The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1893-08-05
A BURGLARY.

IL IS BrloFOua 10 Ieihtbt WtIb hIohee'
They were only nominally acquainted
with that goodly art commonly asso-
ciated with charwomen.
reand Baptiste were hard workers.
They worked far into the night and oc-
casionaby the thin mists Of dawn had
begun to break on the narrow city pave
ments before their lRbors would cease.
No one could truthfully say that theirs
was not a hard earned pillow, Some
times they did not toll In vain. 1t de-
pended largely upon the police.
It was early one November that this
horny handed pair planned the bur
glary Of a certain safe located in whole
sale establishment in st. Mark street.
On the particular evening that Pierre
and Baptiste hit upon for the deed the
head bookkeeper had been having a
wrangle with his accounts.
81 can't make head or tail of thisl" be
declared to his employer, the senior
member of the firm, yet ! am con-
WINGED everything must be right. An
error Of several hundred dollars has been
carried over from each daily footing, but
where the error begins or ends I'm
blessed if / can find out"
The fact was that the monthly sales
had been unusually heavy, and a pageof
the balance had been misled The head
bookkeeper spent upward of an hour In
casting up both the entries Of himself
and his subordinates after the establish
ment had closed its doors for the day.
Then ne went home to supper deter
mined to return and locate the deficit ii
he didn't get a wink of sleep until morn
ing
Bookkeepers, it must be bornefn mind,
have highly sensitive organisms, which
are susceptible to the smallest atom re-
fecting upon their probity OF skill. AT
$3.50 the bookkeeper returned and com
meneed anew his critical calculations,
He worked precisely three hours and a
half, at the end of which period he sud
denly clapped his hand to his forehead
and exclaimed:
'1diotl Why haven't you looked in
the safe for missing sheet2 Ten chances
to one they have been improperly num-
beredp
He turned over the pages of the bal
ance on his desk, and, sure enough, the
usual numerical mark or designation in
the upper left hand corner which should
follow Ii was missing, Page 12 in all
likelihood had slipped into some remote
corner of the safe.
The safe was large one, partially re-
ceding into the wall and containing all
the papers, documents and several day
receipts IN cash and drafts Of the firm.
The head bookkeeper In his efforts at
unearthing the lost page of the cash bal.
ance was obliged to intrude his entire
person into the safe. Fearful lest the
candle he held should attract attention
from the street, showing out as 1t did
against the black recesses of the safe
upon entering it he drew the door slightly
ajar.
AS he stepped In the tail of his coat
caught on an angle Of the huge riveted
lock, the massive gate swung to as Il
it weighed no more than a pound, and
the bookkeeper was a prisoner.
He heard the resonant click-that was
all. His candle went out.
The boolzkeeper at the outset lost his
presence of mind. He fought like q
Gagged animal He first exerted almosI
superhuman strength against the foul
sides of the iron tomb. Then his body
collapsed, and not for an instant losine
consciousness he found himself sitting
in a partially upright position unable t
so much as stir a muscle.
1t was almost at the same moment
although hours seemed TO have passed
that the drum Of his ear, now abnormal
ly sensitive, was almost split into frag
ments. A frightful. monotonous clangoi
rent the interior of the safe.
The bookkeeper used to observe after
ward that a single seconds deviation o
characteristic thought and he woult
have gone mad. Stronger minds IN
parallel situation would have indeed col
lapsed. But a weaker man can neve
confront the inevitable, but clings NOR
stubbornly TO hope, They are only veal
individuals who In the act Of drowning
catch at straws.
As the bookkeeper felt himself grad
ually growing faint for want of air {
breathe his revivified hope led him t
deliberately crash his fist into the wood
work with which the interior of the SAT
was fitted, in secretaire fashion, on
drawer being built above another. Thi
gave him few additional cubic feet Q
air.
As may have been conjectured, tn
noise which smOte the bookkeeper's ca
was that Of a drill. Although acutel
discerned within, the sound was pract
cally smothered on the outside of th
vault.
At one end of the drill was a cavity
rapidly growing larger, in one of tn
steel panels At its other end was
heavy, warty fist, part Of the anatom
af Bantiafa the Industrious mechanic
Baptiste held the drill while his com
rade, Pierre, pounded it in.
Soon the two burglars became awar
that some sort Of animal commotiop wa
going on within thesafe. It nearly drov
Them into convulsions Of establishment
Baptiste was so startled that be droppe,
the drill.
''lt Is a ghost, he said.
Baptiste was for throwing up the io'
uncompromisingly on the spot, but thi
proposal met with obstacles His fellow
workman, who was of stiffer courage
rejected It with scorn, as savoring To-
much Of the superstitious. Pierre had
large family 10 support, he argued. H
spoke frankly. They could not afford t
throw away the opportunities Of provl
dence. To his friend and colaborer tn
burden Of his remarks was.
o.Iaf -, I,,.f W. ,..r-- - A.
wiz yer ghosts an tings, Let's not hay
no beast foolin-see7 De job Is con
monce. Allous!"
The upshOt of this was that Pierre an
Baptiste went back 10 work. At th
third crack of the drill Pierre crosse
himself and said.
"Raptiste, deres a man in dat safe"
iloth men grew pale as death at Il
ury suggestion. Baptiste, for instanc
was so frightened he couldn't utter
syllable His tongue clave TO the TO,
Of his mouth. However, Pierre, as usl
al, was the first TO recover. He apple
his ear first 20 the lock and then 10 Il
drill hole
"Hey, in deren he cried, yet not
loud as % be heard on the sidewalk. ]
this there came a faint responss-a vel
faint shout indeed. 1t sounded as If
We're a mile away;
''For Gods sake, give me airi ] a
locked Ia here, Try and burst open d
safew
The two burglars did not stop to tai
but went at once 10 work as II their oV
lives depended ON the result instead
the life of the mysterious occupant
the vault. In less than four minut
they had a hole somewhat smaller thl
the business end of a collar butt
knocied into the panel Of tine vault.
Nm plarr. md nnuLisIa unn.a1