Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1897-04-17
0. T. MARSH, WOODSTOCK
THE RETIRED BURGLAR.
%,Most Uncomfortable Situation and How
lie Escaped From 1t.

10 Wake U1a Itle lolkS III lllc mousse,
and so | got in at Il rear window and
started for door mt the other end
opening into the main part, which |
hoped to find unlocked, but l never
really did find out whether it was
unlocked OF not, for when | had got
about half way across tho room |
stepped through hole i'll the floor
and dropped into cistern.
IL suppose that Of all the uncom-
Portable places Il man can get inso
one of the most uncomfortable is Il
cistcrn. It is Il very difficult place
to get out OF, and it may be impos
sible to gcT out of it without help.
The water in this cistern was just
over my head, but l could swim,
and the water WASH very cold. l
kept ahoat and felt around the walls
for something to climb out by. l
did find something, the pipe from
the pump, but it WASH of any use
to me- for it LETT the cistcrn Just
where the walls began to arch over
to form the top. II it had run up
under the arch Il littlc, it might
have helped me to reach the edge of
the opening, but ii didn't. 1t started
out from the top of the straight
wall. 1t was Oh the side toward the
house, and | suppose this cistern
must have been outdoors, and they
built tho extension over it,
Il kept ladlling all the time to
keep my head above water, and
every now and then l locked up at
the Opening; had dropped through,
l could make out the outline Of 1t by
the starlight III the Mushroom, and
l wished they hadn't left tho cover
off. And how I did wish l could get
my hands on that rim! But the
nearest I could get to it was about
two feet away. ] found that by
making Il great effort I could reduce
that distance to cbout IL feet, but
that was all, and it might as well
have been = miles.
Padding around in the water
one OF my feet struck my tool bag,
lying on the bottom. where l had
dropped it when [ first went down.
Tho little bound from that, instead
of from the floor of tho cistern,
which had touched few times be-
fore. threw my head Il little higher
out of water than usual, and then |
found tho satchel with both feet and
stood on it. That gave mo the first
rest I had had since l dropped into
the cistprn. 1t raised me up so that
my head was clear of the water
down to just below my mouth, and
l could kcepin that position without
very much effort and breathe easily
1t was very great relief,
"Then, OF course, there was
chance to think things over with
some kind of comfort. l had my
jimmy in my bag, useful tool in
many ways, and no doubt l could
have got out of the cistern by the
aid of it, but tho work would have
been very difficult, and it would
probably have taken too long, and
as matter of fact ] had already
thought Cf Il very much simpler way
OF got,i1. 8 out. Standing on the bag
not only raised my head above the
water; but, Of course, It raised me
Just 30 much nearer the opening AT
the top Of the cistcrn If l could get
something little higher still to
stand on, Il foot higher, or even less
than that, could reach the rim,
and, Of ccl.lsc, the thing to do was
to end th:y l:g up and stand Oh
that. This seemed so extremely sim
pie that you may wonder l hadn't
thought Ct il befOre, but The falling
into the .. ;.cln had Ieen in the ia.
ture Of Il surprise 10 me, and l hadn t
got around 10 this idea yet. would
have thotG''i of it in time, even if
hadn't hai ,.cncd to strike the bag
with MY 1T.
"Wcll. ! balanced myself on the
b%g AZ il '. : until | had got good
rest, and l!itl | hcnt down in the
water al:l e'.,dcl the bag up and gqt
one loot ~; it TO hold it. and then |
stood up in the water again and got
the other t"pt on it. Then / found
l could L. "A within six or eight
inches of the rim of the cisterM But
it wa5a mighty Shaky support rigid
enough ii i.sllf, with the bones in
l.; but, not fixed, it was wlbbly and
If no use anleis l could get it right
in line with my body when l jump,
ed But ] steadied it up under my
feet and trucl it up the best l could
and made q spring from it. | caught
the rim of the cisterp with both
hands, ana then ] raised myself up
and chinned it. Then got my right
elbow up over on to the floor, and
after that it wasn't very long before
l had worked myself up over the
edge and nut, but didn't try to do
any more work that night New
York Sun.
i'ioup nnd wh"oping cough are child
hnuia tcrrors: hut lI,;c pncnmoIio. bron-
rhi'is. and other throat and lung troubles
ran hc quickly cured by using ON. Min