Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1891-07-16
GIRLS AND BURGLARS.
Three Girls Relate Their Adven-
lures with Thieves.

had fairly good excuses for prowling
about in the dark corridors of the
boarding house in the small hours. The
red-headed girl, who Is a stenographer,
had q great many folios to click out on
her typewriter, and the colossus of a
girl who is studying at Barnard col
lege 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 try
ing to finish face that gave her no
end of trouble. In the end she threw
her crayon at its nose and tiptoed
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" asked the
Cooper Union girl, 'if l had really
been a burglar?"
The typewriter who roomed with
the Barnard girl turned up her machine
to make sure of the last letter. 81
think" she answered, that as it is
always good policy to be hospitable,
should have said, as | do now, in my
politest manner: Won't you have a
chair?"
But, really" said the tall Barnard
girl, as she bent to pick up her scat
tered sheets of queer, grabbed charac-
ters, 81 often think of it when | have
to 20 away downstairs at this hour of
night, when they've turned out the gas
on every landing, to find book I've
left in the front hall 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 l
forget the box, and say to myself as
| poke around on the cold marble slab
of that hat stand: What should do if
my fingers touched something's"
Feel of it, should suppose" re-
piled 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 if
you were all alone and you met a
burglar?"
"l'll tell you," said the typewriter,
facing about in her chair, what | did
when | met mine"
you've really seen one?" The Cooper
Union girl and the Barnard girl bent
forward. The clock struck one. 1t
was delightfully."- weird hour for story
telling.
well, not to say whole burglar,
but | saw his fingers They were very
long, and slender, and dirty"
where was the rest of him?"
"0ut 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 a
New York newspaper | did it mostly
at night after the folks had gone to
bed, and this night there wasn't any
body to go to bed, for mother and
were spending month alone, and
mother had been sent for to watch
with a sick ncighbor.
The verses were about knight and
some pond lilies. | forget the exact
connection 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 | stopped cry.
ing and writing, for had the most GU
rious sensation, as if somebody were
looking at me-"
The Cooper Union girl and the Bar
nard girl said Go on!"
al looked up at picture that was or
the wall 1t had queer eyes and tho
man it was painted from was dead, ant
| never liked it, especially late in the
evening, but it didn't seem to be star
ing in my direction any harder thar
usual Then | noticed that both doors
were shut, and then something pulled
my head around toward the window.
Again the Cooper Union girl and the
Barnard girl said: "Go on
mere were OUISluc DllluS- RTtcl
blinds, you know; ! had shut then
when | lighted the lamp and had lief
the window open. 1t seemed to M
that one blind moved. | winked tn,
last of the tears away and looked again
One blind was certainly ajar, but if i
had moved at all it had stopped NOV
ing. bent my head over my paper
but ] kept u sidewisc lookout through
my lashes. In a minute or two tn
blind moved again; was sure of it thi
time. My heart thumped and forgo
all about the knight and the pond lilies
In minute ! saw, as | told, you, fin
gers. hand had taken a firm gras
of the blind that it might not bang
and the long, brownish fingers ha
slipped around on the inside.
The Barnard girl said, breathlessly
What did you do?"
al sat minute in a'cold perspiratior
Then I-got up and walked straight t