The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1896-05-14
AN ODD EXPERIENCE.

the probability of the following story,
told to me as the truth by an eminent
and trustworthy gentleman of Sar 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 ervan a vacation and
arranged to stay alone at my house. For
a change l had a 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 a gate, and which ran
back alongside the house in the rear of
the premises. 1t wa paved with boards,
some of which had worn slightly loose.
The gate was closed with an ordinary
lift latch.
I'VE had lived in the house a number
Of years, but I 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
slat blinds. My bed was placed at the
opposite end of the room against the
sliding doors.
II had arranged to take my meals
down town. On the first evening Of my
solitary occupancy I returned to the
house shortly after dinner and read in
my improvised bedroom until 10 o'clock.
Then I pulled 'down n of the upper
sashes Of the window, closed the blinds
and went to bed.
Ordinarily I 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 I remained awake. It was
while I was lying in this state that I
heard the latch of the gate opening into
the side passage cautiously raised, then
some n step cautiously within, leaving
the gate open, and then footballs pro-
ceeding stealthily toward the rear Of the
house, causing a loose board here and
there to squeak.
Il listened with the most eager and
strained alertness, for my immediate
conclusion was that a burglar, perhaps
having observed the departure of the
family and assumed that the house had
been temporarily deserted, had come to
plumber the place. l 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, I heard the intruder slowly but
nimbly scale the lattice and step upon
the floor of the upper porch. A hall door
and a bedchamber window both opened
upon this porch, and I was curious to
note which the burglar would attack and
began to wonder if they had been locked.
He chose the window. I heard the
sash lock snap under the pressure of his
cold chisel. After a 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 furs and other
more valuable clothes, ! reflected that
there must have been left a number Of
things which a burglar might think
worthy of attention. ! heard him strip a
blanket from the bed, spread it upon the
floor and proceed to pile upon it the
plumber which he found in trunks, chit
f~oniers, closets and the like. Then he
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 the
vestibule was open for ventilation. and
I realized hat l was almost in physical
touch with the man who would not
hesitate to kill me should that prove nec-
essary to his safety. l 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 q dozen Of the conven.
lent articles which I remembered were in
the room, including a heavy poker, some
bronze %statuettes. chairs, stools and the
like. Ordinarily, as You are aware. ! an
not a timid man, out I tell you now
that an un%accountable fear assailed me
and held me prisoner. 1t requires o goot
deal Of candor to make that admission,
but it is necessary to a complete under
standing Of this remarkable experience
After standing in a listening atti
tude a moment the burglar slowly ant
cautiously descended the stairs, and, q
l expected, left my O alone and pro
ceeded to the dining room. I knew tina
the solid silverware had been sent ava,
for safe keeping, and SO / was not sur
prised when the burglar. after handlin,
the plated ware which he found an,
making it tinkle softly and gently, lef
it, made an Improbable search of othe
rooms and returned t. the foot Of tn
stairs. This brought him again to IN,
door. He paused on the threshold, lis
tened in silence q moment and the
started up stairs. In that moment / sui
fered such q r~easonless agony of terro
~ cannot be explained ON ordinar
grounds. ! held my breath until I wa
nearly s~uffocated, and when the ma
Turned to leave ] was cold to the marrow
An--~-.~-~A~A