The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1896-01-30
AN ODD EXPERIENCE.

"A y OlDlJ EAI LII ENOE,
If there are those inclined to doubt
the probability of the following story,
told to me as the truth by an eminent
and trustworthy gentleman of San Fran
cisco, they have yet to learn and com
prehend some of the most vital things of
life He said to me-
"a few summers ago my family left
town to spend some weeks in the coun-
try. | gave the servants vacation and
arranged to stay alone at my house. For
a change had bed placed in the draw
ing room, which was in the front of the
house on the lower floor. On one side of
this room was the vestibule, into which
the outer door opened, and on the other
an exterior passage, which opened upon
the street through gate, and which ran
back alongside the house in the rear of
the premises. 1t twas paved with boards,
some of which had worn slightly loose.
The gate was closed with an ordinary
lift latch.
1--WE had lived in the house number
VI JChlS bup L buN ilSNtl olCpb III lIldb
room before. The front of the room was
taken up by bay window, which was
furnished on the inside with ordinary
Stat blinds. My bed was placed at the
opposite end of the room against the
sliding doors.
Il had arranged to take my meals
down town. On the first evening of my
solitary occupancy l returned to the
house shortly after dinner and read in
my improvised bedroom until 10 o'clock.
Then | pulled down one of the upper
sashes of the window, closed the blinds
and went to bed.
"Ordinarily | would fall quickly
asleepon retiring, but the novelty of my
position and perhaps some business anx-
ieties kept me awake for an hour or
two. This worried me and made me
nervous. The stiffness of the night came
on, but still | remained awake. 1t was
while was lying i'll this state that
heard the latch of the gate opening into
the side passage cautiously raised, then
some one step cautiously within, leaving
the gate open, and then footballs pro
ceeding stealthily toward the rear of the
house, causing loose board here and
there to squeak.
Il listened with the most eager and
strained alertness, for my immediate
conclusion was that IA burglar, perhaps
having observed the departure of the
family and assumed that the house had
been temporarily deserted, had come to
plumber the place. heard him try and
then abandon the securely barred door
opening from the rear porch upon the
passage.
"a lattice extended from the lower
rear porch to the upper. Without NOV
ing, l heard the intruder slowly but
nimbly scale the lattice and step upon
the floor of the upper porch. A hall door
and IA bedchamber window both opened
upon this porch, and | was curious TO
note which the burglar would attack and
began to wonder if they had been locked
He chose the window. l heard the
sash lock snap under the pressure of his
cold chisel. After pause he stepped in
to the room and proceeded to ransack it.
1t was my wife's room, and although
knew that she had provided elsewhere
for the safe care of her fnrs and other
more valuable clothes, | reflected that
there must have been left a number of
things which burglar might think
worthy of attention. | heard him strip Il
blanket from the bed, spread it upon the
floor and proceed to pile upon it the
plumber which he found i'll trunks, chif-
fOniers, closets and the like. Then he
stepped to the open door into the pas
sage and stood listening for moment
These occurrences had surprising
effect upon my nerves. The door be-
tween my temporary bedroom and the
vestibule was open for ventilation, and
| realized that | was almost III physical
touch with the man who would not
hesitate to kill me should that proven nee
essary to his safety. | knew that sooner
or later he would descend the stairs, at
the foot of which was the open door of
my room. 1t would not have been diff
cult for me to waylay him and make AN
effort to cripple or kill him in the dark
ness with one of dozen of the conven-
lent articles which remember were III
the room, including a heavy poker, some
bronze statuettes, chairs, stools and the
like. Ordinarily, as you are aware, am
not a timid man, but | tell you now
that an unaccountable fear asSaied me
and held me prisoner. 1t requires good
deal of candor to make that admission
but 1t is necessary to ii complete under
standing of this remarkable experience
After standing in Il listening atti-
tude moment the burglar slowly and
cautiously descended the stairs, and, as
| expected, left my room alone and pro
ceeded to the dining room. knew that
the solid silverware had been sent away
for safe keeping, and SO / WAS not sur
prised when the burglar, after handling
the plated ware which he found and
making it tinkle softly and gently, left
it, made an Improbable search of other
rooms and returned to the foot Of the
stairs. This brought him again to my
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