Page:Top-Notch Magazine, May 1 1915 (IA tn 1915 05 01).pdf/49

 him from Thomas Barton. Do you, can you, understand the position I was in?" asked McKenzie passionately.

"It almost killed me," he continued. "But I had on hand a kit of burglar tools, the mere possession of which was a crime. I counseled with Lois. We must get rid of them. How? All we could think of that would in any way spare Wiley and myself was by sending them along to Dry Wash. Later we could warn the law officers and have them guard against Morrison's prospective criminal operations. It was a heavy burden for us to bear, but we took the only course that promised possible safety for myself and Wylie. I was afraid to send the tools to Wylie direct; and, while I was cudgeling my wits for some way to get the tools to Dry Wash, along came those boots for Barton. I saw a way out, albeit a desperate way.

"I packed those boots myself. In another package, identically like the one containing the boots, I put the burglar tools. Then I took the boots to the office, prepaid the charges, and took a receipt. I asked the driver, Reeves, what the method was for handling outgoing packages. He showed me the whole of it, and I left him, having taken a blank waybill and a blank prepaid slip, and both were stamped by me in the express office like the ones on the original package. In filling in the waybill, I imitated Reeves' writing. Also I stuck the slips to the package of tools identically as Reeves had pasted them on the original package. The idea was to substitute the package of tools for the package containing the boots. The original package was left with Reeves after he had come from the westbound train, and I knew the package would not be sent out until the following day. That would give me time for the substitution, ample time; and only adroitness would be needed to put one package in place of the other."

"But what was the idea?" queried Ruthven, a bit puzzled.

"The idea was to let Morrison carry the package containing the boots, meet Wiley on his way from Dry Wash to the ranch, and exchange one package for the other. If Morrison were caught by the detective with a parcel containing a pair of boots, it would be infinitely better for him than being caught with the burglar kit. As for Wiley, since the package was addressed to Barton—whose integrity could not be questioned—if he was taken with the package of tools, he had a chance to escape suspicion. I wrote Wiley, telling him, in a covert way, what was expected of him. No one could read that letter and get anything against Wiley, Morrison, or me, I am sure."

Ruthven's mind was now plunged into the mysteries of weight, in the matter of the Barton package, and the adroitness of the substitutions. Temporarily he lost sight of the bearing of all this on the fortunes of McKenzie, and drove straight at the mystery.

"About half past three Tuesday afternoon," said Ruthven, "Summerfield weighed the Barton package. At eleven, according to Reeves, it had weighed six pounds. At three-thirty, according to Summerfield, it weighed eight pounds. How were the packages exchanged?"

"I did that," spoke up Lois wearily. "At three o'clock I called at the express office and walked behind the counter. Joe did not see me for a few minutes, as he was busy at his desk. I had a satchel which I was taking to father at the store. Inside the satchel was the package of—of burglar tools. I took out the eight-pound package and left it in place of the six-pound package, which I put in the satchel, and—and then I"

She dropped her face suddenly in her hands, stifling a sob. Her father gazed at her with sadness not unmixed with pride.