The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-01-09
TIE RETIRED BURGLAR.
One OF tho Most Remarkable Incidents In
His ynriegatcd Career.

One OF tho Most Remarkable Incidents In
His ynriegotcd Career.
"Aftor I had gathered in what I
could find in tho dining room, I" said the
rotirc,l burglar, telling of his experience
in q house i'll western Massachusetts,
II started for tho parlor. This parlor
wus just i'll front of. tho dining room,
and thero wero heavy curtains between.
l pushed these curtains one side and
went i'll carefully, sc rs not to mar the
furniture by kicking it, feeling along
for tho table which l knew must be in
the center. / camo to it presently and
found it very solid feeling, with o sort
of molding OF carving along the edge.
l bad struck it. on q side apparently,
III sc I felt toward tho dining room
until 1 came to u corner of the table,
alid then 1 felt along tho end for the
next corner to get tho dimensions Of it.
1 struck the other : so quick that it
made my hair raise right up. / know
there was only IL thing they build of
such shape, and that's u coffin.
II turned my light on it, and it was
n big oal; casket, IL OF the kind they
mako nowadays, square and solid, and
1T had three silver handles OH zach side.
l didn't dare look in, but l felt as
though 1 ought to have them handles.
The head was toward the front of the
house and the foot toward the dining
room. l set my lamp down and got my
screwdrivor out of my bag and began
OH, n Of the handles nearest the foot.
1 suppose l must have felt q little easier
after I'd got that ono off and into tho
bag. know l went around the end and
then up tho other side pretty prompt,
getting 'em off smooth as could be-, and
around tho head and started down tho
other side where I'd begun. l got tho
handle off by the head ON that side, and
then 1 went Mt the last handle, tho ono
in the middle. In turning tho last
scrow out of tho handle I dropped my
screwdriver.
1T seemed to me as though it made
moro noise than an iron telegraph polo
dropping inside of an eInpty iron oil
tank. l just lay down ard waited. 1
didn't dare run. 1 expected q million
people would como pouring down tho
stairs and from all around, and 1 just
waited. lying OH the floor, but there
didn't anybody come. You know, tho
fact was That dropping that screwdriver
hadn't made noise enough to wake up n
mouse, but it seemed to mo like the
greatest racket you ever heard, and it
scared mo most to death. But when no
body came L picked up the screwdriver
and set it in the notch Of tho screw again,
and I'd just got that handle off when I
heard somebody sny:
Don't you think you're crowdin us
hero a little, my friend, carrying away
them %handles?' 1t was the dead man
sitting up and looking down at me. 1
suppose he'd been in an epiloptio trance
or something Of that sort, and dropping
that screwdriver had made just shock
enough to start him into life again.
II was SO scared 1 dropped the han
die, bnt l grabbed my bag-I suppose
instinct made me do that-and started
out through the dining room again and
down collar and out 2sy. the window I
camo i'll by. 1 didn't VIZ shy
body was coming this $e,%
II got Silt for those :. .andles. 1t
seemed a pity to lose the other one, hut
it was alw. s.a great satisfaction to mo
to think that I'd woke the man up. -
New York Sun.