The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-12-27
TIE RETIRED BURGLAR.
His Unpleasant Experience In Town In
Western Pennsylvania.

His Unpleasant Experience In a Town In
Western Pennsylvania.
Zone of my most painful experiences"
said the retired burglar, Il hao in town
In western Pennsylvania. In the course
of my customary preliminary walk had
liked my eye upon Il small but trim look
Ing Queen Anne cpttage which stood upon
q little bit of knoll in quite good sized
lot, with a grass plot all around it, The
cellar windows We're good and high and
easy, and | selected one ut the rear of the
house SO rs to BIO rs far as possible secure
from observation, though that seemed ON
such night an almost unnecessary pre-
caution. 1t WAS ono Of the darkest nights
ever knew, and nobody could have seen
you ton feet off, but then there was the
danger of being heard, and so it was SEN
sible, of course, to go in at a rear window.
1t Is always foolish to take any unneces-
sary risk.
We'll, found couldn't unfasten this
window from the outside, so | waited for
the next neutrality-suspicious. was a thun-
derstorm coming up; thas's what made
1t SO dnrk-and thon broke holo in the
glass and reached in for the CATCH Tho
instant my hand got through that hole 1t
was grabbed by a dog that knew would
hold on till he died. There could be no
possible doubt about that. Tho yigor and
dash and power of the grip and tie abso-
lutoly firm and rigid hold were unmistak-
able With the noxt flash of lightning 1
saw him, Il white bulldog, standing on
the head of a barrel under the window,
with my hand in his mouth. He'd been
roaming around that cellar, on the alert,
and he heard me from the starr. He was
on the barrel, no doubt, when l was work
Ing at that window on the outside, pnd all
he wanted was to have me get In.
:. 1t was bad to have to do it, but had
to. couldn't pull away from him any
more than l could have pulled my hand
out from under pile driver So reached
around as well as l could with my left
hand and got my gun, and when the next
flash of lightning came I fired. I knew
must have hit him, too, but not much
moro than that, for he didn't let go. He
Just shut his teeth together tighter
though l wouldn't have thought he could
do that, but he did-till l thought the
teeth must come together through my
hand 1t makes me vince now just to
think of it, When the next flash came, /
saw him again. There was blood triok-
ling down tho side of his head from where
I'd hit him, but his teeth were set in a
hold that knew l couldn't have broken
with jimmy. There are times when cir
cuinstanees are agin man, and this was
one of EN-.
II could hear EN- In tho house already
They'd heard tho pistol, as l knew they
would, and they were coming. The door
at the head of the cellar stairs opened, and
two young men, with light, came tum.
bling down. They saw the dog standing
ON the barrel. with my hnnd in his mouth
and my arm running out through the
window. We'll, one of them came out for
inc, and was easy, dead easy He tied
me up without any more trouble than IL
I'd been "A bundle of rags, and the man
inside got the dog off somehow, don't
know how. Then they took me into the
house and sent for DOCTOR and needed
one, and then they sent mo to hospital
to stay until was tried. He cost mo three
years and six months, that dog New
York Sun