The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1895-06-03
THE RETIRED BURGLAR.
His Unpleasant Experience In Town In
Western Pennsylvania.

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"One Of my most painful experiences,
said the retired burglar, II had in a town
In western Pennsylvania. In the course
OF my customary preliminary walk had
fixed my eye upon a small but trim look
Ing Queen Anne cottage which stood upon
little bit of knoll in quite good sized
lot, with grass plot ali around It. The
cellar windows were good and high and
easy, and / selected one at the rear of the
house so as to be as far as possible secure
from observation, though that seemed on
such night an almost unnecessary pre-
caution. 1t was one Of the darkest nights
l ever knew, and nobody could have seen
you ten 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.
"Well found couldn't unfasten this
window from the outside, 30 / waited for
the next thunderolap--ther was a thun-
derstorm coming up; that's what made
1t so dark-and then broke hole in the
glass and reached in for the catch. The
instant my hand got through that hole it
was grabbed by dog that knew would
hold on till he died. There could be no
possible doubt about that. The vigor and
dash and power of the grip and the abso-
lutely firm and rigid hold were unmistak-
able. With the next flash of lightning
saw him, Waite bulldog standing on
the head of barrel under the window,
with my hand in his mouth. He'd been
roaming around that cellar, on the alert,
and he'd heard me from the start. He was
on the barrel no doubt, when was work
ing at that window on the outside and all
he wanted was to have me get in.
1T was bad TO have to do it, but had
60. couldn't pull away from him any
more than 1 could have pulled my hand
out from under a pile driver. So reached
around as we'll as 1 could with my left
hand and got my gum and when the next
flash of lightning came fired. 1 knew I
must have hit him, too, but not much
more than that, for he didn't let go. He
just shut his teeth together tighter
though wouldn't have thought he could
do that but he did-till 1 thought the
teeth must come together through my
hand. 1t makes me vince now just to
think of 1t. When the next flash came, ]
saw him again. There was blood trick
ling down the side of his head from where
I'd hit him, but his teeth were set in "a
hold that l knew 1 couldn't have broken
with jimmy. There are times when cir
cuHlsCahces are aslh man, anu tnls was
one of em.
II could hear 'em in the house already.
They'd heard the 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 hand in his mouth
and my arm running out through the
window. Well one of them came out for
me, and I was easy, dead easy. He tied
me up without any more trouble than if
I'd been bundle of rags, and the man
inside got the dog off somehow, l don't
know how. Then they took me into the
house and sent for doctor, and needed
one, and then they sent me to hospital
to stay until was tried. He cost me three
years and six months, that dog. New
York Sun.