[Illustration: The Burglar] The Burglar and the Blizzard _A CHRISTMAS STORY_ BY ALICE DUER MILLER AUTHOR OF “THE BLUE ARCH,” ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHARLOTTE HARDING Hearst’s International Library Co., Inc. 1914 [Illustration] Contents Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII ILLUSTRATIONS The Burglar “It was a young lady who disposed of the silver” “Good God,” he cried, “what a night you have had” He let McVay out of the closet She was dressed in his sister’s sables—ready for departure “Please move a little back, Holland,” he said, “I want to get nearer the fire” “My dear fellow—pray allow me” “I have here a slight token, in honor of the day” The Burglar and the Blizzard I Geoffrey Holland stood up and for the second time surveyed the restaurant in search of other members of his party, two fingers in the pocket of his waistcoat, as if they had just relinquished his watch. He was tall enough to be conspicuous and well bred enough to be indifferent to the fact, good looking, in a bronzed, blond clean-shaven way, and branded in the popular imagination as a young and active millionaire. At a neighbouring table a man lent forward and whispered to the other men and women with him: “Do you know who that is?—that is young Holland.” “What, that boy! He doesn’t look as if he were out of school.” “No,” said one of the women, elaborating the comment, “he does not look old enough to order a dinner, let alone managing mines.” “Oh, I guess he can order a dinner all right,” said the first man. “He is older than he looks. He must be twenty-six.” “What do you suppose he does with all that money?” The first thing he did with it, at the moment, was to purchase an evening paper, for just then he snapped his fingers at a boy, who promptly ran to get him one. “Well, one thing he does,” answered the man who had first given information, “he has an apartment in this building, up stairs, and I bet that costs him a pretty penny.” In the meantime Holland had opened his paper, scanned the head lines, and was about to turn to the stock quotations when a paragraph of interest caught his eye. So marked was the gesture with which he raised it to his eyes that his admirers at the next table noticed it, and speculated on the subject of the paragraph. It was headed: “Millionaires’ Summer Homes Looted,” and said further: