The Magic Curtain Part 16

CHAPTER XVI THROUGH THE WINDOW

"Come!" Florence whispered, as the door of the ancient barracks swung open and they tiptoed out into the night. "We must find out what those men are doing. This place was built in memory of the past for the good of the public. Generous-hearted people have loaned the rare treasures that are stored here. They must not be lost."

Skirting the buildings, gliding along the shadows, they made their way past the powder-magazine all built of stone, moved onward the length of a log building that loomed in the dark, dashed across a corner and arrived at last with wildly beating hearts at the corner of the building from which the feeble, flickering light still shone.

"Now!" Florence breathed, gripping her breast in a vain attempt to still the wild beating of her heart. "Not a sound! We must reach that window."

Leading the way, she moved in breathless silence, a foot at a time along the dark wall. Now she was twenty feet from the window, now ten, now--.

She paused with a quick intake of breath. Did she hear footsteps? Were they coming out? And if they did?

Flattening herself against the wall, she drew Jeanne close to her. A moment pa.s.sed. Her watch ticked loudly. From some spot far away a hound baying the moon gave forth a long-drawn wail.

Two minutes pa.s.sed, three, four.

"They--they're not coming out."

Taking the trembling hand of the little French girl in her own, she once more led her forward.

And now they were at the window, peering in with startled eyes.

What they saw astonished them beyond belief.

Crouching on the floor, lighted only by a flashlight lantern, was a grown boy and a hunchbacked man. The boy at that moment was in the act of dumping the contents of a large bag upon the log floor of the building.

"Loot!" whispered Florence.

"But why do they pour it out?"

Florence placed two fingers on her companion's lips.

That the articles had not been taken from the fort they realized at once, for the boy, holding up a modern lady's shoe with an absurdly high heel, gave forth a hoa.r.s.e laugh.

There were other articles, all modern; a spectacle-case with broken lenses inside but gold rims still good, another pair of gla.s.ses with horn rims that had not been broken; and there were more shoes.

And, most interesting of all, there were several purses. That the strange pair regarded these purses with the greatest interest was manifested by the manner in which they had their heads together as the first was opened.

Shaking the contents into his huge fist, the hunchback picked out some small coins and handed them to the boy. A glittering compact and a folded bill he thrust into the side pocket of his coat. The boy frowned, but said not a word. Instead he seized upon a second pocket-book and prepared to inspect it for himself.

"Pickpockets!" Jeanne whispered. "They have been working on that helpless throng. Now they have come here to divide their loot."

Florence did not answer.

The crouching boy was about to open the second purse, the hunchback making no protest, when to the girls there came cause for fresh anxiety.

From the far side of the enclosure there came the rattle of chains.

"Someone else," Florence whispered, "and at this hour of the night. But they cannot harm us," came as an after-thought. "The chain is fastened on the inside." She was thankful for this, but not for long.

"But how did these get in?" Pet.i.te Jeanne pointed to the crouching pair within.

"Let's get out!" Jeanne pleaded. "This is work for an officer. We can send one."

"Someone is at the gate," Florence reminded her.

Then there happened that which for the moment held them glued to the spot. Having thrust a hand into the second purse, a small one, well worn, the crouching boy drew forth an object that plainly puzzled him. He held it close to the light. As he did so, Florence gave vent to an involuntary gasp.

"The cameo! The lost cameo!" she exclaimed half aloud. "It must belong to our little old lady of the merry-mad throng."

At the same instant there came from behind her a man's gruff voice in angry words:

"Here, you! What you doing? Why do you lock the gate? Thought you'd keep me out, eh?

"But I fooled you!" the voice continued. "I scaled the palisades."

Instantly there came sounds of movement from within. The crouching figures were hastily stuffing all that pile back into the sack and at the same time eagerly looking for an avenue of escape.

Florence caught the gleam of a star on the newcomer's coat.

"Oh, please!" she pleaded. "We have taken nothing, meant no harm. The storm--

"But please, officer," her tone changed, "that pair within have been doing something, perhaps robbing. They have a precious cameo that belongs to a dear old lady. Please don't let them escape."

In answer to this breathless appeal the officer made no reply. Instead he strode to the window, looked within, then rapped smartly on the sash with his club. At the same time he pointed to his star.

The strange intruders could not fail to understand. They shouldered their sack and came forth meekly enough.

"You come with me, all of you!" the officer commanded. "Let's get this thing straight.

"Now then," he commanded, after they had crossed the enclosure in silence and he had lighted a large lamp in a small office-like room, "dump that stuff on the floor."

"I want to tell ye," the hunchback grumbled, "that we hain't no thieves, me an' this boy. We hain't. We--"

"Dump it out!" The officer's tone was stern.

The hunchback obeyed. "We found this, we did; found all of it."

"Ye-s, you found it!" The officer bent over to take up a purse. He opened it and emptied a handful of coins on the table at his side.

"Purses!" he exclaimed. "How many?" He counted silently. "Seven of 'em and all full of change. And you found 'em! Tell that to the judge!"

"Honest, we found them." The grown boy dragged a ragged sleeve across his eyes. "We was down to the Jubilee. People was always crushin' together and losin' things in the scramble, shoes and purses an' all this." He swept an arm toward the pile. "So we just stayed around until they was gone. Then we got 'em."

"And you thought because you found 'em they were yours?"

"Well, ain't they?" The hunchback grew defiant.

"Not by a whole lot!" The officer's voice was a trifle less stern. "If you find a purse or any other thing on the street, if it's worth the trouble, you're supposed to turn it in, and you leave your name. If it's not called for, you get it back. But you can't gather things up in a sack and just walk off. That don't go.