Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1896-05-22
AN ODD EXPERIENCE.

told TO mo 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 ago my family left
town to spend some weeks in the coun-
try. l gave the servants a vacation and
arranged to stay alone at my house. For
a change 1 had a bed placed in the draw
ing room, which was in the front Of tho
house on tiie lower floor. On one side of
this room was the vestibuie, into which
the outer door opened, and O the other
an exterior passage, which opened upon
the street through a gate, and which ran
back alongside the house in the rear Of
the premises. It was paved with boards,
some OF which had worn slightly loose.
The gate was closed with an ordinary
lift latch.
"We had lived in the house q number
of years, but l had never slept in that
room before. The front Of the room was
taken up by a 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
Gliding doors.
81 had arranged to take my meals
down town. On the first evening of my
solitary occupancy 1 returned to the
house shortly after dinner and read in
my %improvised bedroom until 10 O'Clock.
Then 1 pulled down one Of the upper
sashes Of the window, closed the blinds
and went to bed.
Ordinarily l would fall quickly
asleep on 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 1 remained awake. 1t was
while l was lying in 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 tho
house, causing a loose board here and
there to squeak.
II listened with the most eager and
strained alertness, for my immediate
conclusion was that a burglar, perhaps
having observed tho departure Of the
family and assumed that tho house had
been temporarily deserted, had como tc
plumber the place. l heard him try and
then abandon the securely barred dooI
opening from tho rear porch upon thf
passage.
"a lattice extended from the lower
rear porch to tho upper. Without NOV
fng, l heard tho intruder slowly but
nimbly scale the lattice and step upon
the floor Of the upper porch. a hall door
and a bedcbamber window both opened
upon this porch, and l was curious &c
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 hi;
cold chisel. After a pause he stepped in.
to the room and proceeded to ransack it,
II was my wife's room, and although
knew that she had provided elsewhere
for the safe care Of her furs and othel
more valuable clothes, l reflected tina.
there must have been left a number o.
things which a burglar might thinl
worthy of attention. l heard him strip
blanket from the bed, spread it upon thu
floor and proceed to pile upon it the
plumber which he found in trunks, chif
~foniers, closets and the like. Then III
stepped to the open door into the pas
sage and stood listening for a moment.
'"These occurrences had a surprising
effect upon my nerves. The door be
tween my temporary bedroom and th
v~estibule was open for ventilation, ant
/ realized that / was almost in physica
touch with the man who would no
hesitate TO kill me should that prove nee
essary to his safety. l knew that soono
or later he would descend the stairs, Il
the foot OF which was the open door @
my room. IL would not have been diff
cult for me to waylay him and make a
effort to cripple or kill him in tho dark
ness with Il Of a dozen Of the conven
lent articles which / remembered were j
the room, including a heavy poker, som
bronze statuettes, chairs, stools and tn
like. Ordinarily, as you are aware, 1 al
not a timid man, but l tell you nov
that an unaccountable fear assaulted m
and held me prisoner. 1t requires a goo
deal of candor TO make that admission
but il is necessary TO "A complete uudeI
standing Of this remarkable experienc,
after standing in "a listening att
tude a moment tho burglar slowly an
cautiously descended the stairs, and,
] expected, left my room alone and pr
ceeded to the dining | knew thi
the solid silverware had been sent ava
for safe keeping, and so l was not su
prised when tho burglar, after handlir
the plated ware which he found an
making it tinkle softly and gently, lie
it. made an Improbable search Of 9th
rooms and returned to the foot Of Il
stairs. This brought him again TO II
door. He paused on the threshold, Ii
tened in silence a moment and The
started up stairs. In that moment / su
7ered such a ~reasonless agony Of tern
As cannot DO explained On ordinaI
grounds, / held my breath until l W
nearly suffocated. aud when The m.
turned TO leave ! was cold to the magro'
He reasGeDded the stairs, tied up b
handle, passed through tho window al
tlosod 1t, dropped the parcel over q