The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-10
j.
9th Ave, corner 10Th ST.
THE RETIR En- BURGLAR,
An Experience That Wa. Very Curious ana
Also aaiEhiy Exasperatisg

An Experiesee That Wa. Very Curious and
Also highly Exasperat.s.
you remember l told you the other day"
said the retired burglar. about upsetting .
couple OF buckets Of paste In . room that was
being pspered and falling DOWN In the paste and
getting all covered with It. and then sitting
down In n corner seat In the next room to scrape
the paste of my shoes and finding when I got
mp that I had sofa cushions stuck to me all
overr Well. that makes mo think of another
sticky experience I had once that was somewhat
different from that.
you always look over abureau and through
the bureau drawers In a room whom you can.
You are pretty sure to ind something about u
bureau worth carrying OF: but you don't al
ways. j set my lamp down one night on top Of
. bureau, after q preliminary survey over ic.
without finding anything. and then went
through the top drawer without finding any
thing there; aud then | stepped back "a little to
get ut tho next drawer easier. or. rather. | was
going to step back, but I couldn't. | was stuck
fast, standing there in front Of the bureau. ]
couldn't move my feet any morn II they'd been
strapped down to tho door with iron straps.
Course my hands were free. and picked
on my lamp and turned II down on the floor. /
found Oh the door In front OF the bureau a
board about four feet long and maybe eighteen
or twenty inches wide, that | was standing on:
corners, ana it Wa. covered ali over thick with
WV bNtNs ~ Fhuh U cNtl Nhtut hCIbh w ~ III
was l don't know. but the stickie-t glue that
ever was would have been like a mild dllutIon
OF weak mucilage compared to II. | lust simply
couldn't move my feet at all. And .unfortu-
na,eiS; for some reason l hadn't worn
shoes that was stuck down and I'D got to get
olt Of EN-. OF course could have unscrewed
the board from tho foor-l had q screwdriver
right there In my bag alongside of me-but
what good would that have donsY I'd have had
TO take the board along with me. and. hopping
along with q board four feet long and a foot and
. half wide fastened to my feet, I'd have made
a. much noise ~ dropping boards In a lumb Der
yard: There wasn't anything to do but get out OF
laced 'sm. and then hold on to the bureau and
stoppod out Of EN-. one At u time. on 10 the floor.
You know. ! hated to leave them shoes there
like that, but there wasn't anything else 10 do.
looked at EN- q minute and then dropped my
lamp IN my ulster pocket and picked up my
bag; that Is, ! tried to pick Il up. hut | might
Just as well have tried to lift the house, real
lied then for the frst time that | had set tho
bag down on the sticky board, and IL was stuck
as tight as nv shoes were.
Well. that made me kind o. mad. I'd car
ried the old bag for years and got used to It.
and l hated to lose IT.. especially like that.
But what could ! do about III Nothing. And
then almost. fell over on the board myself
and ! kind OF felt that II wasn't sensible to fool
around there too much. There wasn't anybody
awake, and ! was Just as free To move about as
ever; but couldn't help thinking that anybody
that would inyenta scheme like that might have
something cleo on foot. anywhere around the
house. So ! opened the bag and got the things
out OF II and dropped 'em In my pocket, and
then took one more look at my shoes and tho
bag standing there In a sort OF irregular row In
front of the bnreau, and then / left 'em and
made a bee line out OF the house, carefully
avoiding. as far as | could. contact with any.
thing on the way"