The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-03-14
AN UNEASY NIGHT.


mind and carrying away our spoons.
Our morning salutation was not How
are your" but Have they been to
you yet?"-it being well understood
who were meant by they. 80,
No arrests were made, and no clew
could be found by which to detect the
rascals. | was living in the outskirts
of the city, in an old-fashioned house,
two stories high, with a garnet
lighted by dormer windows. A few
years before, Ihad had an L added to
it, the summit of whose roof was level
with the caves of the main building.
Soon after the burglars made their
appearance among us, and after / had
been relieved of a basket of clothes,
which had carelessly been left in the
kitchen, / placed bolts upon all the
windows and outside doors, and
inaugurated a system of thoroughly
securing the housekeeping the inside
doors that had locks on them, and
piling furniture against such as
had none. AT dark, / locked every
door and window, except those of the
rooms we occupied during the even
ing. At bed time, | fastened the re-
naming doors and windows, went over
the whole house again to see that
everything was secured, took the
spoons forks, and napkin rings up
stairs, and hid them in an old stove
that stood covered with piece of
carpet under the garrett stairs, and
then went to bed. In about an hour
after we had retired, my wife usually
got frightened, and declared that she
could not sleep unless [ would go and
look at the doors and windows down
stairs again. So | would have to
make the grand rounds third time
These precautions and the belief that
burglars, like lightning, are not likely
to strike twice in the same place,
gave me sense of perfect security,
and [ defed the whole flching fra
ternity.
Our bedroom was the front room on
the second floor, while our two child
rem slept in the back room. The door
between the two was left open-the
only one in the house allowed that
liberty.
At about II o'clock, one sultry
night in July, | was awakened by my
little girl calling to me to give her
some water Though it was a dark,
moonless night, lit no lamp, but felt
my way to the table where the water
was standing. AS I touched the
pitcher, heard, in the garrett above,
a heavy thud, as Of some one falling
upon the floor. My wife was up in an
instant, and 1tremblingly began to
strike match. / stopped her; for T
never wish to give burglar the bene-
fit of light, while he remains I'M
seen. .hk1o ~ a-9-
Istood and listened, a1rectis duribus,
and as / listened / thought as intently.
OF course it could be nothing but a
burglar. The kitchen girl had no
| business up there, and, besides, she
was too great a coward to go there
alone, even in the day time. / knew
that there was no loose beam or plank
that could fall, and, if there had been,
no beam or plank would make such
noise. It was dull, dead sound,
such as could be made only by the
falling of soft body-a living body.
Satisfied that it must be burglar,
| began to wonder how he got there.
Our kitchen girl had lived with US
for years, and | knew that she would
| rather die than be in any way Access
sorry to crime. Ny wife had spent
the whole afternoon and part of the
morning sitting in the hall, and we
had also had our dinner table set
there, as it was the coolest place in
the house; and it was only through
this hall that any one could go up
stairs.
Suddenly | remembered that some
time in the afternoon / had noticed,
as an unusual circumstance, that one
of the garnet windows was open; but.
being busy at the time, / had forgot
ten to speak of it to any one. As the
garnet was seldom entered, was not
IN the habit of examining its windows
every night, and as result of my for
getfulness, here was burglar in the
house. The whole matter became
clear at once. The roof of the L
touched the caves of the front part of
the house; there was a trellis for
vines on the south side of the l.: the
scoundrel had been watching the
house during the day, had noted the
trellis and the open window, had gone
up at night as easily as he would
climb a ladder, had entered the
garnet, and in moving about, had
tripped on something and fallen.
1t irritated me to think that, in
spite of all my precautions against
burglars, had actually left tempta-
ton in their way.
Of course, 1 thought the fellow will
now lie still until he thinks whatever
suspicious the noise may have raised
are lulled, and then he will come down
. stairs. So I opened the door into the
hall little way, and sat down by it,
revolver in hand, to await his coming
down the garnet stairs, which were in
the back part of the hall. deter