The times., 1897-06-27
-AMY FRIEND, MR.. WHITEk

White was cuitivating oer private watch
man and seeking TO make himself solid.
! The second was finding him skuIklng abous
| my house in the suburbs at night / con-
cluded that he was planning TO pay me
| midnight visit to get possession ofiuy keys;
and began making preparations to re-
ceive him.
| Burglar alarms were unknown in small
towns In those days, and windows We're Sc
cured by driving a nail over the sash No
dwelling house III town was secure enough
To Keep robber out il he was determined
to get in. 1 spent half an hour surveying
my house from the outside T. make up my
! miHd by which avenue Mr.. White yvsslld
seek TO maize his entrance IfinaIIy decis.ed
tnat he would come across the common.
| climb my back fence, and, keeping along
under the shadow OF a row of fruit tees.
reach 5he west window OF the dining roam.
He could work there un seen ,and his chances
OF getting In Were at least as good as any
where else. TIC hurry up his plans a little
and have the affair off my hands, Invited
hifn TO lunch with me one day. On thai
day the east dining Toom window was Sc
cureiy fastened. but the west one was not
we walked in the grounds that he might
note the best means OF approach and at
iuncn L m anaged to convey the idea THAI
W as sound sleeper and feared 40 burglar
10 the best OF my knowledge aud be-
iier Mr. White was pleased with the out
look-weli pleased He saw his Way clear
10 accompl sh CERTAIN object; and after
he had departed i got down the family
almanac 70 consult the moon. / found
tnat we should have moonless nights for
the next week. and / argued 10 myself
that L might expect a visitor about the
third night l therefore prepared for
him. The diniEg-room window was Sc
cured by only one nal, and directly under
1t, on the floor, set bear tap which
L had sent down fIOm a city junk shop.
The trap was big enough and strong enough
to hold an Old bear and two cubs aud
L mad no doubt it would do the business
for midnight in truder Neither my
wife nor the children knew OF what was
going on; and at 1 O'Clock ON trat third
night, when l slipped out of bed and went
down stairs, all were sleeping sounsiIy
L had only fifteen minutes to wait.
Mr. White was in hurry to close I'D the
deal, and came rather early II was not
above two minutes after / heard the first
noise at the window before he had the sash
up. for he had come prepared with a big
cEisel for the purpose. Had il been a
tramp looking for cold victuaIs / should
have warned him about the bear-trap with
its wide-spreading Jaws and alligator
teeth, but it was Mr. White. and as
he was looking for me, held my peace.
He had no reason to suspect ANYTHING,
and therefore entered the room with great
confidence and sprung the trigger with
his right foot. The yell he uttered when
the Jaws closed upon his leg did him in
justice as man OF nerve; it also awoke
every meFnser OF the family I had a
match ready 10 light the lamp, and as the
room was Illuminated 1 sa~ the man "
ing on the floor Later on I heard from
hirn. He tuHbled TO the racket at once,
ana was so anxious TO talk that il was
Two long minutes before found d chance
totnterrupt him. Then wished him good
evening. asked about the weather outside,
ana inquired If he had dropped anything
and had returned in search Of IT. Mr.
White was not the gentleman / had sup
posed He swore and rayed aud called
names, and his loud talk kept the baby
bowling and my wife on the verge OF chill
He had come armed with big knife. but
as he could not get at me, this did him no
good. He had also taken the trouble to
ILL.,
l could truthfulIy tell him that they did
not add 70 his personal charms.
The talk 1 had with Mr. White asted
about an hour. That is, he did most OF
the talking, and his conversation was
all English, and of the strongest kind
When lie wasn't speaking and 1 wasn't
running up stairs TO assure my wife that
things were ali right and trying to stop
haflV'S 7 uOf oft
of well-meant advice. He didn Z Ike 10
at all When i adv sed hin. 20 go out of
the burglar and ban k-robbing business,
he consigned me 10 temperature hotter
than a Turkish bath, and when / laugh
inSly asked him how much cash he had
squandered to hang around Westfield for
four or five months and get caught in q
bear trap at last, he got so mad that he
dug the knife into the floor 1t was very
Interesting while it lasted, and made 10
las. great deal longer than Mr. White
cared for. i was selfish enough and mean
enough to want revenge for the worry
he had caused me, and so tock things
easy and let the trap get in its work
When there was no more fun to be had
l raised an alarm, and Mr.. White was re-
leased from the trap and taken to tail
Three months later he went to prison on q
ten-year- sentence. About the last thing he
said was that he would get even with me,
but IL he has been set at liberty and this
meets his eye wish him to know that my
bear-traps now number half a dozen. and
tnat unless he brings lantern with him
on his next visit and rings the fTont-dOOr
bell he can scarcely hope to escape the fate
which befen him before. Some bankers
depend upon burglar alarms. night watch
men and time-locks. but don't. An old
fashioned bear-trap, with teeth half an
inch long, and spring that would hold q
horse, beats anything that modern genius
can invent for ca tching and holding rohs
ber- CHARLES 3. LEWIS
His Little Mistake.
There is one amusing feature about