Evening star., 1894-12-15
THE RETIRED BURGLAR.
A Live Woman Is More to BE Dreaded
Than n Ghost.

| From the New York Son.
"At o'clock one morning" said the re-
| tired burglar, Il was in a good-sized SEQ
| ond-story back bed room in a comfortable
old house in country town in Massa-
chusetts. The bed in this room was
| empty, but the clothes were turned back
and the bed had evidently been occupied
| II stood in the rear corner furthest from
| the door. with the headboard against the
| rear wall, and the side Of the bed about
| a foot or so away from the side wall. AT
the foot OF the bed, against the side wall
| about in the middle of that side OF the
| room and right opposite the door, stood
| the bureau; between 1t and the footboard
itself there was a space Of perhaps foot,
maybe a foot and a half, enough for any
body to pass through comfortably.
| II stood now In front of the bureau.
had set my lamp down on top of it, and
had just opened the top drawer when
something prompted me to look up into
| the mirror In that mirror I saw, dim, but
clear enough, the reflection of a ghost in
| the hall. There was faint light in the
| hall. Just a little light from lamp stand
| ing on a table near the front end and by
| that light, when l turned to look, 1 saw
| the ghost. 1t was moving from the rear
| of the house toward the front, along the
| than to the other, and moving slowly, ike
| a stage ghost. 1t was tall and spare and
all in white, with something white over Its
| head. 1t moved slowly across the door and
disappeared. After it had gone l stood
there with my back to the bureau, staring
at the doorway.
IA moment later It reappeared, moving
now toward the rear of the house, and
this time nearer still to my side OF the hall.
1t was moving slowly as before, but in
stead Of passing by it turned toward my
doorway, when 1t came opposite to 1T. and
came in over the sill and moved slowly
across the ROOM straight toward me;
| nearer and nearer, and I couldn't move,
until something told mel wondered why
it hadn't come to me- before-that the ghost
was sleep-walker. 1t was woman;
this was her room, and she was coming
back where she belonged.
"Of course, 1 felt little easier then, but
L wanted to get away, and L thought !
should soon be able to, for 1 supposed, of
couSSe, that She was making for the bed,
and the idea that she would do anything
| but go to the front of the bed and get In
there, like any other human being. never
entered my head. While she was coming
across the room sshad sort Of involun-
tarily backed into that gap between the
corner of the bureau and the footboard of
the bed. 1 stood there looking at her while
| she was still coming straight across toward
| the bureau, never doubling that she would
| turn in time and go to the front of the bed,
| and she did turn and move in that direc-
! ton, but when she got pretty near to the
| other corner of the footboard from where
/ was she turned again and started toward
| the gap that l was standing in, evidently
with the intention of going around to the
back of the bed, between it and the wall,
and getting in on that side. That last three
| or four feet along the footboard she seemed
| to glide, as smooth as ever, but quicker'n II
| lightning, and l in the way and too scared
| to move. She was awake the instant she
| touched me, and screaming like a mad
woman, and / was awake then, nv friend
| finally and clawing across that bed to a
| window there was at the head Of It,
| cleaned that window out, blinds and all
| with one sweep OF the jimmy and jumped"