The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-06-20
GIRLS AND BURGLARS.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU NET
A HOUsEBREAKER?

Three Women Discuss Adventures
With Desperate Thieves-One Saw
Hand at the window Shutter and
Promptly Rushed Out of Doors, An
other Tainted, While the Third Hid
Eerself
From the Neio York Recorder.
They sat up late last night, but they had
fairly good excuses for prowling about in
the dark corridors of the boarding-house in
the small hours The red he AIDED girl, who
is stenographer, had a great many folios
to click out on her typewriter, and the
colossus of girl who is studying at Barnard
college was unable to go to sleep for the
clicking, and the jolly girl who is drawing
at Cooper Union sat with her head on one
side hour after hour trying to finish face
that gave her no end Of trouble. In tina end
she threw her crayon at its nose and tip
toed across the hall.
AS she softly pushed the door open the
Barnard girl, who was bending sleepily over
something Greek, sprang with start from
her chair. "What would you have done,n
asked the Cooper Union girl, ''if had really
been burglarp
The typewriter, who roomed with the
Barnard girl turned, up her machine to make
sure of the last letter. II think she an
swered, shat since it is always good policy
to be hospitable, l should have said, as l do
now, in my politest manner: Won't you
have a chairpn
"But really" said the tall Barnard girl,
as she bent to pick up her scattered sheets
OF queer, Grabbed characters, 81 often think
Of il when / have to go away downstairs
at this hour of night, when they've turned
out the gas on every landing, to find a book
I've left in the front hall. l start with four
or five matches, but there's always a
draught that blows them out, or they WON'T
light except on the box, and forget the
box, and l say to myself as poke around
on the cold marble slab of that hat-stand
What should l do il my fingers touched
something"
Feel Of it, should suppose" replied the
Cooper Union girl, Ito see if it weren't the
book you were hunting for"
but in sober earnest" persisted the timid
colossus, "what would you do il you were
| all alone and you met burglarp
"I'll tell you" said the typewriter, facing
| about in her chair, what did when met
NINE"
you've really seen oneq The Cooper
Union girl and the Barnard girl bent for
ward. The clock struck one. 1t was de-
lightfully weird hour for storytelling.
"Well, not to say whole burglar, but
saw his fingers: They were very long, and
slender, and dirty"
where was the rest of hlmp
"Out on the garden path. You see, it
was at home, out on Long Island, two or
three summers ago. / wrote verses then.
You mightn't believe it, but one set was
really copied into New York newspaper.
did it mostly at night after the folks had
gone to bed, and this night there wasn't
anybody to go TO bed, for mother and l
were spending a month alone, and mother
had been sent for to watch with a sick
neighhor. :.
''The verses were about a knight and
some pond-liIies. forget the exact con-
nection between them, but it was very
pathetic. and it made me cry. usually did
cry over my verses. and that was why /
| stopped writing them-that and the trouble
| it was to find rhymes
81 was very much interested in the
knight. But Of sudden I stopped crying
| and writing, for / had the most curious
sensation, as if somebody were looking
at me-"
The Cooper Union girl and the Barnard
| girl said, "Go on"
81 looked up at the picture that was on
the wall. It had queer eyes and the man it
| was painted from was dead, and / never
liked it, especially late in the evening, but it
| didn't seem to be staring in my direction
| any harder than usual. Then noticed that
| both doors were shut, and then something
| pulled my head around again toward the
window
Again the Cooper Union girl and the Bar
nard girl said go onl"
| There were outside blinds-greer blinds,
| you know; had shut them when | lighted
the lamp and had left the window open. 1t
seemed to me that one blind moved. /
| WINGED the last of the tears away and
looked again. One blind was certainly
ajar, but if it had moved at all it had
stopped moving. l bent my head over my
paper, but kept sidewise lookout through
my lashes. In minute or two the blind
moved again; / was sure OF it this time
NY heart thumped and 1 forgot all about
the knight and the pond lilies. In min
ute l saw, as l told you, fingers. A hand
had taken a firm grasp of the blind that il
might not bang, and the long. brownish
fingers had slipped around on the inside"
The Barnard girl said breathlessly
What did you dor
81 sat a minute in a cold perspiration
Then l got up and walked straight to the
door that was beside the window, opened
it, and stepped out on the piazza"
"And you saw-W
"Nothing it was very dark night, but
heard jump and a scamper, and then
the dogs next door began to bark and the
moon came out bit, and three dark figures
vent tearing up the street with the dogs
aud two or three Iaen from the neighbors
after them. You see, after all, it's a very
tame story. The burglars were never
caught. Two of them had tried the house
| next door and one was reconnoiterirg me.
But I've wondered sometimes, IL l had
stopped to think, should have gone and
opened the door!"
snow, said the Cooper Union girl, ''I'n
going to tell you my burglar story"
"Youm said both the others; "have yor
seen burglarg" They drew close together
and the Barnard girl pulled shawl about
her shoulders.
IAN up and down section of one not very
wide, though considerably greater in extern
than fingers"
The typewriter left her chair and curleC
up among the pillows Of the big old lounge
The clock struck the half hour.
at was last Decoration day. l was
boarding at my brothers, and everybody
had gone out. Even the kitchen girl had
leave to see the parade. l got home first o.
the family at about noon. When entered
the front hall 1 saw my brothers little
detective camera in the middle Of the floor
thought it rather funny, and it gave mt
second surprise when / saw grea
black prints as of huge hand on the wal
beside the stairs. sat down on the hal
settee and picked, up the camera, somebody
had to tried to pry it open. The burgla
had dropped it in disgust when 1t failed 4