ERIAL
STORY
3
PICTURES BY A. WEIL
The
1 BRASS i
I BOWL
p
y LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE
(Copyright 1M7. The Bobbt-Herrlll Co.)
8YN0P8IS.
"Mad" Dan Maitland. on reaching his
New York bachelor club, met an attrac
tive young woman at the door. Janitor
O'Hagan assured him no one had been
within that day. Dan discovered a wom
an's ringer prints In dust on his desk,
along with a letter from his attorney.
Maitland dined with Bannerman, his at
torney. Dan set out for Greenfields, to
get his family Jewels. During his walk
to the country seat, he met the young
woman In gray, whom he had seen leav
ing his bachelors' club. Her auto had
i jr. ..,., t f rv r ruse she
"lost" him. Maitland, on reaching home,
surprised lady In gray, cracking the safe
containing tils gems. She, apparently,
took him for a well-known crook, Danlei
Anlsty. Half-hypnotized, Maitland opened
his safe, took therefrom the jewels, and
gave them to her, flrst forming a part
nership in crime. The real Dan Anlsty,
sought by police of the world, appeared
on the same mission. Maitland overcame
him. He met the girl outside the house
and they sped on to New York in her au
to. He had the Jewels and she promised
to meet him that day. Maitland received
a "Mr. Snalth," Introducing himself as a
detective. To shield the girl in gray,
Maitland. about to show him the Jew
els, supposedly lost, was felled by a blow
from "Snatth's" cane. The latter proved
to be Anlsty himself and he secured the
gems. Anlsty, who was Maltland's dou
ble, masqueraded as the latter. The
criminal kept Maltland's engagement with
the girl In gray. He gave her the gems,
after falling In love at first sight. They
were to meet and divide the loot. Malt
land revived and regretted missing his
engagement.
CHAPTER VIII. Continued.
"Very good, sor." The Janltor-valet
bad previous experiences with Malt
land's generosity In grateful memory;
and shut his lips tightly .in promise
of virtuous reticence.
"You won't regret it. Now tell me
what you mean by saying that you saw
me go out at one this afternoon?"
Again the flood gates were lifted;
from the deluge of explanations and
protestations Maitland extracted the
general drift of narrative. And in the
end held up his hand for silence.
"I think I understand, now. You say
ho had changed to my gray suit?"
O'Hagan darted into the bedroom,
whence he emerged with confirmation
of his statement
" 'Tis gone, sor, an' "
"All right. But," with a rueful smile,
"I'll take the liberty of countermand
ing Mr. Snaith's order. If he should
call again, O'Hagan, I very much want
to see him."
"Faith, and 'tis mesllf will have a
worrud or two to whisper in the ear
av him, sor," announced O'Hagan,
grimly.
"I'm afraid the opportunity will be
lacking. You may fix me a hot bath
now, O'Hagan, and put out my even
ing clothes. I'll dine at the club to
night and may not be back."
And, rising, Maitland approached a
mirror; before which he lingered for
several minutes, cataloguing his in
juries. Taken altogether, they
amounted to little. The swelling of
bis wrists and ankles was subsiding
gradually; there was a slight redness
visible in the corners of his mouth,
and a shadow of discoloration on his
right temple something that could be
concealed by brushing his hair in a
new way.
"I think I shall do," concluded Malt
land; "there's nothing to excite partic
ular comment. The bulk of the sore
ness Is Inside."
Seven p. m.
"Time," said the short and thick-set
man casually, addressing no one in
particular.
He shut the lid of his watch with a
snap and returned the timepiece to
his waistcoat pocket. Simultaneously
he surveyed both sides of the short
block between Seventh and St. Nich
olas avenues with one comprehensive
glance.
Presumably he saw nothing of inter
est to him. It was not a particularly
interesting block, for that matter,
though somewhat typical of the neigh
borhood. The north side was lined
with five-story flat buildings, their
dingy-red brick facades regularly
broken by equally dingy brownstone
sloops as to the ground floor, by open
windows as to those above. The south
side was mostly taken up by a tow
ering white apartment hotel with an
ostentatious entrance; against one of
whose polished stone pillars the short
and thick set man lounging.
The sidewalks, north and south,
swarmed with children of assorted
apes, playing with the ferocious en
ergy characteristic of the young of
H&rlem; their blood-curdling cries and
premature Fourthof-July fireworks
created an appalling din,- to which,
however, the more mature denizens
had apparently become callous, through
long endurance.
Beyond the party-colored lights of a
drug store window on Seventh avenue,
the electric arcs were casting a sickly
radiance upon the dusty leaves of the
tree-lined drive. The avenue itself
was crowded with motor cars and
horse-drawn pleasure vehicles, mostly
bound uptown, their occupants seeking
the cooler airs and wider spaces to be
found beyond the Harlem river and
along the Speedway. A few blocks to
tbe west Cathedral heights bulked like
a great wall, wrapped in purple shad
ows, its jagged contour stark against
an evening sky of suave old rose.
The short and thick-set body, how
ever, seemed to have no particular ap
preciation of the beauties of nature as
exhibited by West One Hundred and
Eighteenth street on a summer's even
ing. If anything, he could apparently
have desired a cooling breeze; for,
after a moment's doubtful considera
tion, he unbuttoned his waistcoat and
heaved a sigh of relief.
Then, carefully shifting the butt of
a dead cigar from one corner of his
mouth to the other, where it was al
most hidden by the Jutting thatch of
his black mustache, and drawing down
over his eyes the brim of a rusty plug
hat, he thrust fat hands into the pock
ets of his shabby trousers and lounged
against the polished pillar even more
cr."""""";- 'n If hnr wpro
possible. An unromantic, apathetic
figure, fitting so naturally into his sur
roundings as to demand no second look
She Had Watched the House from the
Window of a Top-Floor Hall Bed
room In the Boarding-House Op
posite. even from the most observant; yet one
seeming to possess a magnetic attrac
tion for the eyes of the hallboy of the
apartment hotel (who, acquainted by
sight and hearsay with the stout gen
tleman's identity and calling, bent
upon him a steadfast and adoring re
gard), as well as for the policeman
who lorded It on the St. Nicholas ave
nue corner, in front of the real estate
office, 'and who from time to time
shifted his contemplation from the in
finite spaces of the heavens, the better
ta exchange a furtive nod with the
idler in the hotel doorway.
Presently at no great lapse of time
after the short and thick-set man had
stowed away his watch out of the
thronged sidewalks of Seventh avenue
a man appeared, walking west on the
north side of the street and reviewing
carelessly the numbers on tbe illumin
ated fanlights; a tall man, dressed all
in gray, and swinging a thin walking
stick.
The short, thick-set person assumed
a mien of mote Intense abstraction
than ever.
The tall man In gray paused indefi
nitely before the brownstone stoop of
the house numbered 205, then swung
up the steps and into the vestibule.
Here he halted, bending over to scru
tinize the names on the letter boxes.
The short, thick-set man reluctantly
detached himself from his polished
p:11ar and waddled ungracefully across
the street.
The policeman on the corner seemed
suddenly Interested in Seventh ave
nue, and walked in thatdirection.
The gray man, having vainly de
ciphered all the names on one side
of the vestibule, straightened up and
turned his attention to the opposite
wall, either unconscious of or indif
ferent to the shuffle of feet on the
stoop behind him.
The short, thick-set man removed
one hand from a pocket and tapped the
gray man gently on the shoulder.
"Lookin" for McCabe, Anlsty?" he
inquired, genially..
The gray man turned slowly, exhib
iting a countenance blank with aston
ishment. "Beg pardon?" he drawled;
and then with a ilawnlna ,).,.,,,, ,.p
. ----- v. , ' . - - u uunuiMQ QlCHUi Ul
recognition in his eyes: "Why. good
evening, Hlckey! What brings you
up this way?"
The short, thick-set man permitted
his jaw to droop and his eyes to pro
trude for some seconds. "Oh," he
said In a tone of great disgust, "hell!"
He pulled himself together with an
effort. "Excuse me, Mr. Maitland," he
stammered, "I wasn't lookin' for yen."
"To the contrary, I gather from your
greeting you were expecting our
friend, Mr. Anlsty?" And the gray
man smiled.
Hlckey smiled In sympathy, but with
less evident relish of the situation's
humor.
"That's right," he admitted. "Got a
tip from the c'mlss'ner's office this
evening that Anlsty would be here at
seven o'clock lookin' for a party
named McCabe. I guess It's a bum tip,
all right; but of course I got to look
into it."
"Most assuredly." The gray man
bent and Inspected the names again.
"I am hunting up an old friend," he
explained, carelessly; "a man named
Simmons knew him in college down
on his luck wrote me yesterday.
There he Is: Fourth floor, east. I'll
see you when I come down, I hope, Mr.
Hlckey."
The automatic lock clicked and the
door swung open; the gray man pass
ing through and up the stairs. Hlckey,
ostentatiously ignoring the existence
of the policeman, returned to his post
of observation.
At eight o'clock he was still there,
looking bored.
At 8:30 he was still there, wearing
a puzzled expression.
At nine he called the adoring hall
boy, gave him a quarter with minute
instructions, and saw him disappear
lulu tbe hallway of No Throo
minutes later the hoy was back,
breathless but enthusiastic.
"Missis Simmons," he explained be
tween gasps, "says she ain't never
heard of nobody named Maitland.
Somebody rang her bell a while ago
an' apologized for disturbin' her said
he wanted the folks on the top floor.
I guess yer man went acrost the roofs;
them houses Is all connected, and yuh
c'n walk clear from the corner here
tuh half-way up tuh Nineteenth street,
on Sain' Nicholas avenoo."
"Uh-huh," laconically returned the
detective. "Thanks." And turning on
his heel, walked westward.
The policeman crossed the street
to detain him for a moment's chat.
"I guess It's all off, Jim," Hlckey
told him. "Some one must 've tipped
that crook off. Anyway, I ain't goin'
to wait no longer."
"I wouldn't neither," agreed the uni
formed member. "Say, who's yer
friend yeh was talkln' tuh, 'while
ago?"
"Oh, a frlen' of mine. Yeh didn't have
no call to git excited then, Jim.
G'night."
And Hlckey proceeded westward, a
listless and preoccupied man by the
vacant eye of him. But when he
emerged into the glaro of Eighth ave
nue his face was unusually red. Which
may have been due to the heat. And
just before boarding a downtown sur
face car, "Oh," he enunciated with gus
to, "hell!"
One n. m.
Not until the rich and mellow chime
had merged into the stillness did the
intruder dare again draw breath. Com
ing as it had the very moment that
the door had closed noiselessly behind
her, the double stroke had sounded to
her like a knell; or, perhaps more like
the prelude to the wild alarum of a
tocsin, first striking her heart still
with terror, then urging it into panic
flutterlngs.
But these, as the minutes drew on,
marked only by the dull methodic tick
ing of the clock, quieted; and at
length she mustered courage to move
fro the door, against which she had
flattened herself, one hand clutching
the knob, ready to pull it open and fly
upon the first aggressive sound.
In the interval her eyes had beaome
accustomed to the darkness. The
study door showed a pale oblong on
her right; to her left, and a little to
ward the rear of the flat, the door of
Maltland's bod chamber stood ajar.
To this she tiptoed, standing upon the
threshold and listening with every
fiber of her being. No sounds as of
the regular respiration of a sleeper
warning her, she at length peered
stealthily within; simultaneously she
pressed the button of an electric hand
lamp. Its circumscribed blaze wavered
over pillows and counterpane spotless
and undisturbed.
Then for the flrst time she breathed
freely, convinced that she had been
right in surmising that Maitland
would not return that night.
Since early evening she had watched
the house from the window of a top
floor hall bedroom in the boarding
house opposite Shortly before seven
she had seen Maitland, stiff and
uncompromising in rigorous even
ing dress, leave In a cab. Since
then only once had a light appeared In
his rooms; at about half after nine the
janitor had appeared in the study,
turning up the gas and going to the
telephone. Whatever the nature of
the communication received, the girl
had taken it to Indicate that Maitland
had decided to spend the night else
where; for the study light had
burned for some ten minutes, during
which the Janitor could occasionally be
seen moving mysteriously about; and
something later, bearing a suitcase,
he had left the house and shuffled
rapidly eastward to Madison avenue.
So she felt convinced that she had
all the small hours before her, secure
from interruption. And this time, she
told herself, she purposed making as
surance doubly sure.
But flrst to guard against discovery
from the street.
Turning back through the hall, she
dispensed with the hand-lamp, enter
ing the darkened study. Here all win
dows had been closed and the outer
shades drawn O'Hagan's last act be
fore leaving with the suit-case addi
tional proof that Maitland was not ex
pected back that night. For the tem
perature was high, the air In the
closed room stifling.
Crossing to the windows, the girl
drew down the dark green , Inner
shades and closed the folding wooden
shutters over them. And was con
scious of a deepened sense of security.
Next going to the telephone, she re
moved the receiver from the hook and
let It hang at the full length of the
cord. In the dead silence the small
voice of Central was clearly articu
late: "What number? Hello, what
number?" followed by the grumbling
of the armature as the operator tried
fruitlessly to ring the disconnected
bell. The girl smiled faintly, aware
that there would now be no interrup
tion from an inopportune call.
There remained as a final precau
tion only a grand tour of the flat;
which she made expeditiously, passing
swiftly and noiselessly (one contem
plating midnight raids does not attire
Qlifi's yd? in zW.zz HtftXClJGd trtnf
from room to room, all comfortably
empty. Satisfied at last, she found
herself again in the study, and now
boldly, mind at rest, lighted the brass
student lamp with the green shade,
which she discovered on the desk.
Standing, hands resting lightly on
hips, breath coming quickly, cheeks
flushed and eyes alight wltt some in
timate and inscrutable emotion, she
surveyed the room. Out of the dusk
that lay beyond the plash of illumina
tion beneath the lamp, the furniture
began to take on familiar shapes; the
divans, the heavy leather-cushioned
easy chairs, the tall clock with its pal
lid staring face, the small tables and
tabourettes, handily disposed for the
reception of books and magazines and
pipes and glasses, the towering, old
fashioned mahogany book case, the
useless, ornamental, beautiful Chip
pendale escritoire, in one corner; all
somberly shadowed and all combining
to diffuse an impression of quiet, easy
going comfort.
Just such a study as be would natur
ally have. She nodded silent approba
tion of it as a whole. And, nodding,
sat down at the desk, planting elbows
on its polished surface, interlacing her
fingers and cradling her chin upon
their backs, turned suddenly pensive.
The mood held her but briefly. She
had no time to waste, and much to
accomplish. , . . Sitting back,
her fingers ight and pressed the
clasp of her hand-bag and produced
two articles a golden cigarette case
and a slightly soiled canvas bag. The
Maitland jewels were returning by a
devious way, to the their owner.
(TO BR CONTINUED.)
CHINESE "HELLO GIRLS'?
"GIVE ME WO SING," INSTEAD OF
NO. UMPTY-8TEEN.
In San Francisco's Chinatown Girls In
Native Costume Attend Switch
boards In a Pagoda-Like
Exchange.
San Francisco, Cal. The strangest
"hello girls" in the strangest tele
phone exchange In the country are ten
little Chinese maids in Chinatown, in
this city. It Is the only foreign ex
change in the United States, and was
built about a year ago. It Is on of
the show places of the section, always
kept ready for Inspection.
It Is not an easy matter for the
telephone company to secure these
picturesque but practical Chinese
girls. It was almost unprecedented
for any little maid from a Chinese
house to go out to business, but long
practice has proved that nice young
girls are indispensable to the tele
phone business, and It was not likely
that white girls would be sufficiently
.acquainted with the Chinese language,
so diplomacy, persuasion, concessions
to custom, the erection of a Josh and
many arguments had to be tried to
fill the positions In the new exchange
with the proper young persons. No
shirtwaists and no skirts and puffed
' hair do these hello girls adopt for busi
ness wear, but their own comfortable
and becoming Chinese costumes.
While the switchboard seems an In
congruous setting for these Orientals,
tho rnt of their background Is In har
mony. An artistic sense and probably
an eye to the commercial effect of
such an attractive showplace caused
the constructors to make the exchange
typically Chinese in architecture and
decoration. The exterior resembles a
palace In China, consisting of three
pagodas. The Interior woodwork is in
rough cut material finished in ebony,
and the walls are paneled with glazed
tile. Highly colored fresco decorates
the upper walls and the Inevitable
dragon Is prominent. The latest Occi
dental Ideas are carried out in the tel
ephone equipment. The San Francisco
telephone directory has to have a spe
cial section devoted to the Chinatown
exchange, but printed In English, In
which you call for "China," whether
you want Wong Glm Tuck or Yee Sing
or the incongruous person Gay Wo, or
an American named Elmer Jones, who
comes to live in the district. Instead
of by number tho Chinese call by
name when they want a connection.
The Chinatown exchange Is man
aged by an American-born Chinaman,
Loo Kum Shu, who has been In the
telephone business for ten years. The
Chinese are fond of telephoning and
patronize the companies to a remark
able degree, subscribing for the best
class of Bervlce in their homes or
places of business. The Chinese gov
ernment last year sent over a dele
gation of Chinamen to study tele
phony, and has appropriated $20,000,
000 for a national system of telephone
and telegraph.
BOTH THINKER AND DRINKER.
Eminent Englishman One of the Most
Bibulous of Men.
The great Porson, librarian and
Greek scholar, would sit up drinking
all night without seeming to feel any
bad effects from It. Homo Tooke told
Samuel Rogers that he once asked
Porson to dine with him in Richmond
buildings, and, as he knew that Por
son had not been in bed for the three
preceding nights, he expected to get
rid of him at a tolerably early hour.
Porson, however, kept Tooke up the
whole night, and in the morning the
latter, in perfect despair, said: "Mr.
Porson, I am engaged to meet a
friend at breakfast at a coffee house
In Leicester square." "Oh," replied
Porson, "I will go with you," and he
accordingly did so. Soon after they
had reached the coffee house Tooke
contrived to slip out, and, running
home, ordered his servant not to let
Mr. Porson in, even if ho should at
tempt to batter down the door. "A
man," observed Tooke, "who could sit
up four nights successively might have
sat up 40."
Tooke used to say that "Porson
would drink ink rather than not drink
at all." Indeed, he would drink any
thing. He was sitting with a gentle
man after dinner In tho chambers of
a mutual friend, a Templar, who was
then ill and confined to bed. A serv
ant came into the room, sent thither
by his master, for a bottle of embro
cation, which was on the chimney
piece. "I drank It an hour ago," said
Porson. London's T. P.'s Weekly.
Uncle Eben on Spellbinding.
"De difficulty 'bout some o' dese
campaign speeches," said Uncle Eben,
"Is dat dey makes me so powerful en
thusiastic dat I can't remember Jea
whut de gemman were talkln' bout'"
Washington Star.
WAX FIGURES SHOCK ANTHONY
Comstock Brings Law Upon Owners
of 8how Windows Who Exhibit
Scantily Attired "Dummies."
New York. Several handsome
women have been on exhibition for
some time in show windows on Broad
way. All had good figures and posed
In various advertisements. But they
all bad extremely red cheeks and a
bold, fixed stare. In fact, it was said
if a passer-by came within their range
of vision they never took their eyes
off him, and their raiment was such
that in an emergency any one of them
might have taken off Salome without
having taken off anything else.
So some persons complained to
Anthony Comstock of the Society for
the Prevention of Vice. Mr. Comstock
went to the manufacturers whose
show windows the women adorned
and ordered the women out of the
windows.
Mr. Comstock told the manufactur
ers they would be liable to arrest, and,
If convicted, to fine and imprisonment
if they permitted the women to reap
pear In public. The manufacturers
promptly agreed to keep the women
under cover. The women, thus sol
emnly raided and convicted of Im
propriety, were made of .wax.
Mr. Comstock said: "Many com
plaints about the figures reached me.
The exhibition was harmful to good
morals. The figures were very objec
tionable. I read the law to the man
who nut the figures In the windows
and they were taken out, that's all."
Tramp Cut Off Hsr Hair.
Rvcsvllle. O "Have you got a plec
of pie to spare?" asked a tramp when
Mrs. M. C. Krist answered a knock
at the door. She told him to step into
As kitchen. There, while her back
was turned, the tramp knocked her
down and cut off her hair. The wom
an's screams brought a crowd and th
tramp was chased, but he escaped.
t