The Opelousas courier., 1895-04-06

: skillful as the regular practitioners. 1t
was probably one of these burglars
who broke up the ladies' card party or
Lake avenue the other evening.
To the feminine mind, generally, if
there is anything among fierce wild
animals more terrible than the nous
1t is the burglar. The lard party seems
to have been an average assembly in
this respect, -forthe ladies shrieked and
stampeded, and the visitor got away.
1t vas fortunate for him that there
was no n among them who had the
GOODNESS displayed by the who,
while arranging her hair preparatory
to going to bed, saw the reflection of a
mar in her mirror. He was hidden
just where She had always heard of
q burglars hiding-under the bed. She
calmly went on arranging her hair,
and then, having laid all her valuables
in her jewel box, walked over and put
them on a shelf in the wardrobe, care
lessly leaving the door ajar. She left
the room for a moment and returned
suddenly, just in time to see the thief
step inside the wardrobe. Then,
OF course, she did the obvious thing.
When the door was unlocked again he
was hauled out by two big policemen,
badly frightened and half smothered.
Another case where a thief hid under
the bed and came to grief happened On
Ohio street during the worlds fair,
when the town was full Of the light
, fingered gentry. He had been shadow
ing a wealthy downtown business man
for more than a week. His plan was to
slip into the house in the evening by
following the owner home, hide, and
later in the night rob the place. He
followed his intended victim several
times, Is he confessed after his cap
ture, but always encountered a police
man somewhere in the neighborhood
and was afraid to go any farther. At
last he succeeded in getting in, how
eve when the front door was left I'M
locked through the care1essness of a
servant, and making his way upstairs
went into a room and hid under the
bed. This happened to belong to the
two daughters of the household. The
bed was low and the intruder passed
several uncomfortable hours until about
ten o'clock, when the young ladies
came upstairs. They had devoted
themselves assiduously to athletic ex-
ercises while at school, and usually had
a romp before retiring. On this oc-
casion they got into an unusually lively
pillow fight. The burglar became SO
absorbed in the issue of the combat
that he made ar involuntary movement
to obtain a better view and in SO doing
betrayed himself.
maud, there's somebody. under this
bed!" cried nj of the girls, but instead
of running away, as she would be sup
posed to do under such circumstances,
she dropped on one knee, and, find
ing her suspicious confirmed, seized
him by one foot, while her sister,
equally undaunted, took hold of the
other and they, dragged him out into
the middle of the floor, at the same
same time shouting in high soprano
voices:
"Papa."
"Police!"
"Burglarw!
"Papa!"
Papa came, and, after awhile, the po-
lice, and among them the burglar was
captured. He is now at Joliet.
Still another instance in which q
housebreaker owed his capture to al
plucky woman is found in the police
annals of Omaha. Mrs. Mccormick. |
wife of a prominent real estate man,
on entering the house one evening
about eight o'clock, after a brief visit
to a neighbor, saw a nan just turning
on the landing atsthe head'of the stair
way. She thought it was her nephew,
who had forgotten something while on
his way down town, and had returned
after it. So she called to him, and
asked him why he had o gone to the
city.
"Forgot my watch" came back from
the man upstairs, who whatever his
other qualifications for his work, was
lacking in Imagination.
The idea was so improbable and the
voice sounded so odd that Mrs. Nc
Cormick, who was all alone in the
house except for a couple of maid serv-
who we're in another part of the
house, started up the stairs. She met
the man just as he was coming down.
Taking his u from her previous ques-
he tried to put m Q bold front,
and said that he had been sent, by
Bob" to get his watch and some other
"rm d friend Of Boo,s," he added reas-
suringly.
mo, you're not. You're a burglar,
and you shall not leave this house."
said Mrs. Mccormick, as she seized him
BY the lapeiso of his coat. She confessed
that itoccurred to her atthe
time that q burglar would be a white
elephant on her hands, but she was de-
,ermined that hesshonld not get away
his booty. The burglar, who could,
10 doubt, have broken loose without diff
iculty II he had not stopped to parley, /;
lrgued a few moments too long, for
while this interesting dialogue was ]
-oing on both sBob and Mr.. McCor-
nick came in the door, and after a Short /
'truggle succeeded 1 getting the mani I
Town, where they held him until Mrs. {
Mccormick secured q policeman. {
Pluck equally striking and perhaps {
q higher quality was shown by the I
lderly English Lady who when abontl
recite her nightly prayer detected al
nan under her bed. She neither fed
lor changed countenance, but she
hanged her form of petition, and in
toad repeated = prayer which is al
as common as the English tongue !
goes up nightly from thousands of i
ably lips. When she had finished she