St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-02-13
THE BURGLAR.

| ". II thompson III llu-blIS
Ezra TimminS was steady man of
forty, who has been fifteen years book
keeper for prosperous grocery house.
| He had lived ten years with his wife in
the same house and had saved money,
| for his habits were frugal, his pleasure
| simple, his pains few.
His pains were an unreaSOning terror
of burglars and dire apprehension that
| his niece and ward. pretty Constance
Timmins-who was the only young per-
many tlirtations by throwing herself
away on some worthless scamp.
Constance was lovely girl, the
daughter Of an elder brother OF Tim
mIns, who had taken the yellow fever
| and died. leaving an estate OF which the
value was unknown.
Among the admirers of Constance
| who could not fairly be condemned was
| Col. Pitbiado. He had met Constance
at small party, and had been struck by
her beauty and vivacity. With his usual
clrcumSpection. he had Instituted in
| quiries regarding her prospective fort
une; and from the aSSidUlty with which
he pursued her afterwards. it may be
| inferred that the result Of the investga-
| ton had been satisfactory.
Much to his annoyance, Constance not
Only did not ask him to the house, but
| begged as favor that he would not
| come, at any rate for the present.
You see, Col. Pitblad0," said she. 81
| have rather taken fancy to you and L
don't want to lose you. Now, my uncle,
| who is the best man in the world, in
variably takes a dislike to people who
pay me attention. l have a PRESENT.
| ment that if you came to the house he
would quarrel with you, and that would
be the end of our acquaintance.
The colonel argued, but it was of no
| avail. The only concession which Con-
| stance would make was that now and
then, say once a week, she would leave
| the door open after her uncle had gone
TO bed, and the colonel might slip in and
| spend a few minutes with her in the
| dark in the hall or the drawing room.
There they sat one night, and Con-
| stance, in a subdued voice, was explain
| ing her uucle'S extraordinary terror OF
| burglars. m
| the colonel.
II believe that when he was a child,
burglars broke into the house where lie
was living, and killed one of the i'll
mates. He was wakened out of sleep
by the sound of the shot, and he has
never got over the shock"
At that moment a slight noise was
heard outside the drawing room door.
1t was the faintest possible creak Of a
weak flooring plank under a tread.
Both the tenants of the sofa looked up
and held their breath, with ears on the
full strain. Another board creaked,
and, presently. after a wait which
seemed to last for ages, the acute ears
| Of the colonel detected a mutf1ed tread
on the carpet of the room in which they
sat. There was a third party in the
room. He was shOd with wool, and was
moving nOiSeleSSly, and occasionally
stopping as if to listen whether he was
detected The long expected burglar
had come.
Constance tainted silently on the
sofa. The colonel,in whom the presence
of danger had awakened his fighting in
stinct, rose from his seat and CROPPED his
way noiselessly toward the intruder,
whom he could not see. lie could, by
this time, hear the ScOundreFS breath
coming and going, and instinct prompted
him to hold his own. He would have
given worlds for weapon, but his cane
was out of reach. He must give battle
with his bare hands against one VINO
probably had both pistol and knife. AS
he reflected, the intruder'S foot came
into contact with stool. The colonel
heSitated no longer; with sudden
spring he was upon the invader. He
had thrown his weight into the spring
and felled the burglar to the ground,
face downward. Then swiftly Selling
his wrists, he held them in grip of
IRON, twisted the arms upward and sat
down on his back.
The burglar struggled, evidently
striving to free one hand to use his
knife; but the colonel was now fighting
for his life; his clutch of the wrists did
not relax. When the struggle grew
weaker and Pltblado had got back his
breath, he Kissed:
"You villain! If you don't keep your
hands still. I'll drive my knife through
your heart. One motion and you are a
dead man."
The burglar made no reply. He
painted, and sounds came from him
which to Pitblad0s ear sounded
strangely like sob.
The colonel could feel culver so
through the frame on which he sat.
alt had by this time become manifest
to the colonel that the situation could
not be prolonged forever. He could
not sit on the burglars back till morn
ing the tension of the muscles Of his
arms was weakening. He must some
how get him to the nearest police sta
ton. If he only had a ray of light.
At that moment faint groan came
from the sofa.
"By Jingon' muttered the colonel;
"he's got an accomplish"
Another sound from the sofa, and Pit
blado saw that time was up. The new
conner might at any moment rush to the
rescue of his accomplice. Pitblado had
noticed a poker and shovel in front of
the drawing-room CRATE. With sudden