Page:Weird Tales Volume 4 Number 3 (1924-11).djvu/48
little bit, you know. But I must have hit him because he fell to the floor right where he was. Gee, I didn't know what to do. I looks over at her and she was lookin' at him layin' on the floor. We heard somebody comin' up the stairs an' so I ran over and locked the door.
"Well, I'll tell you, ma, if I ever was in a predicament I sure was in one there. I came back and she says. 'Quick, the trap-door!' She pointed to a trap-door leading on to the dark roof. I pulled a stepladder from a corner and we went up on, the roof. All she said when we got there was: 'Follow me,' which I did. We went through area-ways, down ropes, up alleys, across bad-smelling yards, an' climbed fences until we got out into a dim-lighted street. She called an old hack driver, and we were driven to an old wharf. In the semi-darkness we jumped into a freshly painted motor-boat, bearing the name 'Shatty.' We went along for about a half hour and finally alighted.
"We walked along silently for about five minutes until we came to a big palatial residence all dark inside—you know, ma, one of those houses that rich millionaires live in. Then we sat down on a big piece of stone and she said to me: "That man that we just shot was my brother. He is, although I am ashamed to say it, a burglar. Not just a common burglar, but one who plans his next coup with the utmost intelligence. The smallest detail does not escape his careful scrutiny. But this time I was in the next room sleeping, and heard every bit of his plan. Do you see that house with the big flag out on the front lawn? That is the home of Henry Bilse, the great German theater man. His is the next to be burglarized by my brother. My brother is not present at the robbery any more. He stays behind and directs the proceedings. So his being shot will have nothing to do with his confederates carrying out his wishes. Now the idea is this: You get in there as quietly as you can and warn the servants and then go into old Bilse's room and tell him about it. He has a night watchman on duty every night but there has been nothing doing for so long that he goes to sleep about three o'clock. It is now three forty-five, so he is snoring by this time. He keeps guard in the back so you go in the front way. But Monahan, the copper on this beat, is due about now so wait until he goes by. There he is now! See him over by that lamp-post?'
"Well, I'll tell you, ma, I says to her: 'But why should I do all this? What do I get out of it?' Then she says to me: 'What do you get out of it? You shot a man, didn't you? What excuse are you going to give when they catch you?'
"Well, I'll tell you, ma, I was a little bit leery about going in that big house unannounced, but then there was some work to be done and I was the one to do it. To my complete surprise the front door was open! Could it be that the burglars were already there? But no; they would not come in by the front door, anyway, I reasoned. So I went ahead and the first thing I did was to stumble over a big rug they had as you come in. I thought sure that some one heard, and my heart was racing like a pump. But I guess they were all sound asleep. Gee, ma, compared to our little home, that house was like a great big castle like you read about in the olden times.
"Well, to tell the truth, ma, I didn't know which was the servants' rooms and which was the old man's rooms. So I goes and opens one of the doors. I sees an old man laying in the bed but I didn't know if it was a servant or Bilse himself. I gently closed the door and went to another room and peeped in. A swell jane