He saw him reach the roof and draw himself over the coping, and in a
moment Burnett, less noiselessly but safely, had joined his fellow
criminal by the window. There they waited a moment, listening. A cab
clattered down Fifteenth Street, and the gongs on the car line clanged
in reply, but that was all.
Crabb stealthily arose and peered into the lighted window. It was a
study. The light came from a lamp with a green shade. Under its glow
upon the desk were maps and documents in profusion. And in the corner he
could make out the lines of an iron-bound chest or box. They had made no
mistake. Unless in the possession of Von Schlichter it was here that
the Chinese treaty would be found.
"All right," whispered Crabb. "An old-fashioned padlock, too."
Crabb tried the window. It was locked. He took something from one of the
pockets of his coat and reached up to the middle of the sash. There was
a sound like the quick shearing of linen which sent the blood back to
Burnett's heart. In the still night it seemed to come back manifold
from the wings of the buildings opposite. They paused again. A slight
crackling of broken glass, and Crabb's long fingers reached through the
hole and turned the catch. In a moment they were in the room.
The intangible and Quixotic had become a latter-day reality. Burnett's
spirits rose. He did not lack courage, and here was a situation which
spurred him to the utmost.
Instinctively he closed the inside shutters behind him. From the alley
the pair would not have presented an appearance which accorded with the
quiet splendor of the room. He found himself peering around, his ears
straining for the slightest sound.
A glance revealed the dispatch-box, heavy, squat and phlegmatic, like
its owner. Crabb had tiptoed over to the door of the adjoining room.
Burnett saw the eyes dilate and the warning finger to his lips.
From the inner apartment, slowly and regularly, came the sound of heavy
breathing. There, in a broad armchair by the foot of the bed, sprawled
the baron's valet, in stertorous sleep. His mouth was wide open, his
limbs relaxed. He had heard nothing.
"Quick," whispered Crabb; "your bandanna around his legs."
Burnett surprised himself by the rapidity and intelligence of his
collaboration. A handkerchief was slipped into the man's mouth, and
before his eyes were fairly opened he was gagged and bound hand and foot
by the cord from the baron's own dressing gown.
From a pocket Crabb had produced a revolver, which he flourished
significantly under the nose of the terrified man, who recoiled before
the dark look which accompanied it.
Crabb seemed to have planned exactly what to do. He took a bath towel
and tied it over the man's ears and under his chin. From the bed he took
the baron's sheets and blankets, enswathing the unfortunate servant
until nothing but the tip of his nose was visible. A rope of suspenders
and cravats completed the job.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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