在一年的时间里，拉尔夫·斯宾塞先生达到了这样一种境况：他赢得了本地大多数居民的尊敬；他的鞋店生意兴隆；他和安娜贝尔也将于两周内喜结良缘。亚当斯先生，安娜贝尔的父亲，这位典型的地方银行家，也对斯宾塞非常满意。安娜贝尔对自己的未婚夫也很自豪。实际上，她的自豪几乎和她的爱情不相上下。基米在亚当斯先生的家里以及在安娜贝尔已经出嫁的姐姐那里，都感到像在自己家里一般无拘无束。
一天，基米坐在他的房里，给一个好友写了这样一封信：
“亲爱的老伙计：
下周三晚上9点，希望你到小石城波浪咖啡馆来。我有事相托。同时，我将把我的工具送给你。我知道，你得到它们会很高兴的——你花1000美元也买不到这一套东西。听我说，比利。我已经在一年前金盆洗手。我开了一家非常出色的商店。我现在过的是正直清白的生活，两周内我要和世界上最好的姑娘结婚。这才是真正的生活，比利，这才是正直的人生。现在我已经对别人的东西秋毫不犯。结婚后，我打算将店卖掉，移居西部，在那里可以更安全些，不致碰到那些知道我过去底细的人。我对你说，比利，她真是一个天使。她信任我，而我无论如何也不能再走邪路了。务必到波浪咖啡馆来。我必须见你。我将随身带来那些工具。
你的好友基米”
星期一晚上，也正是在基米写完这封信之后，本·普莱斯侦探来到了爱尔摩。他悄悄地走遍了整个镇子，直到他搞清了他想要知道的种种情况。他从斯宾塞鞋店对面马路的一家杂货店中，详细地观察了拉尔夫·斯宾塞的一举一动。
Power of Love （2）
On the Monday night after Jimmy wrote this letter，Ben Price，the detective，arrived in Elmore.He walked about the town quietly until he found out what he wanted to know.From the drugstore across the street from Spencer’s shoestore he got a good look at Ralph D.Spencer.
“Going to marry the banker’s daughter，are you，Jimmy？”said Ben to himself，softly.“Well，I don’t know！”
The next morning Jimmy took breakfast at the Adamses.He was going the Little Rock that day to order his weddingsuit and buy something nice for Annabel.That would be the first time he had left town since he came to Elmore.It had been more than a year now since those last professional “Jobs”，and he thought he could safely go anywhere.
After breakfast the whole family went for a walk together：Mr.Adams，Annabel，Jimmy，and Annabel’s married sister with her two little girls，aged five and nine.They passed by the hotel where Jimmy still stayed，and he ran up to his room and brought his suitcase.Then they went on to the bank.There stood Jimmy’s horse and buggy and the coachman who was going to drive him the railroad station.All went inside the bank—Jimmy included，for Mr.Adams’s future soninlaw was welcome anywhere.The clerks were pleased to be greeted by the goodlooking，pleasant young man who was going to marry Miss Annabel.Jimmy put his suitcase down.Annabel，whose heart was beating with happiness and youth，put on Jimmy’s hat，and picked up the suitcase.“Don’t I look nice？”said Annabel.“My！Ralph，how heavy it is！It weighs as much as if it were full of gold bricks.”
“There are a lot of nickel shoehorns there，”said Jimmy coolly，“that I’m going to return.I decided to take them myself so as to avoid unnecessary expenses.I’m getting awfully economical.”
The Elmore Bank had just put in a new safe and vault.Mr.Adams was very proud of the vault and insisted that everyone should inspect it.The vault was a small one，but it had a new，patented door.It fastened with three steel bolts and had a timelock.Mr.Adams enthusiastically explained its workings to Mr.Spencer，who，however，didn’t seem to take a great interest in it.The two children，May and Agatha，were delighted to see the shining metal and the funny clock.
While they were thus engaged，Ben Price，the detective，walked into the bank and leaned on his elbow，looking casually inside between the railings.He told the cashier that he didn’t want anything；he was just waiting for a man he knew.
Suddenly there was a terrible scream from the women.Unseen by the elders，May，the nineyearold girl，while playing with her sister，had shut her in the vault.The old banker sprang to the handle and tugged at it for a moment.
“The door can’t be opened，”he cried out.“The clock hasn’t been wound.”
Agatha’s mother screamed again，hysterically.
“Hush！”said Mr.Adams，raising his trembling hand.“All be quiet for a moment，Agatha！”he called as loudly as he could.“Listen to me ”During the following silence they could hear the faint sound of the child crying in the dark vault.
“My darling！”cried the mother.“She will die of fright！Open the door！Oh，break it open！Can’t you，men，do something？”
