Evening star., 1897-05-15
THE BURGLARS STORY.
An Unusual Experience Even for a
Man Used to Surprises.


Man Used to Surprises.
The man who was talking to The Star
man was burglarF a9d not one of the re-
formed kind. either. He was not prosecut-
ing his profession just at that particular
time. owing to the fact that as the result
Of prosecution byt tM state he was maxi
ing himself more uaefll than he had been
in q long time.
IN other words. Be Was doing time in a
penitentiary. Pc and his dress suit was a con-
tlIu uous reminder 70 Che reporter that a
zebra must have heenEskinned somewhere
in that neighborhood
Wei, )" he said.-in the language of a
! man who had seen better days. and in re-
sponse to a suggestion from the reporter,
Il suppose might, ,telt-you a story If there
was going to be any thing in it to me-
What a heartless wfetch he was! Trying
IN this calculating manner to rob the strug-
Cling reporter out of part of his hard
earned stipend. However the reporter
wasn't mean. and after a brief bargaining
the Inactive burglar proceeded.
IN commence at the beginning" he
said, "and tell you how got my start-all
great men get their start some way or
other you know, and I'm no exception.
When 1 was twelve years old 1 ran away
from home In the country. where I lived
with my uncle, a school teacher. and il l
do say 1t myself, l was one of his bright
est and sharpest scholars. ] got 10 New
York as the usual runaway boy does and
unlike most of them, 4 succeeded in elId-
ing pursuit, and settled down to business
as neWsboy. 1t was congenial work, and
l used to go to night school, and soon was
a leader among the boys. By the time l
was seventeen had position in a restan-
rant as cashier. and the handling of tine
money was too much for me. and one day
| skipped out with S1O0 and Went to San
Francisco For the next four years kept
getting a little worse, but l never fell into
tho hands of the police
'Then l got sick ard thew nut me in q
city hospital, and one night l died-I
n'ean, explained the burglar, that as far
as they knew l was dead. 1 didn't have
any friends. and as the yoIEg doctor who
attended especially to me didn't get any
pay for his trouble. the authorities, TO
recompense him somewhat. and to save
funeral expenses. turned my body over to
him. and he took it TO his Office for the
usual purpose. He laid me out table
In back room about / o'clock one morn
irg. and left me there in the cold. while
he adjourned to some other part of his
house and went to bed. l suppose. In fact,
l know, as you will presently.
Il don't know what time IN the night it
was or what was going on around me, but
after while l began to come 10, and in a
few minutes l knew that not in the
narrow little bed at the hospital, and in a
few more minutes. 1 began to be scared
nearly to death, for 1 knew right away
that l was In the hands of the doctors, and
in fair way to be chopped up. The fright
gave me strength, and l got up from the
table. and was about to break away any
Wfere. so long as 1 got away, when the
absence Of clothes suggested that l get
some, and l began to look around a pit. l
soon got into the doctors WARDROBE, and it
wasn't long until / had dressed myself
very well for ready-made things, and
wasn't half as bad scared as l had been.
owing to good drink of brandy 1 got out
of a bottle came across.
Il don't know why the burglar instinct
should have showed up at such time but
the sense of safety that 1 felt in KNOWN. g
how easily / could account for my pres
ence in the house seemed urge me on to
getting as much value as / could out of the
Doctors house before my departure, and
thanks to his carelessness and wealth,
when 1 finally made my exit 1 had a
thousand more dollars worth of
jewery, watches and that sort. 70 say
nothing about hundred dollars l got
in cash. In fact" concluded the burglar.
with a heartfelt sigh. Il don't think IN all
the after years of. my work, improved as
it should have been by experience. study
and practice. 1 ever did more pleasant
and profitable job than my first one. TO
which. of course. added the keen pleas
rre of the joke had played on the doctor" "