Page:Top-Notch Magazine, May 1 1915 (IA tn 1915 05 01).pdf/51

 despairingly, "absolutely necessary. Truly, we weave a tangled web when we start to deceive. And I was not yet through with my tinkering with the Barton shipment. About ten o'clock I received a telegram—this;" and he handed the yellow slip to Ruthven. The latter read:



"What does that mean?" he asked.

"For 'canister' read 'revolver,'" said McKenzie. "The term is used occasionally by crooks. In this instance, of course, Morrison used it to disguise the other word. He was sending the message to a storekeeper; hence, to others not informed, it must have seemed innocent enough. This request made it necessary for me to make another substitution. As I intended turning on Morrison later, by following all his instructions to the letter I hoped to escape some of the blame he would throw on me if matters went wrong for him. Also, I saw a chance to diminish his powers for evil.

"The revolver I secured by a night visit to the store. I filled the canister, but with blank cartridges. By way of the alley I went to the rear of the express office at dead of night, slipped back the old-fashioned sash lock that secured the window, and took out the overweight package and placed the six-pound parcel in its place. I went home to unwrap the kit of tools and pack the revolver with them; and when I wanted to return and exchange the two packages, a night watchman was roaming through the alley, and I was prevented. I gave up the attempt for the night.

"Next morning Lois took the early train for Williamsburg, and rode back from there on Seventeen. She insisted on going, and her plan was to meet Morrison and explain the situation, so that he would know just what had been going on, and what was expected of him. I described Morrison to her so that she would recognize him, and she had little difficulty in doing so. I was to be at the train, ostensibly to meet Lois, and I was to have a satchel containing the original package which I was to give to Morrison.

"I was at the station when Reeves drove up and unloaded the express matter for Seventeen. I had a chance—a desperate one—to make the substitution, and place the package with the revolver on the station platform and get the other one into the satchel. I was all unstrung, and it is a wonder I was not detected. Lois, when she got off the train, threw herself into my arms. 'I have explained everything to him, father,' she whispered; 'now give him the satchel and the Barton package, and let us be thankful we are at last rid of those terrible burglar's tools.' My relief in getting rid of that kit was as great as was Lois'. All that remained after that was to send the letter to Jenkins, the deputy sheriff at Dry Wash. I put it into the mail car on Seventeen.

"While I was at the station, waiting for the train to come, Reeves had weighed the package, and found that it now tipped the scales at ten pounds. I heard him excitedly telling Summerfield about it over the phone. From the station, I went directly home with Lois, for I was badly shaken and needed her comfort and counsel. All we could do, after that, was to wait; yes, and worry. Now you come and tell me that Morrison has been captured, and that he is to be here this afternoon and lay bare my prison record."

McKenzie got up. "That means," he went on huskily, "that all my years of work here in this new country have been thrown away. My friends and neighbors will know I am an ex-convict, and that Lois is the daughter of a man who has 'done time.'" He swayed, and his gaunt face was convulsed with sorrow and pain.