Ceredo advance. [volume], November 10, 1909, Image 6

About Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939

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3YNOPSI8.
Mad Dan Maitland, on reaching lilt*
Ijew York bachelor dub, met an attrac
tive young woman at the door. Janitor
O Hagan assim d him no one hail been
within that day. Dan discovered a wom
an's tinker prints In dust on Ills desk,
along with a letter from Ids attorney.
Maitland dined with ltannerman. his at
torney. Dan set out for Greenfields, to
get Ills family Jewels. During his walk
to the country seat, ho met the young
woman In gray, whom ho had seen leav
ing his bachelors* club. Her auto had
broken down. He fixed It. Hy a ruse she
lost" him. Maitland, on reaching home,
surprised lady In gray, cracking the safe
containing Ids gems. She, apparently,
took him for a well-known crook, Daniel
Anisty.
CHAPTER III.—Continued.
Did he catch a gleam of admiration
In the eyes behind the goggles?
“Now, if ever they get hold of my
portrait and print . . . Well!”
sighed the girl wickedly, lifting slim,
bare lingers in affected concern to the
mass of ruddy hair, “in that event 1
suppose I shall have to become a
natural blonde!”
Her humor, her splendid fearless
ness, the lightness of her tone, com
bined with the half-laughing, half-se
iTous look that she swept up at him, to
«aso the tension of his emotions. For
the first time since entering the room,
he smiled; then in silence for a time
regarded her* steadfastly, thinking.
So he resembled this burglar, Anis
ty, strongly enough to be mistaken for
him—eh? Plainly enough the girl be
lieved him to be Anisty. . . . Well,
and why not? Why shouldn't he be
Anisty for the time being, if it suited
his purpose so to masquerade?
It. might possibly suit his purpose.
Ho thought his position one uncommon
ly difficult. As Maitland, he had on his
hands a female thief, a hardened char
acter, a common malefactor (strange
that he got so little relish of the
terms!), caught red-handed; &h Mait
land. his duty was to hand her over
to the law, to be dealt with as—what
she was. Yet, even while these consid
erations were urging themselves upon
him, he knew his eyes appraised her
•with open admiration and interest. She
stood before him. slight, delicate, pret
ty, appealing in her ingenuous candor;
and at his mercy. How could he bring
himself to deal with her as he might
with—well, Anisty himself? She was
a woman, he a gentleman.
As Anisty. however—if he chose to
assume that expert’s identity for the
nonce he would he placed at once on
a plane of equality with the girl; from
a fellow or her craft, she could hardly
refuse attentions. As Anisty, he would
put himself in a position to earn her
friendship, to gain—perhaps—her con
fidence. to learn something of her
necessities, to aid and protect her from
the consequences of her misdeeds;
possibly—to Bum up—to divert her
footsteps to the pnths of a calling less
hazardous and more honorable.
Worthy ambition—to reform a bur
glar! Maitland regained something of
his lost self-esteem, applauding him
self for entertaining a motive so
laudable. And he chose his course, for
better or worse, in these few seconds.
Thereby proving his incontestable title
to the name and repute of Mild Mait
land.
His face lightened; hla manner
changed; he assumed with avidity the
role for which she had cast him and
wjilch he stood so ready to accept and
act.
"Well and good,” he conceded with
an air. ”1 suppose I may as well
own up—”
“Oh, I know you.” she assured him.
• 1th a little, confident shake of her
nead. "There's no deceiving me. But,”
and her smiif became rueful, "If only
you'd w'ajtut ten minutes more! Of
course I -^cognized you from the first
H^iwn Chare by the river; and knew
well what was vour- -lav von
5 yourself away completely by
IlionlnK the distance from the river
Be Manor. And I did ho want to
khead of you on this Job! What a
her In one’s cay, to have fore
Anht'y! . . . Hut
;; fcfcl^tter be a litf!*• caroful
Ights ’ You to f<>! v-4
are servant:- in t)i<> house
r. you know i find yon moat ro
llcally audacious, Mr. Aniaty—
tn keeping with your reputation.”
h -it uverv. li< in i 11<• ii i:i- ii oil
me i have little conceit in
&>' fame -tu h as u i.- \: | , ,,,
Li the windows. be loosed the heavy
velvet hangings and let them fall to
K‘-ther, drawing their edges close so
that no ray of light might escape.
She watched him with interest. “You
Mem well acquainted here."
Of course. An/ man of imagina
tion is at pains to study every house
lie enters. I have a map of the prem
ises—house and grounds—here." He
Indicated his forehead with a long
forefinger.
'•Quite right, too—and worth one’s
While If rumor »s to he believed, you
"have ordinarily more than your labor
for your pains. You have taught me
■omethtng already. . , . Ah. well!”
•ho sighed. "I suppose I may as well
acknowledge my Inferiority—as neo
phyte to hierophant. Master!” She
Courtesiod low. "I beg you proreed
a.id let thy rheeia profit through obser
TAtlon!” And a small white hand ges
tured slgnflcantjy toward the collee
Ucn of burglars tools—drills aud
A
And a Small White Hand Gestured Significantly Toward
of Burglar’s Tools.
the Collection
chisels, skeleton keys, putty, and all—
neatly displayed upon the rug before
the massive safe.
You mean that you wish me to
crack this safe for you?” he Inquired
with inward consternation.
Not for me. Disappointment I ad
mlt is mine; but not for the loss I sus
tain. In the presence of the master 1
am content to stand humbly to one
side, as befits one of my lowly state in
in the ranks of our profession. I re
slpn, I abdicate in your favor; claim
ing nothing by right of priority.”
You are too generous,” he mum
bled, confused by her thinly veiled rid
icule.
“Not at ail,” she replied briskly. ”1
am entirely serious. My loss of to
duy will prove my gain to-morrow. ]
look for incalculable benefit through
study of your methods. My own, 1
confess,” with a contemptuous toss ol
her head toward the burglar’s kit
are clumsy, antiquated, out of date
. . Hut then, I'm only an ania
teur.”
<*n, dm a woman—” he began tc
apologize on her behalf.
Oh, but a woman!” sho rapped out
smartly. ‘‘I wish you to understand
that this woman, at least, is nc
mean—” And she hesitated.
’ Thief?” he supplied, crudely.
‘‘Yes, thief! We're two of a feather
at that.”
’’True enough. . . . But you
were first in the field; I fail to see why
I should reap any reward for tardiness
The spoils must be yours.”
It was a test; Maitland watched hei
keenly, fascinated by the subtlety oi
the game. '
Hut I refuse, Mr. Anlsty—positively
reruse to go to work while you stand
aside and—and laugh.”
Pride! He stared, openly amazed
at this bewilderlngly feminine bundle
of Inconsistencies. With each facet oi
her character discovered to him, min
«te by minute, the study of her be
came to him the more engrossing. H*
drew nearer, eyes speculative.
”1 will agree," he said, slowly, “tc
crack the safe, but upon eondifions."
She drew back Imperceptibly,
amused, but asserting her dignity
Yes?’ she led him on. though In nc
accent of encouragement.
flack there, In the river,” hr
drawled deliberately, forcing the j ace,
”f found yon beautiful.”
She flushed, lip curling. “And. back
there, in the river, 1 thought you- a
gentleman!”
“Although a burglar?"
“A gentleman for all that!”
”J promise you F mean no harm.” he
prefaced. "Hut don't you see how 1
am {Hitting myself In your twiwcr’
Every moment you know me better
while I have not yet even looked intc
your face with the light full upon it
Honor nmong thieves, little woman!’
She chose to ignore the Intimate
note in his voice. ‘ You're wasting
time," she hinted, crisply.
”1 am aware of that fact. Permit
me to remind you that you are help
Ing me to waste it. I will not go ahead
until 1 have seen your face. It Is sim
ply an ordinary precaution.”
“Oh, if It’s a matter if business—”
/
Self-preservation,” he corrected,
with magnificent gravity.
t She hesitated but a moment longer,
tnen with a quick gesture removed her
mask. Maitland’s breath came fast as
be bent forward, peering into her
face; though he schooled his own fea
tures to an expression of intent and
inoffensive studiousness, he feared the
loud tlilimping of his heart would be
tray him. As he looked it became evi
dent that the witchery of moonlight
had not served to exaggerate the sen
sitive. the almost miniature, beauty
of her. If anything, its charm was
g' eater there in the full glare of the
electric chandelier, as she faced him.
giving him glance for glance, quite un
dismayed by the intentness of his
scrutiny.
In the clear light her eyes shone
lustrous, pools of tawny flame; her
hair showed itself of a rich ’ and
luminous coppery hue, spun to im
measurable fineness; a faint color
burned in her cheeks, but In contrast
her forehead was as snow—the pure,
white, closegrained skin that is the
heritage of red-headed women the
world over, and their chiefest charm
as well; while her lips—
Aa for her lips, the most coherent
statement to be extracted from Mr.
Maitland Is to the effect that they
were altogether desirable, from the
vory first.
The hauteur of her pose, the sym
pathy and laughter that lurked in her
mouth, the manifest breeding In the
delicate modeling of her nostrils, and
tho firm, straight arch of her nose, the
astonishing allurement of her eyes,
combined with their spirited womanli
ness—these, while they completed
the conquest of the young man,
abashed him. He found himself of a
si.dden endowed with a painful appre
ciation of his own Imperfections, the
littleness of his ego, the Inherent
coarseness of his masculine fiber, the
poor futility of his ways, contrasted
With her perfections. He felt as if re
buked for some unwarrantable pre
sumption. . . . For he had looked
Into eyes that were windows of a soul;
and the soul was that of a child, un
sullied and Immaculate.
You may smile; but as for Maitland,
he deemed It no laughing matter. From
that moment his perception was clear
that, whatever she might claim to be
however damning the circumstances
In which she appeared to him, there
was no evil in her.
Hut what he did not know, and did
not even guess, was that, from the
same Instant, his being was in bond
age to her will. So Ixjve comes,
Htrangely mask' d.
CHAPTER IV.
Midsummer Night’s Madness.
At length, awed and not a little
shamefaced, "I beg your pardon,” ho
stammered, wretchedly.
"For what?" she demanded, quickly,
head up and eyes alight.
"For Insisting. It wasn't—ah—
courteous. I’m sorry."
It was her turn now to wonder;
delicacy of perception such as this
was not ordinarily looked for in the
person of a burglar. With a laugh and ,
\
a ^ibe she tried to pass off her aston
ishment.
“The thief apologizes to the thief?’
“Unkind! ”
Briefly hesitant, with an impulsive
gesture she flung out a generous han't
“You’re right; I was unkind. For
give me. Won’t you shake hands? 1
I do want to be a good coni
rade. since It has pleased Fate tc
throw us together liko this, so—sr
oddly.” Her tone was almost plain
ti\e, unquestionably it was appealing
Maitland was curiously moved bj
the touch of the slim, cool Angers that
laj in his palm. Not unpleasantly. Ht
frowned In perplexity, unable to ana
lyze the sensation.
"You’re not angry?’’ she asked.
“No—but—but—’’
“Yes?”
Why do you do this, little woman'
Why do you stoop to this—this tnv1<
of yo—of ours? Why sully your handf
and not only your hands—lmperi
your good name, to say nothing of your
liberty—?”
She drew her hand away quickly, in
ferrupting him with a laugh that rant?
true as a coin new from the mint, hon
est and genuine.
“And this,” she cried, “this from
n Anisty! Positively, sir, you are
delightful! You grow more danger
ously original every minute! Your
scruples, your consideration, your sym
patliy—they are touching—in you!"
She wagged her head daintily in pre
tense of disapprobation. “Hut shall
I tell you?” more seriously, doubtfully.
"I think I shall . . . truly. I do
this sort of thing, since you must
know, because—imprimis, because l
like it. Indeed and I do! I like the
danger, the excitement, the exercise ol
cunning and—and I liko the rewards,
too. Besides—”
The corners of her adorable mouth
drooped ever so slightly.
“Besides—,?”
“Why . . . But this is not busi
ness! We must hurry. Will you. or
shall I—?"
A crisis had been passed; Maitland
understood that he must wait until a
more favorable time to renew’ his
importunities.
"I will,” he said, dropping on his
knees by the safe. “In my lady's
service!”
“Not at all,” she Interposed. “I In
sist. The Job is now yours; yours
must be the profits.”
“Then I wash my hands of the whole
affair, he stated in accents of finality.
I refuse. I shall go, and you can do
as you will—blunder on,” scornfully,
with your nitroglycerin, your rags,
and drills and—and rouse the entire
countryside. If you will.”
An, but—”
“Will you accept my aid?”
“On conditions, only,” she stipulated.
“Halvers?”
He shook his head.
“Half shares, or not at all!” She
was firm.
“A partnership?”
This educed a moue of doubt, with:
“I'm not worthy the honor.”
“But,” he promised rashly, “I can
save you—oh, heaps of trouble in other
—ah—lays."
She shrugged helplessly. “If I must
—then I do hccept. We are partners,
I)an Anisty and I!”
He nodded mute satisfaction, brushed
the tools out of his way, and bent an
attentive ear to the combination.
The girl swept across the room, and
there followed a click simultaneous
with the total extinction of light.
Startled, “Why—?” he demanded.
“The risk,” she replied. “We have
been frightfully careless and thought
less.”
Helplessly Maitland twirled the com
bination dial; without the light he was
wholly at a loss. But a breath later
skirts rustled near him; the slide of
the bull's-eye was Jerked hack, and a
circle of illumination thrown upon the
lock. He bent his head again, pretend
ing to listen to the fall of the tum
blers ns the dial was turned, but In
point of fact covertly watching the
letters and figures upon It.
The room grew very silent, save for
the faintly regular respiration of the
girl who bent near his shoulder. Her
breath was fragrant upon his cheek.
The consciousness of her proplmjuity
almost stifled him. , , . One fears
that Maitland prolonged the counter
feit study of the combination unneces
sarily.
N'otwithstanding this, she seemed
amazed by the ease with which ho
solved it. “Wonderful!” she ap
plauded. whispering, ns the heavy door
swung outward without a Jar.
“Hush!" he cautioned her.
In his veins that night madness was
running riot, swaying him at Its will.
With never a doubt, never a thought
of hesitancy, he forged ahead, willfully
blind to consequences. On the face
of it he was playing a fool’s part; ho
knew It; the truth Is simply that he
could not have done other than as he
did. Consciously he believed himself
to-be merely testing the girl; subcon
selously he was plastic in the grip ol
an emotion stronger than he—moist
clay upon the potter’s whirling wheeL
<TO UK CONTINUUDu
!
“Say.” said the Junior Office Boy,
who was a graduate of the Bowery, to
the Senior Office Boy, who was a
graduate of Harvard, “the Chief's go
ing to get a new stenographer.”
This piece of news failed to inter
est the Senior, who had watched with
indifference the entrances and exits
of a be-pompadoured procession of
damsels and had, without regret, seen
them go their ways after a brief trial
by the irascible Chief—not because
they were incompetent; quite the re
verse; because they transcribed tho
Thief's words instead of his thoughts,
which were often quite at variance
with each other. The Chief's ideas
were all right, but he could not ex
press them, and he wanted a mind
reader—something which the steno
graphic employment bureaus had
heretofore been unable to supply.
“Another?” The Harvard Graduate
raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, but this one’s a crackajack.
She's a peach, I tell you. She's your
sort, too; she says ‘hawf’ and
‘pawst.’ ”
The mention of this shibboleth of
the other’s class, the Junior thought,
could not fail to call forth his en
thusiasm. But he was doomed to dis
appointment. It was but a languid
interest that was aroused In the
Senior at most.
But the next morning when the
Crackajack arrived the Junior had
the satisfaction of seeing the Senior's
eyes widen with admiration and sur
prise.
“Didn't I tell you?” he telegraphed
across the mailing desk triumphantly.
“Tell—why. any one with half an
eye could see. ‘She walks a god
dess.’ ” The Harvard Graduate felt
that even Virgil was scarce adequate
to the occasion as he followed with
languishing glances the figure that
was just disappearing behind the
ground glass door of the Chief’s room.
Every ear was strained to catch
the conversation that followed be
hind tho partition—if the Chief were
displeased his displeasure would be
quite audible—but, oh, how devoutljt
every man in that office hoped that
he might not be!
The Chief was not displeased. On
the contrary, he seemed quite sub
dued—even conciliatory.
“The Old Man’s met his match this
time,” whispered the Junior Office
Boy with n wink.
With the-advent of the Crackajack
came a revolution in office etiquette.
Shirtsleeved deshabille fell into dis
favor; cigarettes were tabooed and
strong language was absolutely for
bidden—and that by the Chief him
self, who. while his conventional
vocabulary was limited, was as varied
and forceful as Job himself in invec
tive. Ho soon found it necessary to
Install a telephone booth to which he
might retire when his feelings be
came too strong for expression over
the desk 'phone.
Xor was the revolution confined to
office etiquette only. The Chief’s let
ters had become, under the magic
touch of the Crackajack, models of
English.
As you have explained the matter
to our satisfaction, we will disgorge
one-half the amount charged,” ho
had dictated the first day.
“Refund?” suggested the young
lady quietly. The Chief frowned
slightly and proceeded. “If you will
peruse the foregoing vebiage—”
“Remarks?” Again the pencil was
poised questloningly.
The Chief fidgeted for a moment
then he said somewhat feebly:
“What’s the matter with those other
words? They sound good enough to
me.”
Silently his stenographer opened
the dictionary and laid it before him.
“Hum—’Disgorge, to give up un
willingly ill-gotten gains.’ ‘Verbiage,
the use of many words with little
sense,’ ” he read, and after that he
allowed himself to he shorn of the
high-sounding expressions he had
been so fond of using (but which jret
did not seem to express what he
meant In spite of their Imposing ap
pearance) without protest.
Ry the end of the first week every
man in the office was ready to lay his
heart at the feet of the Crackajack.
The bookkeeper made pencil notation
on all his margins in an effort to
figure out how two could live on $100
a month, and the Harvard Graduate
was framing his proposal In blank
verse, for he knew that, he had met
his Ideal. He was still young
enough to have ideals.
Rut there came a day at last when
the Harvard Graduate's dream was
shattered—a day, however, when in
the Chief's eyes his new stenographer
acquired the final touch of perfection.
He became restive tinder this sup
pression and one day, in working off
some of his Irritation, a "big, big D”
exploded Into the telephone not 12
Inches from the delicate little ear
which must beyond all question be
too greatly shocked.
He dropped the receiver and
mopped his brow.
“I—I beg your pardon," he mut
tered; “I didn't mean that. I—"
The Crackajack looked him calmly
ih the eye.
'Why not? It's pure, vigorous Eng
lish -and quite the right word under
the •circumstances. There are occa
sions,” she said, "when no other word
1s adequate—occasions when I use it
myself—mentally.”
The Chief took a long, long breath.
"Ah, woman, woman." he sighed,
bitterly, "anca our superiors, now oni
•auals!” \
1
ANOTHER
WOMAN
CURED
By Lydia E. Pinkham’s
Vegetable Compound
Gardiner, Maine.—** I have been %
great sufferer from organic troubles
auu a sc vere ic ma le
weakness. The
doctor said I would
hare to go to the
hospital for an
operation, but I
could not bear to
think of it. 1 de
cided to try Lydia
E. Finkham’s Veg
etable Compound
and Sanative wash
—and was entirely
■ ■■ cured alter three
months’ use of them.”—Mrs. S. A.
Williams, R. F. D. No. 14, Box 39,
Gardiner, Me.
No woman should submit to a surgi
cal operation, which may mean death,
until she has given Lydia E. Fink ham's
Vegetable Compound, made exclusive
ly from roots and herbs, a fair trial.
This famous medicine for women
has for thirty years proved to be the
most valuable tonic and renewer of
the female organism. Women resid
ing in almost every city and town in
the United States bear willing testi
mony to the wonderful virtue of Lydia
E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound.
It cures female ills, and creates radi
ant, buoyant female health. If you
are ill, for your own sake as well as
those you love, give it a trial.
Mrs. Pink ha m, at Lynn, Mass.,
Invites all sick women to write
her for advifce. Her advice Is free,
and always helpf uL
WAS IN NO HURRY TO LEAVE
Prisoner Put Coming Gastronomic Joy
Ahead of a Brief Period
of Liberty.
A colored man from Georgia had
lived in Washington but a few years
when he was arrested for some slight
violation of the city ordinances. Upon
hearing that the negro was in jail, the
secretary of the colored Y. M. C. A.
secured the services of a minister to
fio with him and sign the prisoner’s
bail bond. They reached the jail
shortly before noon, and told the
negro the object of their^giJL^
aponse to the proffered kiiidnessira^^
said:
“.Mistah Johnsing, I sho is glad you
all is gwine to git me out, but I
wants you-all to fix it so I can’t git
out till late dis evenin’.”
Of course the two Samaritans were
somewhat taken aback by this unus
ual request. But a moment later they
lost their breath when, in answer to
the secretary's question, the Georgia
negro replied in a whisper:
W ell, sah, dey’s a-gittin’ dinnah
ready, an’ dey’s cookin’ greens; an’ I
sho would like to git some o’ dem
greens befo’ I leabes dis place!”—Lip
piucott’s.
Dorothy and the Stork.
When little Dorothy Walworth was
introduced to her baby brother In the
I’ irst Methodist Kpiscopal Parsonage
in ^ onkers, N. Y., she manifested in
tense interest, but was not astonished.
I knew he was coming,” she ex
claimed; “I knew it.”
Pressed for an explanation, the five
year-old said: "I was down to the
Pronx zoo the other day and saw
• he stork in his cage. I recognized
him by the black stripes on his wings
that papa said were there. Well, when
the stork was standing alone on one
leg, I went close to him and whispered
in his ear that I wanted him to bring
mo a baby brother or sister. He didn’t
say anything, but I knew he would do
it, because he bent his head toward
me and winked an eye.”
Wherein They Differ.
Her—When a man starts to talk he
never stops to think.
Him—And w’hen a woman starts she
never thinks to stop.
A BANKER’S NERVE
Broken by Coffee and Restored by
Postum.
A bnnker needs perfect control of
the nerves, and a clear, quick, accu
rate brain. A prominent banker of
Chattanooga tells how he keeps him
self In condition:
1 P to 11 years of age I was no^
allowed to drink coffee, but as soon m
i pot out in the world I began to use
It and grew very fond of It. For soino
years I noticed no bad effects from Its
use, but in time It began to affect me
unfavorably. My hands trembled, the
muscles of my face twitched, my men
tal processes seemed slow and In other
ways my system got out of order.
These conditions grew so had at last
that I had to give up coffee altogether.
My attention having been drawn to
Fostuni, I began Its use on leaving off
the coffee, and It gives me pleasure to
testify to Its value. I find It a delicious
beverage; like it Just as well as I did
cofTee, and during the years that 1
have used Postum I have been free
from the distressing symptoms that ac
companied the use of coffee. The nerv
ousness has entirely disappeared, and
I am as steady of hand as a boy of
25, though I am more Vian 02 years
old. I owe all this to Postum."
• There’s a Reason.” Rend the little
book, “The Road to Wellvillc,” In
pkgs. Grocers sell.
®vrT roml nhnvi> lettert A nrn
onr nnprnn from time to tlmr. Ttirr
nrr Kennlue, true, and full «( human
Interest.