That one brief
glimmer was enough to show the thief a right impossible sight.
The glow struck answering lights from the polished sides of the
brown bag. The bag was hanging in air, some six inches above the
grass and perhaps five feet away from him. Then he saw it swig
frivolously to one side and vanish in the night.
The astonished man had seen more. Feeble was the flashlight's
shrouded ray, too feeble to outline against the night the small
dark body behind the shining brown bag. But that same ray caught
and reflected back to the incredulous beholder two splashes of
pale fire;--glints from a pair of deep-set collie-eyes.
As the bag disappeared, the eerie fire-points were gone. The
thief all but dropped his flashlight. He gaped in nervous dread;
and sought vainly to account for the witch-work he had witnessed.
He had plenty of nerve. He had plenty of experience along his
chosen line of endeavor. But, while a crook may control his
nerve, he cannot make it phlegmatic or steady. Always, he must
be conscious of holding it in check, as a clever driver checks
and steadies and keeps in subjection a plunging horse.
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