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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 24, 1904)
Methods and Luck of a Lucky Man By Wm. H. Osborne (Copyright, 1304, by William II. Osborne.) CHAPTER IV. Til Maatls mt O'Keefe tp the ? THIS night when constitutional Smith had consigned Billlngton O'Keefe to the tender mercies of ths sea and ths Sarah Margaret, the former at once commenced to make himself at home In the mansion of the latter. He had entered the house, greeted the housekeeper by name, nought the favorite apartment of the late O'Keefe, and all without the trembling of an eyelid. Preparation wait the secret of all this. Constitutional Smith always prepared his Jobs and prepared them- well, but he had never prepared any job aa he had this one. There was only one thing about It that he regretted. That was the necessity that compelled him to employ the two young toughs. He had occasion to regret It later to a much greater degree. But It had b m nocetisary. He had figured It all out be forehand, and ho found that without at tracting too much attention to himself It Wits Impossible to swing the thing properly without help. He would pay them well and ho would have to trust to luck for the rest. Constitutional Smith was lucky; to hlra fortune bad ever been a gentle mistress. He lit the ergand burner In the den. It had a green shade and cast a pleas nt light upon the room. On the desk th re Ws a box of cigars. Constitutional Smith reached for this box, selected a cigar, lit it bd thrust it between his teeth. Then ha threw himself Into the easiest chair In tha room, stretched out his legs and sighed. Be sighed with relief. For the first time tn many weeks months even ho felt , at ease. He waa safe and he was glad to know It He Indulged In reverie for an hour o in ore, Finally he roused himself and began to thlnlc In earnest. He must arrange for the future. That waa Important. He cast bis eye about the room. In the wall opposite. Imbedded, as It were. In the plaster, there wus set a small safe of artistic design. By Its looks, though small. It was well made and strong. And It waa burglar proof, of course. "Naturally," soliloquized Constitutional to himself, "I never saw a safe that wasn't burglar proof." tie rose leisurely and crossed the; room. Stooping, he tried to turn the handle. It resisted all his efforts. "I naturally thought," commented Con stitutional Smith, "that be might have left It open." He ceased hla efforts at the handle end, eating himself upon the floor, placed hla ear close to the combination and started to revolve It carefully and slowly. He waa listening for the clink-clink of the tumbler within. But he did not bear them. "It's one of the new kind," he said to himself, I thought as much." ' Ue loft the s&fa and approached the desk. The desk waa open. He started In to make a systomatio search through It He found nothing of value, not even a book contain trig blank checks. Hastily be ransackod the whole room. There was nothing of In terest to blm. Kvldcntly everything of value was encloned within the safe. lie touched a button. After a short pause the housekeeper appeared. "Mrs. Furslow," sold Constitutional Smith, muffling hid voice Bllghtly while In the act of lighting a fresh cigar, ' "I wish you'd seed ma a pitchor of loe water and a, couple of sandwiches, will youT" Fifteen ftiiiiutea later she brought them. They constituted the regular midnight lunch of IJlIHugton O'Keefe. "Ana oy the way, Mr. Pnrslow," went n Smith, aa she turned to leave the room, "If you hear anything queer In here to night, don't let It disturb you. You'll know tt's ma" "All right, is sr," aald Mra. rarslow. "I'm going to try a new Invention a fel low's trying to stick me on that's all. X want to tee the thing myself, you seer' Mrs. Parslow evidently saw, for aha bowed once more and left him alone. On a small table was a decanter of Sherry, He poured out a libera installment of this and drank It slowly as he ate his lunch. Constitutional Smith had eaten few lunches with so much relish aa he ate this ova. He finished hla lunch, finished his cigar and then sat In silence until the bouse was ejule. The he roe stealthily, left the small room, crossed In the dark to a bed twoin that of Bllliugtoa 0Kefe-nd with out striking a match or turning up the light, he pulled from the bed the blankets Which rested upon IL Bearing these across his arm he retraced his steps and ence more entered the little smoking room. Then be shut and locked the door. With the remaining ice water he slightly softened a piece of thin soap which he car ried with him, and with the soap carefully filled up aH the crevices In the little safe. Once he had done this he produced a small drill and drilled a hole Into the plates tn front that constituted the door. This took somo time, but made little noise. Later be adjusted a small affair, which resembled a bicycle-tire air pump, to the small drilled bole. In a remarkably short time he bad exhausted most of the air within. While the pump still held to the Iron door by force of the suction, and while the moist them tightly against the little safe, hold ing them there by the weight of his own body. This might seem risky, but la reality It was not. Constitutional Smith knew almost to an ounce the amount of force necessary to break open the safe, and be had placed just sufficient powder la ft to be effective and no more. . With his back to the safe, leaning heavily against the blankets, be connected one cop per wire to a Tittle pocket battery that rested on the floor. Having done this he hastily made the connection with the other wire and braced himself against the door. There was a dull thud and the bouse shook almost imperceptibly. There was little or no noise. Smith bad not been moved more than an Inch by the explo sion and be bad not been Injured tn th least. locked the door and then sat down before the safe. Billlngton O'Keefe had no plaos of busi ness except this little room b had no other office. Smith had found that out. Here, then, reasoned Smith, and rightly. It would seem, most He the evi dences of his worldly wealth. Smith paused and rubbed his hands together In pleasant anticipation. For this, he reasoned with himself, was the fattest Job that he had ever swung. '! : IIM He smiled and threw open the safe doors and looked within. He found a few small blU-enough for the daily use of a man about town, and a bank book and a check book of th Monroe National bank, stand ing In the name of the late Billlngtoa O'Keefe. The check book showed a balance on d v ' , ,r -s 'Si : -" ' "AND NOW," SUB SAID FINALLY, "ABOUT TUOSJS BOND3. I BROUGHT A CHECK AROUND." soap was slowly disappearing within the cracks and crevices by vlrure of the same force, be rapidly attached to the tube of the pump a small cylinder, turned a little valve and the thing was dona Thar waa a rash of sir and a rush of something with it that was sucked Into the safe. "That'll bo Just enough, I reclton," sold Constitutional Smith, ""Just enough and not too much. X dont want to bust th thing, for I'll want to use It later." Itemovtrvg th pump and th small cylin der he thrust Into ths hols two copper wires ooanected at ths ends by a fin plati num Clamant Thee In turn It was bis purpose to connect with a pocket battery. Ths current pasting through th plallaam Cad so touch reaistanc that It heats ths platinum to a bright red glow. Us did not yet connect them, navtng thrust them Into the hole he seised tho blankets which be had brought in from ths bed, folded them Into several thicks ensss aad pressed He removed ths blankets and gased upon bis work. It exceeded hla wildest ex pectations. The hinges to the safe were Intact and the explosion had merely broken off the bolts. They had snapped squarely and there was absolutely no evidence of the explosion. He swung open the door and breathed a sigh of satisfaction. Nothing had been Injured, for the contents were protected by an Inside door that had suf fered slightly from the force of ths explo sion, and this door had kept the contents Intact This door was fastened with a Tale lock, which had not been broken. It was th work of a few moments to pick that lock. Having done It Smith carefully closed both doors, rose, blankets tn band, and threw open th door of th den. He stood for a moment In the hall, listening Intently for any sound, but there was none; he had not beois heard. lie toseed the blankets onto tbe Wd from whence be bad taken thana, ones sucr rlur.J Is) th dan, posit of Just 17(3.75. That was all that was th whole story. There were plenty of private memoranda; a few very doubtful securities, and nothing else. And Constitutional Smith, though from that day forth he commenced a care ful search which lasted for months and months Constitutional Smith never found another thing of value. He did not wince hs only wondered. n was too experienced a man to be dis appointed. He took the good that the gods provided. The nituation was not aa bad as It might be. ne was safe, and If O'Keefe did not have present wealth, Smith doubted not bis own ability to turn dollar after dollar as O'Keefe counterfeit pre sentment II little knew be little under stood. But what did bother him though It did not worry him exactly waa what had be come of all the O'Keefe wealth That was