Evening journal., 1897-04-27
THE RETIRED BURGLAR.
He Tells OF Some Very Unpleasant Expe-
riences with Mirrors.

riences with Mirrors.
81 have bad, " said the retired bur
glar, "some very unpleasant experiences
with mirrors. l think i%laye told you
how / once fired at my reflection in
mirror, mistaling it FOR another man
a mistake that / thought | should never
mako again. Butwithin two years after
that / struck &C n man in q mirror, and
smashed the glass and smashed my hand
and made myself uncomfortable gener-
ally. 1t may seem strange to you that a
man could make such mistakes but in
a dim light, and where everything is
strange to him, and he's all sort of keyed
up himself l don't know as it is after
all. Still, after that last experience
did think il would be some time before
had any more trouble with mirrors.
But within year / bad an experience
that was a great deal worse than either
of them.
"When came out Of room in
house was in one night, on the second
floor, looking down the hall-this was
pretty near the front where was--I
saw the figure Of myself in a mirror at
the other end. 1t was plain enough,
even in that light, but it startled me
little at first, and / threw up my gun at
it. OF course the fgure's hand went up
and down, just the same as mine did,
and it made me kind of laugh Co think
of it, and l could imagine the shadow
laughing, too, at aman who was afraid
Of his own shadow.
"Then l went into the next room, and
when / came out of that into the hall
again my eyes sought the mirror again.
It wasn't very pleasant to see yourself
in the dark in that way, but it would
have been a mighty sight less pleasant
not to- But then was all right, and
stood and looked at it n minute and
threw up my arm at it same as before,
/ Just up and down, a sort of unnecessary
test, but it made me feel Just little
easier, and up went the arm in the mir
ror with mine, but this time, when
mine came down, the nrm in the mirror
staid up.
Now. don't raise your hands, the
man said covering me with a gun in
his appraised hand, voice kind Of drawl.
ing, but meaning business, you know.
You know when a man means business,
and this man did mean it, and l kept
my hands down.
Oh, Billp be gays, not moving a
muscle and not shouting it out, but just
kind Of drawing it out like the other
"Thcn a man appeared beyond the
man that was holding re up, coming
toward him and me- He walked right
through the mirror, past the other man,
and kept coming. 1t was all plain
enough then. In fact, ia guessed at il
before, as may be you have. The mirror
wasn't mirror at all, but a doorway,
an opening midway Of a long hall, and
the frame was the frame of the door
way. There were rooms beyond, just
the same as those on the side where j
was, and it was the doors Of those that
/ had seen in the mirror and not the re-
Election Of those ON my side. And II
was out Of one Of those doors that Bill
came. The man with the gun had been
ready for me the first time / looked,
but it must have been that Bill WASH I
then But Bill was ready now, and he
came on past the other man, careful tc
keep out of his range, of course, max.
ing for me, and he came around behind
me and took two or three turns Of a rope
around my body and arms. Then the
man with the gun came up, and be
tween them they tied me up good and
strong. And that was a matter of some
four years New York Sun