrs . B .
that I do not trust you . That’ s just to stall her off.
326 Thieves ’ Wit
The enclosure wa s a masterp iece .
DEAR MRs . BRADFORDI have been taken real s ick, threatened with ner
vous prostrat1on they say. I have had to go to Dr .’
s sanator1um at Amityville . Don ’ t know howlong I ’ ll b e he re . Now Mrs . Bradford, I
’m in a fixbecause I ’ve lost my keys . I keep dupli cate s in mysa fe , and so I
’m sending my nephew to you with thi sto get them . He has wavy, blond ha ir and blueeyes , and nice white teeth .
YHe slurs hi s rs a little
when he talks like a child . So he wil l call you Mrs .B
’
adfo’
d . These deta il s will identi fy him to you .
Plea se let him into my room with your pass-key,and rema in with him while he i s there . Not butwhat he i s a good boy, but boys will b e boys youknow. D
’
on t let him see thi s . I have given him thecombination of my sa fe . Inside 13 an old handbagwith fi fty dollars m it and a bunch of keys . He willgive you thirty dolla rs of i t for the rent, and tenfor your trouble . Nothing else in the sa fe mustbe touched . Thanking you for your trouble ,
Yours sincerely,(Mrs ! ELIZABETH WATKINS.
P S. I hope your rheumati sm i s bette r .
I made cop ie s of the letters and the sa fe combinat ion , and told Blondy to go ahead and do exactlya s he had been told . I suspected from Lorina
’
s
ca re that the little sa fe would make intere sting d i sclosure s . However, I could get into it some othe rtime . I was inclined to bel ieve her story about thesa fety deposit box. Like all first-cla ss l i a rs she
328 Thieves ’ Wit
After this followed a period of stra ined anxietyfor me . I could not stay near Blondy, of course ,and I was a fra id the man we hoped to get m ightcircumvent him in some way . Maybe instead of
telephoning him he would call on him in person .
Blondy was instructed o f course in that event tohang on to him like grim death , but how could Iexpect a boy o f hi s age to get the bette r of an astutecrook ?However, this fea r proved groundless . On
Thursday morning about eleven Blondy called meup . I instantly knew by hi s breathlessness thatsomething had happened .
“Guy just ca lled up ,” sa id Blondy. Said : ‘Have
you got the keys ?’ I came ba ck : ‘Who are you ?
’
‘Thomas Wilkinson .
’ sa id I . Then hestarted in quick to give mo my instructions .”
“ I must take the twelve noon train from the LongIsland Term inal for Greenwood City. I get off atGreenwood C ity and walk one block North to Suffolk avenue which i s the ma in street o f the village . Iturn to the right on Suffolk which i s to say turnEast or away from New York, and keep stra ighton right out of town to the wide , empty stretch ofland that they call Ringste ad pla ins . I have to walkabout two mile s out th is road . Hal f a mile beyondthe la st house there ’ s a locust tree beside the road .
He sa id I couldn ’ t m 1ss 1t because i t wa s the onlytree standing by itsel f as fa r a s you could see.
Motor cars pass up and down the road frequently.
But I must not accept a ride i f it ’ s Offered to me .
Thl eves’ Wit 329
I must s it down under this tre e a s i f I was t i red andstay there ten m inute s or so , until anybody who mayhave seen m e stop there will have passed out of sight .Then I am to leave the keys on the ground behindthe tre e and Walk back to Greenwood City, and takethe fi rst tra in for New York . I f he gets the keysa ll right, he sa id he would send the money in a package by ma il to-morrow .
I made notes of all thi s whi l e the boy wa s speaking.
I s it a ll right ?” he a sked anxiously.Fine ! I sa id .
But the twelve o ’ clock tra in ! It’
s qua rter pa steleven now. I wanted to put him off to give youmore time , but you sa id do exactly what he sa id .
”
“Quite right, I sa id .
“Run along and get yourtra in . Follow your instruct ions exactly and le avethe rest to me .”
IME was very pre cious , but I allowed mysel f afew m inutes for hard , concentrated thought .
I beli eved that B londy would be under surve illancefrom the time he left the Association rooms until h ere ached the appointe d spot . Evidently my man wasaware of the advantage to himself of rush ing thething through , and it was l ikely the keys would bep icked up within a few minute s of the time theywere dropped . At any rate he would surely comea fte r them by daylight
,for night would make an
ambush ea sy. Therefore it was up to me to make mypreparations before the boy got there . Not veryeasy when he was already about to sta rt .My man had had several days in which to find the
spot near New York best su ited to his purpose .From Blondy’ s description the pla ce he had chosenmust be bare o f cover in mile s . “Thomas Wilkinson” would come in an automob ile , naturally, and i fanything in the V i cin ity a roused hi s susp ic ions hewould not stop . I could not hope to p ick him out
among all who passed. It was a tough problem .
I ca lled up Lanman the chie f o f the detectivebureau . Nowadays I commanded the respect o ffhese p eople .
“Look here , I sa id, we have a chance to take the330
332 Thieves ’ Wi'
t
police badge in cas e any of the loca l constable sshould obj e ct to our rate of t ravel . On the roadI studied my map and got the lay of the land in myhead.It wa s twelve-five when we reached GreenwoodCity
,or fi fty minute s be fore the tra in wa s due . As
we passed the ra ilway station I saw a ca r alreadywa iting there , and I wondered idly i f that would haveanything to do with my ca se . It wa s a very di stinguished-looking car of a fore ign make with adark green body of the style the French call coupe
’
de v il le. It seemed a l ittle odd that any one shouldchoose to ride in a closed ca r in such hot weathe r .An irreproa chable chau ffeur and footman waitednear.We turned into Suffolk stre et, and hastened on
out of town out to Ringste ad pla ins . It was allj ust a s Blondy had given it to me ove r the phone .There was the la st house at the edge of the pla in ,and half a mile ahead stood the lonely locust treebes ide the road . The house looked as i f it m ightbelong to a small farmer or market ga rdener.There wa s a small ba rn behind it . Ahead of u sthere wa s no other habitation V i s ibl e a s far a s wecould see .We kept on . It i s a well-known motor road, and
we passed ca rs from time to time . Earl ier and lateri t would be quite crowded I expect , but this was oneof the qui ete st hours . About three-qua rte rs of amile beyond the locust tree there was a wood that I
Thieves’ Wit 333
had my eye on. I t was not of very great extent, butshowed a dense growth o f young tree s .Reaching it, I found to my great sati s fa cti on that
there was a rough wagon track leading away amongthe tree s. I had the chauffeur turn in there . Therewas no other ca r in view at the m om ent. Within afew yards the wagon tra ck curved a little , and wewere lost to vi ew from the road . I got out andmade my way to the edge of the tree s . From thi s
p oint I found I could overlook the locust tree withthe a id of my binocula rs .Thi s wa s all I wanted. I gave the order to re
turn to Greenwood C ity. A littl e further in the
wood there was a clea ring su ffi ci ent to enable us toturn . One gets over the ground quickly in a car,and when we got back to Greenwood we still hadtwenty-five m inutes be fore the tra in wa s due . Thi splace , by the way, i s not a city at all , but merely avillage embowered in trees . The handsome greencar wa s still wa iting at the station . I went to ah otel to telephone .To my joy I got Lanman on the phone withoutdelay.
“ I ‘ am here at Mitchell’s with three o f the cars ,he sa id .
“The other two were sent by a slightlylonger route . They will b e here directly.
”
“Take three cars and proceed by the shorte stroute to Greenwood City, I sa id. Make hasteb ecause I expe ct my man on the tra in from town intwenty minutes , and you must get through the v illage be fore he a rrives
,
”
334 Thieves’ Wit
“We can be there in five , sa id Lanman .
Turn to the r ight on Suffolk street and proceedout on the pla ins . A mile and a half out of townyou come to the la st house . It is a grey house without any tree s around it ; the re is a small barn behindit . Stop there and put up your ca rs in the barn insuch a way that you can run them out quickly. I
don ’ t know the people in the house . I have no reason to beli eve that they have any connection withthe man we want, but you
’ l l have to use your judgment .”
I went on to expla in t o him just what Blondy wa sgoing to do , and how I exp ected our man to turnup shortly a fterwards .The Ea st windows of the house ove rlo ok the lo
cust tree , I went on. Station yourself at one o fthem with your gla sse s , and you will be able to se ewhatever happens at the tre e .”
“ I get you ,” he sa id .
“What about the other twocars ? One O f them i s just tu rning into the yardnow .
”
“Let them leave Ringste ad by Merton street, Isa id, consulting my map ,
“ and pro ceed East to the
Joppa Pike ; thence North to the Suffolk p ike andturn back toward s Greenwood City. About twomile s and a half be fo re reaching the village , morethan a mile beyond the house where you will be ,there i s a small wood on the le ft hand side of theroad . There i s a wagon track leading into it .They are to tu rn in there and they will find me al ittle way inside .”
336 Thieves ’ Wit
I wa s lying on the ground at the edge of the littl e wood with the gla sse s steadied on a fallen trunk .
The whole flat pla in wa s spread be fore me . Thecars were about thi rty yards behind me , ea ch chauf
feur at his wheel . Between me and them I hadthe four men stationed at intervals so I could pass awhispered order back .
While Blondy was covering the space between thehouse and the locust tree a green ca r hove in view behind him , which I _presently recognised from the irreproachable chauffeur and footman as the coupe
’
de
v il le. It overtook the walking figure , and came onup the road, past the wood , and past us . I wondered i f our man was now ins ide .Blondy rea ched the tree at la st . I suspected that
he welcomed the shade . It seemed perfectly natura l for him to s it down under it . He remainedthere ten minutes . Several ca rs pa ssed to and froand one of them stopped . Thi s puzzled m e for amoment, but I supposed that i t was merely somegood Sama ritan who offered the persp iring boy al i ft . While Blondy wa s s itt ing there the green ca rWent b ack . I was pretty sure now that it conta inedour quarry .
At last Blondy got up and s ta rted back . These
pe riods of wa iting try a man’ s nerve s . Mine were
pretty well on edge by thi s t ime . It seemed to takean age for the boy to retra ce hi s steps over the vi sible p a rt of the road . About two hundred yardsbeyond the fa rmhouse there was a bend 1n l t whichconcealed the rest from my Vi ew .
Thieves ’ Wit 337
A minute or two a fter Blondy disappea red frommy sight, the big green ca r again hove into Viewaround the bend . My heart hit up a few extrabeats .
“Get ready, I sent word along the l ine .To my great disappointment it did not stop at the
tree . It came on, and passed the wood aga in withthe loud purr of new tires . However, I expla inedit to myself by the fact that there wa s another carin V i ew at the moment . I set myself to wa it in theexpectation of his return .
In five minute s return he did, but this t ime therewas a car close behind, and once more he pas sedout of s ight without stopp ing. I hoped that Lanman had marked the pa ssing and repassing of thefa shionable car .
It wa s now past two o ’clock, and the hotte st partof the day was com ing on. A haze o f heat undulated shimmeringly over the pla in . Our temperssu ffered . There in the little wood we were in theshade , it i s true , but there was not a breath of a irstirr ing, and the mosquitoes were busily plying the irtrade . The men breathed hard, and wiped the irfa ce s . At first they had taken the i r coats Off, butfinding the insects could bite through the i r shirtsl eeve s they had put them on aga in . I had thrownOff my hot wig. A disguise wa s unnece ss ary now.
Once more the green car turned into s ight beyondthe farmhouse . This time the road was empty andmy heart beat hopefully. Sure enough it stoppedopposite the locust tre e .
338 Thieves ’ Wit
Start your engines , I whispered along the l ine .A man alighted from the coupé and walked to the
t ree . A Panama hat shaded his face and I couldnot get a good look at it . He walked around thet ree and seemed to be gazing up in its branches , a swell a s looking down at the roots . I could not und erstand th i s evolution , sti ll I wa s pretty sure thatI saw him stoop and pi ck something up .
He returned to hi s car , and it sta rted forward .
“Go ahead, I sa id to my men .
They knew what they had to do . I l ingered am oment to se e whether he was going to turn aroundor come on . He came stra ight, faster than he hadb een travell ing. I ran a fter my cars .According to instructions they moved out in l inea cross the road, completely blocking it . I timed ita s closely a s I could, but unfortunately the road wasperfectly stra ight . With the appea rance of the firstcar out of the wood, the green ca r took the ala rm .
W e heard the screech of the brakes . They came toa stop in a cloud of dust . Those town ca rs can
turn almost in the i r own length . Around they wentand back with the exhaust opened wide .We jumped aboard our cars and a s soon a s wecould disentangle ourselves took a fter them . Theywere half a mil e away when we got stra ightened out .Now i f only Lanman did not fa il me !To my j oy, away ahead I saw the pol ice cars
slowly move one, two , three acros s the road . Wehad him trapped ! Once more the green car stoppedin a cloud of dust .
340 Thieves ’ . Wit
We were recalled to pra ct ical matters by the im
perious tooting of a horn up the road . One oncoming chauffeu r naturally obj ected to the barri cade ofautomobile s . Lanman and I alike dreaded the irruption o f fool i sh curiosity-seekers . At a wordfrom me he hustled the detect ives into thei r re
spective ca rs , and got them stra ightened out . Theywere all ordered back to headquarters . All thi shappened within a few moments . I don ’ t believeany of the detect ive s real ised that the man was dead .
None of the engines had stopped and we quicklyhad the road clea r . Lanman and I thought so muchalike in thi s cri s i s that it wa s hardly necessary to
ta lk. We got into the coupé with its ghastly burden and without touching it, sa t down on the twol ittle seats facing it . A glance at the police b adgewas su ffici ent for the chauffeur .
“Your master ha s had a stroke , I sa id to him .
Take us to hi s home a s soon a s poss ible .”
Lanman nodded his approval .When we got Mount
’ s body to hi s rooms , we sentfor hi s doctor , one of the most famous pract itione rs in town , also for the commiss ioner o f police andfor Mr . Walte r Dunsany .
When the five of us were gathered together , weconsulted, and finally put it up to the commiss ione rto decide what ought to be done in the intere sts ofgood citiz enship . After listening to me , to Mr .Dunsany and to the doctor, all o f whom felt thes ame , though for di ff erent re asons , he voted withus . We agreed that Mount had taken the best way
Thieves Wit 341
out under the circumstances . None of us wanted todrag his dead body through the mire . As much of
the loot as could be recovered was already recovered .
None of us wanted to see any more scanda l a ired inthe newspapers . Therefore it wa s given out thatMr. Mount had comm itted suicide while motoringin the country, and no cause for the act wa s a ssigned .
Of course I told Roland and Irma the truth , so
that no shadow might d im thei r future happiness .
ITTLE more remains to be told . For weeksa fterwards the case wa s threshed out in the
newspapers,but nothing was brought out that you
do not already know . No susp icion attached to
Mount’ s chauffeur and footman . They had methim at the Greenwood City station according to or
ders . He had excla imed at the beauty of Ringsteadpla ins , and they thought that was why he had him~
sel f ca rried back and forth so many times . On thela st j ourney he had remarked the locust tree , speaking of the ra rity of the speci es , and had ordered themto stop so that he could exam ine it . They knewnothing about tree s , of course . They had not seenhim pick up the keys .The news of Mount ’ s death took all the fight out
of Lorina . Whatever human feeling there wa s intha t woman was all for him . It appeared that he rdevotion to him was so abj e ct, that she was evenwill ing to help him in his plotting to secure Irmafor his wife .The thieves were sent up for te rms more or le sscorresponding to the degrees of the ir guilt . Lorinaand Foxy are still there . Jumbo i s out now, andp rofesses to have re formed . He seems to bea r meno malice , and occas ionally brace s me for a smallloan . One of the gang, Bella Bleecke r, escaped for
342
344 Thieves ’ Wit
This in formation diss ip ated the la st b it of mystery. The more I thought over it the more I marvel led at Mount . Certa inly there wa s somethingmagnificent in hi s villa in ie s . Fancy giving your rivalforty thousand dollars in order to ruin him ! Itwas clear now why the order had come down fromabove to Jumbo to sell Irma ’ s p ea rls to Roland ata reduced price . I wonder i f ever a more devilishplot wa s hatched by one man to ruin another . Andhow nearly it had succeeded . Mount had shownthe devil ’ s own cunning in playing on the weak spotsin Irma and in Roland .
The period Of the tri al was a hate ful t ime for allof us . Our own happiness wa s not to be thoughtof unti l that ordea l wa s over . A blessed peace descended on us when the la st verdict was rendered .
The bl isful event occurred in October. I rma andRoland insi sted that Sadie and I must be married atthe same time they were .The double event took place in the Little Church
Around the Corner . Only Mr . Dunsany, Blondy ,the Doctor and a few others were present . We allfelt a s i f we had had enough publicity to la st us therest o f our lives .Roland insi sted on returning the balance of his
lega cy to the Mount estate . I thought he had thebest rea son in the world for hanging on to it, butthat was Roland . He actually wanted I rma to turnover her p ea rls to the executors , le ss what she hadpa id for them , but we all fought him on that . Shehad purcha sed them fa irly, I insi sted , and i f Mount
Thieves ’ Wit 345
had named too l ow a price that was hi s affa i r . Hegave in when I pointed out that wa s the cause of
her giving up a lucrative pro fess ion , and he had noright to deprive her of her property also .
The famous blue pearls were sold . Part of theproceeds wa s devoted to the purcha se of a fine oldmanor and a farm on the Eastern shore o f Maryland. Roland and Irma have forsaken the footlights forever . Farm ing i s the ir true vocation
,they
say, and nothing could ever tempt them back .
Mr. Dunsany ha s ever rema ined my firm fr iend .
He insisted on rewarding m e very handsomely formy work on the great case , though I considered
'
the
reputation i t brought me enough . The honourseem s likely to la st me a s long a s I am able to work .
With the money Sadie and I decided to buy a smalle rplace adj oining our fr iends . Sadie ha s turnedfarmer, too.
I can’ t b e there a s much a s I would like . Afte rthe dust and danger of my work it i s l ike Heaven torun down home . At first Sadie obj ected strenu
ously to thi s arrangement . She sa id she expectedto continue to help me with my work . That waswhat she married me for , she sa id . But the onefright was enough for me . I don’ t hea r so muchabout her de s ire now . Sadie ha s other things to oct upy her mind . Yes , three of them .
THE END
P opular CopyrightNov elsd T MODERATE PRI CES
A sk Your Dealer for a Com pl ete List of’
A . L . Burt Com p any ’s Popul ar Copyright Fiction
Cabbages and K ings . By 0 . Henry.Cabin Fever. By B . M. Bower .
Cal ling of Dan Matthews , The. By Haro ld Bel l Wright.Cape Cod S tories . By Joseph C. Lincoln.
Cap ’
n Abe, Storekeeper. By Jam es A . Coop er .
Cap ’
n Dan ’
s Daughter. By Jos eph C. Linco ln.
Cap ’
n Eri. By Jos eph C . Lincoln.
Cap ’
n Jonah ’s Fortune. By Jam es A . Cooper .
Cap ’
n Warren’
s Wards . By Jos eph C . Linco ln.
Chain of Ev idence, A. By Caro lyn Wel ls .
Chief Legatee, The. By Anna Kathar ine Green.
Cinderel la Jane. By Marjorie B . Cooke.
Cinem a Murder, The. By E . Ph il l ip s Oppenheim .
City of Masks , The. By George Barr McCutcheon.
C leek of Scotland Yard. By T . W. Han shew.
Cleek, The Man of Forty Faces . By Thom as W. Hanshew.
Cleek’s Governm ent Cases . By Thom as W. Hanshew.
Clipped W in 5 . By Rupert Hughes .
Clue, The. y Caro lyn Wells .
Clutch of Circum s tance, The. By Marjor ie B enton Cooke.
Coast of Adventure, The. By Harold B indlos s .
Com ing of Cass idy, The. By C larence E . Mulford.
Com ing of the Law, The. By Chas . A . Seltzer .
Conquest of Canaan, The . By Booth Tarkington.
Conspirators , The. By Robert W . Cham ber s .
Court of Inquiry , A . By Grace S . Richm ond .
Cow Puncher, The. By Robert J . C . S tead .
Crim son Gardenia, The, and Other Tales of Adventure. ByRex B each .
Cros s Currents . By Author of Po l lyanna .
Cry in the Wi ldernes s , A . By Mary E . Wal ler .
Danger , And Other Stories . By A . Conan Doyle.
Dark Hol low , The . By Anna Kathar ine Green.
Dark Star , The. By Robert W. Cham bers .
Daughter Pay s . The. By Mrs . Bail l ie Reyno lds .
Day of Days , The. By Louis Jo seph Vance.
Depot Mas ter , The. By Joseph C . Lincoln.
Des ired Wom an, The. By Wil l N . Harben.
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Destroying Angel, The. By Louis Jos . Vance.
Devil ’s Own, The. By Randa l l Parr ish .
Double Traitor, The. By E . Ph i l lip s Oppenheim .
Em pty Pockets . By Rupert Hughes .
Eyes of the B lind, The . By Arthur Som ers Roche.
Eye of Dread, The. By Payne Erskine.
Eyes of the Wor ld , The. By Haro ld Be l l Wr ight.Extricating Obadiah . By Jos eph C . Linco ln.
Felix O ’Day . By F. Hopkinson Sm ith .
54-40 or F ight. By Em er son Hough .
Fighting Chance, The. By Robert W Cham bers .
Fighting Shepherdes s , The. By Carol ine Lockhart.Financier , The . By Theodore Dreis er .
Flam e, The. By O live Wads ley.F lam s ted Quarries . By Mary E . Wa l lar .
Forfeit, The. By Ridgwel l Cu l lum .
F our Mi l lion,The. By 0 . Henry.
Fruitful Vine, The. By Robert H ichens .
F urther Adventures of J im m i e Dal e, The. By Frank L.
Packard .
Gi r l of the B lue Ridge, A. By Payne Erskine.
Gir l from Kel ler ’s , The. By Harold B ind los s .
Gir l Philippa, The. By Robert W. Cham bers .
Girls at His B il let, The. By B erta Ruck.
God ’s Country and the Wom an. By Jam es O l iver Curwood.
Going Som e. By Rex B each .
Golden Slipper, The. By Anna Kathar ine Green.
Golden Wom an , The. By Ridgwe l l Cul lum .
Greater Love Hath No Man . By Frank L . Packard.Greyfriars Bobby. By Eleanor Atkinson.
Gun B rand, The. By Jam es B . Hendryx.
Halcyone. By El inor Glyn.
Hand of Fu-Manchu, The. By Sax Rohm er .
Havoc . By E . Ph il l ip s Oppenheim .
Heart of the D esert . The. By Honoré W il l s ie.
Heart of the H ill s , The. By John Fox, Jr.
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s Popul ar Copy right F ictionHeart of the Suns et. By Rex Beach .
Heart of Thunder Mountain, The. By Edfrid A . B ingham .
Her Weight in Gold. By Geo. B . McCutcheon .
H idden Chi ldren, The. By Robert W. Cham bers .
H idden Spring, The. By Clarence B . Kel land.
Hi l lm an, The. By E . Phi l lip s Oppenheim .
H il ls of Refuge, The. By Wil l N . Harben.
His Official Fiancee. By Berta Ruck.
Honor of the Big Snows . By Jam es O liver Curwood .
Hopalong Cas s idy. By C larence E . Mulford .
Hound from the North , The. By Ridgwe l l Cul lum .
House of the Whispering Pines , The. By Anna KatharineGreen.
Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker. By S . Weir Mitchel l, MD .
I Conquered. By Haro ld Titus .
I l lus trious Prince, The. By E . Phil lip s Oppenheim .
In Another Gir l ’s Shoes . By Berta Ruck .
Indifference of Juliet, The. By Grace S . R ichm ond.Infelice. By Augus ta Evans Wilson.
Initials Only. By Anna Kathar ine Green .
Inner Law, The. By Wil l N . Harben .
Innocent. By Mar ie Corel l i.Ins idious Dr. Fu-Manchu, The. By Sax Rohm er.
In the Brooding Wi ld . By Ridgwel l Cu l lum .
Intriguers , The. By Haro ld B ind los s .
Iron Trai l , The. By Rex B each .
Iron Wom an, The. By Margaret Deland.
I Spy. By Natal ie Sum ner Lincoln.
Japonette. By Robert W. Cham bers .
Jean of the Lazy A . By B . M . Bower . .
Jeanne of the Marshes . By E . Ph i l l ip s Oppenheim .
Jennie Gerhardt. By Theodore Dreiser .
Judgm ent Hous e, The. By Gilbert Parker.
Keep er of the Door, The. By Ethel M0
. Del l .Keith of the Border . By Randal l Parr i sh .
Kent Knowles : Quahaug. By Joseph C. Lincoln.
Kingdom of the Bl ind, The. By E . Ph il l ip s Oppenheim .
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Man with the Club Foot, The. By Va lentine Wi l liam s .
Mary-’Gusta. By Jos eph C. Linco ln .
Mary Moreland . By Mar ie Van Vor s t.
Mary Regan. By Leroy Scott.
Mas ter Mum m er, The. By E . Ph il l ip s Oppenheim .
Mem oirs of Sher lock Holm es . By A . Conan Doyle.
Men Who Wrought, The. By Ridgwel l Cul lum .
Mis chi ef Maker, The. By E . Ph il l ip s Oppenheim .
Mis s ioner, The. By E . Ph il l ip s Oppenheim .
Mis s Mi ll ion’
s Mai d . By Berta Ruck.
Mol ly McDonal d . By Randal l Parr ish .
Money Mas ter, The. By Gilbert Parker.
Money Moon , The. By Jefi ery Farnol .Mountain Gir l , The. By Payne Erskine.
Moving Finger, The. By Natal ie Sum ner Linco ln.
Mr. B ing le. By George Barr McCutcheon .
Mr. Grex of Monte Car lo. By E . Ph il lips Oppenheim .
Mr. Pratt By Jo seph C . Linco ln.
Mr. Pratt s Patients . By Jos eph C. Linco ln.
Mrs . Bel fam e. By Gertrude Atherton.
Mrs . Red Pepper. By Grace S . R ichm ond.
My Lady Caprice . By Jeffrey Farnol .My Lady of the North. By Randal l Parrish .
My Lady of the South . By Randal l Parr ish .
Mys tery of the Hasty Arrow,The. By Anna K . Green.
Nam eles s Man,The. By Natail e Sum ner Lincoln.Ne’
er-Do-We l l , The. By Rex B each .Nes t Bui lders , The. By B eatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale.
Net, The. By Rex Beach .
New C larion. By Wil l N . Harben .Night Operator , The. By Frank L. Packard .Night Riders , The. By Ridgwel l Cul lum .Nobody. By Louis Joseph Vance.
Okewood of the Secret Service. By the Author of“The
Man with the C lub Foot.”
One Way Trai l, The . By R idgwel l Cul lum .
Open,Sesam e . By Mrs . Baill ie Reynolds .
Otherwise Phyllis . By Meredith Nicholson.
Outl aw, The. By Jackson Gregory.
