The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-12
THE RETIRED BURGLAR.
A Lively Experience That Was All Over In
About n Minute.

II never actually slid down a toboggan slide"
SAID the retired burglar, but / think l can
form n pretty fair idea of what it's like from an
experience that ! had once. ! was pokine
around In a house that ] was in and ] had just
come out of a room on the second floor where
there was a man asleep that struck me some
how as being pretty restless, and / hadn't
more'n got through the door into the hall when
/ heard this man holler:
Here he is. JIM and saw him jump out Of
bed and come b'ilin' after me. and at the same
minute 1 saw a man come rippIn' and rampin'
out Of a door down by the other end OF the hall.
Now the thing that I'd ha' done under or
binary circumstances of course. would have
been to run downstairs, but the door that jim
was coming out OF was right by the head of the
stairs, and 1t wasn't possible. But right back
OF me =, there was an attic stairs , knew, be-
up, ana the only way out for ME was that way.
II wasn't a way, I'd ha' picked out, but it was a
knew that If / Gould once get into it and faced
10 the front l could stand off both men easy
enough; tn had time 70 think, anyway, ,un:
less they, had a gun. with my jimmy. So I
opened that door and jumped up the stairs
about four steps and slowed around TO face 'em.
shoulder, and I had my lamp in my left 1ti ham ID
turned my lamp up for Just a fraction OF a
and I saw almost overhead the scuttie in the
roof and the ladder leading to 1t from the gar.
ret fi9or right at the head of these attic stairs.
STABLE, ! could sec that easy. A man can sec
u heap under some circumstances.
i made a swing or two at the boys with the
jimmy and stood EN- Off easy at first, because
~ sid soa o9 ,ho very sosgy when slafgcd into the
pretty quick, and / give en- just one more
vicious pas with tho iron and then / turned
and bolted for :he scuttle with them after me.
used both hands on the %scutilcI oder DarEnr'n
Egypt now, but knew where that hook wa
,hSt az Wei us though thcre'd been n electric
Il threw back the hook and threw the scut.
to up bang over onto the roof and caught the
fashioned house, you've seen en-, two stories
high In front and one in the back. with a long,
with, a sort Of bend or valley in il about two.
Thirds the way down. where the one-story part
"A I looked out on It the roof looked to h.
about a mile long and steep az the side Of a
mountain There was a flag end Of II moon lust
me tops or tIe trees, and II made a little light,
but 4 would have been Nil the same il there
the roof and started, all in one motion The
foremost OF the two men reached for me ont
through me scnttlc, and missed me by about
n hhlr, Dut that was as good as n mile. be-
to 1on didn't know. but i knew wouldn't have
"Ioop! and away I went down the roof and
on uno edge into tho air. That lower part of
inner rooI, you remsm6f was hattie than the
Kind O. horizontal. and that saved me n heap.
ia ha' been smashed fiat II the roof had been
steep and straight. And right hack Of tho
mouse there was n terrace across the yard, NAV
be three feet high. with thick grass on IL that
hadn't been cut for n month at least. md I
was shot off SO far that | dropped finally lust
below the crest OF that terrace and slid down
the race OF IT on the thick grass and come 10 n
stop on the level ground below and never started
II rivct. '
The two men was standing looking ont tho
scuttlc, and never saying boo. hut when thew
saw me get up and walk off they laughed III
you ronld hear en- all over the country: and /
LAUGHED n little myself then; I'd he'd worse