, 1897-12-09
A CASE OF INSOMNIA.
THE RETIRED BURGLAR RELATES AN
INTERESTING EXPERIENCE.

ooW He SHn1e 10 Ett Ithsteh oyster
with "a Gentleman Who Couldn't SIrep
He Didn't Make IL Cent. but Enjoyed tn
Rest and IIad n Pleasant <islt.
81 found the dining room If Il hous'
that | was looking over one night.
said the retired burglar, titled with
glow Of light from a bright hard Goa
fire burning in Il crate at one end OF The
room. There was inst Il little bit Of ga:
burning from IL burner. but it onl,
made Il little yellow tip i'll the rtddcl
glow from the fire. About half tic tn
bic was covered with II folded white tn
blcclOth, clean and thick and with the
rrcases still in it. On this cloth there
We're a plate and Il plate Of bread am
some butter and vinegar and catchup and
things like th&t, and OF the other end
of the table that wasn't covered. the
end nearest the fire. there was an old
fashioned square tea tray with the
%japanning pretty much all worn off.
Looking down by the fire, l saw on ono
side OF tie hearth Il half Iush,l basket
pretty mar full Of big selected oysters.
pretty Uniform in size and laid i'll care
fully with the round she'll down.
at WAS Il winter night, cCldcr'n
Greenland outside, and this room was
just "a comfortable rs it could be, and
that layout did lcok inviting, and
couldn't ever guess who it was for. be-
cause the house was shut up tightcr'n
Il drum-cvidCntly nobody expected and
nobody sitting up. But while | was
standing there wondering over it Ihcard
a door opcn-thc II next to the one I'd
cOmo i'll at-and i'll comes a man that
looks at ne for a minute and says:
"'This is an unexpected pleasure
And | says it Is to me, too, looking
at linn ut the sam time and seeing Il
nan maybe Il little bigger'n myself
and perfectly rcsolutc and capable and
able to take care of himself.
"'Eut sit down. he says. and eat
something with me. You'll find an
other oyster knife i'll the left hand side
of the right hand drawer of that side
board right back Of you And there it
was, and when | turned around again
the maj was putting oysters on the fire
i'll the CRATE. Five minutes later he was
picking EN- up with Il pair Of tongs an
laying EN- carefully, round shell down.
Oh the old TIA tray. Now, will you
just help yoursclf:' be says.
"'You do this very often:' I says.
"'Wcll, no, / don't. he say and |
shouldn't do it ut all if l could help it,
but | suffer from insomnia. and l find
that when l can't sleep a little snack of
something to cat makes me sleep. l can
tell generally before | go to bed the
nights when l amt going to sleep, and
such nights have 'em fix up something
to cat in case l should need it, and then
| come down and find it. like this. and
eating something sort Of tranguiliZcs my
mind, and l go back to bed and so to
sleep all right
"He pushed the top shell off an oyster
in front of linn over On to the tray and
put Il little bit Of Il scrap Of butter on
the oyster and looked at it dissolve IL
minute, and then he put on just one
drop CT pepper sauce, turned the oyster
over in the deep shell so us to get the
dry top side into the oyster juice and
melted butter, and then he ate it. Then
he dipped Il little hunk Of bread into
the juice i'll the deep shell and ate that,
and then he pushed the empty shell out
of the way on the tray and took another
oyster of tho fire with the tongs and
began III that.
''Dmned if ! could see how a man
that enjoyed eating az much as he did
could ever bother about anything, but
he did, all the same, that was plain, or
he wouldn't have been there.
~ don't suppose he says, that
you eve suffer from insomnia, and II
you did it wouldn't make any differ
nee, because you want to be wide awake
nights i'll your business, ch::' And he
seemed to think this was Il pretty slick
little sort of Il joke. Then l told him
how l came TO go into the business;
that when l was n young nan | had
becna great sufferer from insomnia my
self; that i'll those days there We're not
nearly so many night occupations to
choose from as now, and that my choice
was limited: that | had lot followed
burglary from inclination, but that |
was compelled to do something for Il
living, and burglary was the only night
work | could get ut the time, and that's
how l came to take it up as a business.
"'You don't mean it, he says. Put
on the blower and start up the fire Il
little. If I'd ha' known you We're conf
ing I'd had another basket
"Wcll, we finished 'em up, and l says
to him.: What do you think; think
you car sleep now And he said he
thought he could. And he let me out
the front door and went to bed, l sup
pose. l know l Went home myself feel
ing comfortable. ! hadn't made a cent,
but it's a good thing to take Il rest now
and then, and l always did like roast
oysters. New York Sun.
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