The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1882-02-18

while Dave held me there Sam pulled
off my boots. He then removed his
own, took off both our hats, and then
| Dave continued:
Sam and you are going into the
| house after swag, and I'm going to
watch. If you make one cry, or hanp
back, I'll put this knife into you. If
you go to raise an alarm in the house,
Sam will kill you, even if he has to
swing for it!''
1t was nearly midnight now. could
hear no sound from either quarter. and
/ knew that shout, or half a dozen of
them, would not bring help before the
fellows had killed me. had rot to 90
in with Sam or be murdered outside.
and L replied that | would 90 in. had
strong hopes that we could not get in,
or that our operations would raise an
alarm and scare the burglars away.
Sam signified that he was ready, and
we all proceeded to the back steps.
| A veranda ran clear across the rear
end of the house, which had a basement,
and while Dave stood at the foot of the
stairs, Sam and | mounted them. He
first tried the door. 1t was locked. and
he inserted pair of nippers into the
! key-hole. A low oath escaped his lips.
for the key had been removed, and he
had no false ones.
Softly as cat, he next tried one of
the windows, but that was fast, and
another was tried with the same result.
Then his Jimmy" came into play.
Pulling the iron bar, which had a
"claw" at one end, from under his coat,
he inserted the "claw' under the sash
| nd hnr Il I
The sash went up a little, making scarce
ly any noise, and in two minutes the
nail which held it down had given wav.
Had there been spring in the sash, he
could not have raised it without alarm.
With his hands he raised the sash to
its full height slipped something be-
tween it and the casing, to prevent
fall, and he then turned to me and
whispered:
"We are going in now. If you try to
play dirt on me- I'll murder you, if it S
the last thing l ever don'
There was no escape, and | followed
him in over the sill, hoping every mo-
ment to hear sounds to show that the
people had been alarmed. We had en-
tered sewing-room. A machine stood
in one corner, and several half-finished
garments were lying on chairs. 1 saw
this only after Sam had opened his dark
lantern. We moved softly to the door
leading out, and l watched him as he
opened it. Although l was close beside
the door, heard no sound as he turned
the knob. When he knew the bolt was
free from its catch, he lifted up on the
door, so that it should not squeak, and
in moment we were in sitting-room.
Sam held up the light, until he saw
that the room was not occupied, and
then we passed on to door leading
into the hall. This was opened with
out noise, and Sam led the way to the
foot of the stairs. He seemed to know
that all but the servants slept above.
"Now, do just as you see me do
mind howi'' he whispered, as we got
ready to ascend.
He went ahead, holding his lantern so
that the light shone down behind him..
With his left hand on the railing, he
mounted two steps at a time, stepping
on the extreme edge of each stair that
he touched, so that there should be no
squeaking. 1 followed on, not daring
to disobey him, and directly we were at
the head of the stairs.
Here we found another hall, with
doors leading into parlor and into bed
rooms. What guided him / do not
know, but Sam passed by two or three
doors and stopped at another and softly
touched the knob. Passing the lantern
over to me, with warning shake of the
hand, he grasped the knob and turned
it until he found that the door was
locked. Out came the nippers, and
were inserted into the key-hole, without
the least noise. They grasped the key,
and Sam twisted his arm over to unlock
the door | expected to hear a click
when the bolt was withdrawn, but there
was no sound. He then grasped the
knob again, whispered to me to blind
the light, and in ten seconds he had
swung the door back.
As it went back, l heard the deep
breathing of persons in sleep. Sam
took the lantern, pinched my arm, and
we entered the room, Sinking down to
the floor, he opened the lantern, passed
its light around, and 1 made out that
we were in the bedroom of the proprie-
tor. A dress and other articles of
female wear were lying on lounge,
and coat and pair of pants were on a
chair. We moved up to the chair,
crawling like cats.
Sam handed me the light and he
carefully inspected the clothing. From
the coat he took large wallet, and from
the vest gold watch He placed both
articles in his bosom, and refused to
NEEDLE with the pantaloons. Silver
change or a bunch of keys might have
ratified enough to give an alarm.
was in hopes that our adventure
was ended, and that we should now
leave the house. But Sam had other