Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-11-30

| way through tne rOckS.
But they were coming fast enough ana
! cursing at every step. and with the energy
of despair caught the boat in my arms,
and with wild strain tried to shove it
into the water. But it would scarcely
| bulge Again and again | tugged, the
blood almost bursting through my ears
| by the cXertion and the skin tearing from
! my hands and bare arms.
SO near, / thought to safety and still
| the danger increasing every second Then
| MS I heard an oath more wicked than
| the others, as one of the burglars fell over n
stone, felt the boat move, and little wave
| rolled in and lifted it, so that with one
more push it slid off into deep water. |
jumped in, caught the oars, and as the bur
glars dashed down through the darkness
to where they heard the noise the boat Shot
! out into the water, and was safe.
| They might have shot me from the shore,
but they had either left their revolvcrs in
The house or had none, the revolver being
too noisy weapon for burglars as n rule.
Whatever the cause, they did not fire,
and l did not wait for it, at least that close.
A hundred feet out | began to he myself
once more. and l stopped rowing
"Why don't you come on" / shouted
back half Historically.
Hold on, they yelled, and conld hear
them running up and down the shore in
the darkness
"Oh, you're all right" laughed shrlly.
"Ill come back and take you off in the
course of a few hours and then, fearful
that they might get their guns, | rOWej
away as fNtt us l could for the mainland
think made that three miles in half
the record and when | found the frgt po-
liceman he was for running me in as u
10 &, c1a Nynl I'm ho l rov
and as soon a. l told my story force Of
10 men boarded a tug, and we returned 20
the island By this time the first gray
strcRks of dawn were showing in the sum
MGR sky, and as we cautiously ran up to
my wharf it was almost light enough 10
see the house
We saw no burglars, however nor any
signs OF them, though l knew | had them
pcuned mp on the island, and escape was
impossible. We waited until daylight,
and then deployed as skirmishers; the po-
licemen began to move across the island
expecting any moment to flush Il burglar
or get shot from ambush.
As we came up TO the house ono of the
burglars appeared in the doorway and was
covered on the instant by a dozen guns.
Come in. gentlemen; come right in," hi
said chocrily. I'VE were expecting you,
The mans cuoiucss almost gave me the
Mysteries, for knew by the sound of his
voice that he was the fellow who wanted TO
fin" rae.
But he was uttering the truth-they did
have a nice breakfast for MS tout Of my lar
der) and not that only, but they had found
that Henry was not dead, and they had
washed him and done what they could %
caring for him, and had done it 50 wclthat
he is alive today with only an ugly scar on
his necl. as Il mcmentO.
There We're four in the lot, and we soon
had them handcuifcd, and then we sat
down 10 breakfast and enjoyed it, though
must confess that by this time the condi-
ton was in physically was not pleasant.
You re a queer gang" said The licuten-
ant of police to the leader, who had invited
us to breakfast. What did you do this
for
The break fast, you mean"
And all the rest Of it, said the officer
well, cap'n, lie replied, its like this:
We wuz here fer de swaS Kill er no. and
we thought we had killed the fast one,
and of course the other rome had TO 20 to stop
talk Then when he got away and had us
! penncd up like rats we came 10 the cOncu-
sion that we had better Eit out the best way
we could. The one we thought was dead
only needed repairs, 80 we repaired him,
and we knowed you'd he here bineby TO
look fer us, and probably coming out so
early in the morning You might be hungry.
So, begin the gents pardon fer tlespassin,
we turned in and fixed you up a nice break
fast. Now, wasn't that about the white
thing to do?'
had had enough to put most men in
bad humor, but this candid statement
struck my funny bone somehow, and |
laughed until the tears ran down my cheeks,
and even the policeman smiled.
OF course the burglars had done the best
thing possible for themselves and the very
unique plan they had adopted of necessity
was in their favor, and they only got 10
years apiece, Henry testifying earnestly
. to their politeness and care that that part
OF it was not taken into the count at all.
But | can assure you did not 90 back to
the island again. gave it to Henry as it
stood, and he lives there with his wife, re-
spected and admired, | 90 believe by every
, burglar in the guild, for he holds them in
the highest esteem.
Oh, yes, | almost forgot When this
story came out il the papers and my part
/, Of it was set forth as only reporters know
, how to do such things, Isabella of course
heard of it, ami one moonlight night she
said to me:
Major. thought once you were not the
kind of n man for a woman to marry, but
I've changed my mind
/, ! feel under obligations to those burglars
myself.-W. j. hampton in Detroit Free
Press.
Reminders of Home.
} Three men were standing in front of a
big hotel. 1t was time for folks to 20 to
the theater One of the men was waving a
handkerchief gracefully about his head.
This reminds me OF home, he remarked
as he made slap AT the back of his neck
Pm from Camden, you know"
II don't rnind these little things" said
the short man, who had registered from
: Texas. why, when | was down in Mis-
nssippi fishing in the haYons. the mosoui-