THE BURGLARS' CLUB [Illustration: "'MAY I ASK WHAT YOU EXPECT TO FIND HERE?'" (_p. 4._)] THE BURGLARS' CLUB A ROMANCE IN TWELVE CHRONICLES BY HENRY A. HERING _WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY F. H. TOWNSEND_ B. W. DODGE AND COMPANY NEW YORK 1906 COPYRIGHT 1905, 1906, BY HENRY A. HERING. THE TWELVE CHRONICLES. PAGE I. SIR JOHN CARDER'S CIGARS 1 II. THE BISHOP OF BISTER'S CROZIER 18 III. THE LUCK OF THE ILLINGWORTHS 38 IV. THE FELLMONGERS' GOBLET 63 V. AN OUNCE OF RADIUM 87 VI. THE BUNYAN MS. 109 VII. THE GREAT SEAL 136 VIII. THE LION AND THE SUN 158 IX. THE HORSESHOE AND THE PEPPERCORN 184 X. THE HOLBEIN MINIATURE 207 XI. THE VICTORIA CROSS 233 XII. THE LAST CHRONICLE 253 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. "'MAY I ASK WHAT YOU EXPECT TO FIND HERE?'" _Frontispiece_ "MR. KASSALA HAD THEN THE PLEASURE OF INSPECTING THE CROZIER" _Face p._ 26 "HE SAW THE FIGURE PASS A WINDOW" 28 "SHE HAD SHOWN HIM THE SECRET OF ITS HIDING-PLACE" 40 "A CRY OF DESPAIR ESCAPED HIM" 50 "'YOU ARE A THIEF'" 92 "'I NEARLY BRUSHED AGAINST YOU'" 108 "'HEY! BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT HOLE IN THE WINDOW?'" 134 "'YOU MAY GO ON WITH YOUR MOST INTERESTING WORK'" 142 "SUDDENLY HE ROSE, TOOK THE DRAFT OF THE TREATY, ETC." 174 "INSTEAD OF THE DRAFT, THERE, ON A PURPLE VELVET CUSHION, WAS THE GLITTERING ORDER OF THE LION AND THE SUN" 178 "'SOFTLY, MY LORD,' SAID CUNNINGHAM, 'I AM COVERING YOU, YOU OBSERVE'" 192 "THERE WAS THE UNMISTAKABLE SOUND OF AN APPROACHING CAR" 198 "LUCAS DROPPED IT CAREFULLY INTO THE POCKET OF HIS NORFOLK JACKET" 218 "HE WAS WALKING IN HIS SLEEP, CONSCIOUS OF NOTHING" 250 "MR. MARVELL . . . THANKED THE COMPANY FOR THE GIFT, WHICH HE WOULD TREASURE" 278 "'HE'S one of us,' the burglar explained. 'You see, we are men who have pretty well exhausted the pleasures of life. We've all been in the Army or the Navy, all of us are sportsmen, and we are bachelors; so there isn't much excitement left for us. We've started a Burglars' Club to help things on a bit. The entrance fee is a town burglary, the subject to be set by our president, and every other year each member has to keep up his subscription by a provincial line.'" THE BURGLARS' CLUB: