and a handful of jewelry he transferred to the
pockets of his coat. Some papers which his hand brushed within the safe
he pushed aside as though preadvised of their inutility to one of his
calling. Then he closed the safe door, closed the tapestry upon it and
turned toward a dainty dressing table. From a drawer in this exquisite
bit of Sheraton the burglar took a small, nickel plated automatic, which
he slipped into an inside breast pocket of his coat, nor did he touch
another article therein or thereon, nor hesitate an instant in the
selection of the drawer to be rifled. His knowledge of the apartment of
the daughter of the house of Prim was little short of uncanny. Doubtless
the fellow was some plumber's apprentice who had made good use of an
opportunity to study the lay of the land against a contemplated invasion
of these holy precincts.

But even the most expert of second story men nod and now that all seemed
as though running on greased rails a careless elbow raked a silver
candle-stick from the dressing table to the floor where it crashed
with a resounding din that sent cold shivers up the youth's spine and
conjured in his mind a sudden onslaught of investigators from the floor
below.

The noise of the falling candlestick sounded to the taut nerved
house-breaker as might the explosion of a stick of dynamite during
prayer in a meeting house. That all Oakdale had heard it seemed quite
possible, while that those below stairs were already turning questioning
ears, and probably inquisitive footsteps, upward was almost a foregone
conclusion.

Adjoining Miss Prim's boudoir was her bath and before the door leading
from the one to the other was a cretonne covered screen behind which
the burglar now concealed himself the while he listened in rigid
apprehension for the approach of the enemy; but the only sound that came
to him from the floor below was the deep laugh of Jonas Prim. A profound
sigh of relief escaped the beardless lips; for that laugh assured the
youth that, after all, the noise of the fallen candlestick had not
alarmed the household.

With knees that still trembled a bit he crossed the room and passed out
into the hallway, descended the stairs, and stood again in the library.
Here he paused a moment listening to the voices which came from the
dining room. Mrs. Prim was speaking. "I feel quite relieved about
Abigail," she was saying. "I believe that at last she sees the wisdom
and the advantages of an all