The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-08-25
SELECTED STORY.
The Judges Burglar.

Judge Crabtree, having that day sue
ceeded in collecting a bill against q
man which he had never expected to
get, felt on particularly good terms with
himself and the world in general, and,
Furthermore, was perfectly willing that
the whole world should know it,
"I'm strongly inclined to think" he
remarked, as he critically observed the
gathering ash on his second cigar,
"that my worst fault has from the first
been that of undertaking myself. /
have always been much ADLER man
than l have given myself credit for
being III settle that matter next
week. he said to me. Come /
answered, shell out, or I'll secure a
writ of envoy extraordinary and minis
plenipotentiary and settle yOu.' And,
as l expected, the roll of those words
just completely fabbergated him, and
he shelled out then and there. If l
hadn't been so modest think | should
have got on better"
eyes," observed Major Dodge,
"modesty is your besetting sin. There
is not the least doubt in the world that
if you could always deal exclusively
with men like this one, who don't
know the difference between pug
puppy and an ocean greyhound, that
you would get along gloriously. Men
Of that stamp do occasionally knuckle
under to men of yours"
did l ever tell you," went on the
Judge, not deigning to notice the 9TH
er's remark, show outwitted the bur-
glar when lived at Syracuse7"
The question was put to vote, and
it was decided that as far as they were
aware, and they generally remembered
the Judges stories, he never had told
how he outwitted the Syracuse burglar;
so he went on:
81 suppose the burglars at Syracuse
are among the brightest in the profess
sion. don't pretend to account for
this: l simply state it as fact. They
are clear-headed, energetic, intelli-
gent body of men, quick to take up
with new ideas, and fertile in inven-
tions, and withal they are liberal and
broad minded. For instance, few
years ago, instead of crying out against
time locks as cruel and unjust, in the
way that many of the profession did else
where, the Syracuse burglars welcomed
the time lock as an inevitable step in
the scientific progress of the age, and
set about devising way to circumvent
even the stem-winding, split-second
time lock had no terrors for them,
which, to my mind, is conclusive evil
dence that they put real genius into
their work. But, as you will observe
from my simple narrative, one Of the
most able of them fell before me.
II had been down at Cortland on a
case which kept me late. On the way
up the train collided with COW and
delayed me further, so that did not
arrive in Syracuse till past one O'Clock,
and it must have been almost or quite
two before 1 turned into the street
where I lived. It. was q fashionable
part Of the town, where the houses were
generally large and stood some distance
back from the roadway, with well-kept
lawns covered with shrubbery, trees,
fountains and cast-iron animals from
the leading foundries. l was proceed
ing up the gravel walk when ! noticed
something in the moonlight at my din.
ing-room window. I stepped into the
shadow of a cherry tree (emblem of
George Washington), and saw that it
Woo q Ldh Will q chOAt lhudCls
stantly knew that it must be either a
burglar or a book agent. The chances
seemed to be in favor of the burglar,
and it was very clear that he was about
to 60 through my house. My first
thought was to call for the police; then
remembered that there were never
any of these worthy beings in that part
OF town at such late hour. l was on
the point of setting up on outcry any
how, and if / had done so l should
have made the startled atmosphere vi
brate; but it then further occurred to
me that it was customary in our neigh
borhood, when heard citizen yelling
''Burglarsp or making any similar
heated nocturnal remarks, for every
body to turn over and cover up his
head with the bed clothing, and re-
lapse into further soothing slumber; 80
/ refrained from any vocal effort what
ever. That my shouts would probably
brighten the burglar away seemed pos
sible, but that would not be capturing
him-something had felt strong de-
sire to do from the first. The idea of
running and fetching the police also
came into my mind, but l feared the
man would finish his work and be off
before could get back. Another no.
ton which popped into my head was to
rush UP and seize him by the legs as
he went up the ladder, and then to
handle him in boisterous and unfeel-
ing manner; but for some reason-I've
forgotten what it was now-I decided
against this plan also. AS historical
fact, l may mention that he was large
man, weighing not less than 226
pounds, and had heavy iron jimmy in
one hand.
"But when looked again saw that
the fellow was actually starting up the
ladder, and the thought of my family,
silverware and jewelry, not to mention
the manuscript of my work, 'Crabtree
on contracts nerved me to effort. A
plan of action instantly flashed into my
mind. 1t often happens that way with