Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1899-08-03

! ing L6CllulS.
1.-The queerest job I ever did, gov
ernor?' he repeated, on one occasion,
in answer to my question. "Well, 1
could hardly say, for I've done a good
many queer jobs in my time, one sort
and another; but L reckon q little bit
of business as I did at Pilborough
years ago about takes the cake; and
as I know you won't split on me, 1
don't mind telling you.
eth be nearly twenty years since
now, and getting towards winter.
Things in my line had been very slack
in fact, | hadn't cracked decent crib
for three months or more, SO funds
was getting low, you see.
81 nearly always worked by myself,
for if q chaps at all smart it's safer
and altogether more profitable. Well,
as said, I'd had no luck, so packed
up my traps and started for Pill
borough, in the hopes of finding some
thing to my advantage.
81 looked about me the first day or
two, for I knew nothing about the
place; but at last | spotted o crib--a
likely one, L thought. 1t was nice
big house standing by itself, with a
good. long garden dividing it from the
road, and mile or SO ont from the
town. Here's a chance, thinks I; so
L carefully took lock of the place, SO
as 1 should know my way about bet.
ter. made inquiries, and found il
was the house of a Mr.. Alton, man
ager of the branch bank of Pilborough,
so it would be good haul most likely.
There was, learned, only the mall.
ager, his housekeeper, and two ser
wants, so that was lucky.
81 kept quiet for few days to find
out all [ could, and to settle my plans.
THE papers were full of accounts
of burglaries in the district, and from
the reports, L concluded it was Jim
Kelly, one of the first hands
Jim and me had been pals in cur
early days; but somehow he get on
better than most of us, and went his
way. But he was known to al the
profession-and the police, too, for
that matter-as a swell craftsman,
full of daring and pluck and un Usually
clever at avoiding capture. Why,
bless youl I've known Jimmy crack
crib night after night in tI.e same
neighborhood without being nabbed,
and then, when he'd made q nice lit
tie pile, quietly slope off anil do the
grand as large as duke. Many of
us would have been glad of helping
hand from Jim; but he always worked
alone.
''Now, thinks I, when l read of his
luck, I'd better make tracks and get
out of this, or else I'll lie taken in
stead of Jimmy.
GAS luck would have It, the man
ager always went regularly once
month to Dalthorpe, the headquar-
tiers of the bank, to settle all accounts
and store the deposits, Now was my
chance.
81 kept carefully out of sight of the
police all day, and, when night came,
started out with full supply of all 1
required in my pockets. By eleven
o'clock all was quiet, the lights in the
windows one by ona disappeared, and,
as the novelists say. silence reigned.'
Cautiously creeping from my hid
ing-place under a hedge, 1 lifted the
latch Of the gate, and entered the gar
den. The dry leaves on the gravel
path crunched altrmingly as I tip-toed
up to the house. And more than once
[ stopped-in fear lest 1 should be
discovered.
"The library window stood unshut-
tered invitingly before me. I carefully
tried the catch; it was unfastened.
was in luck, ard in less time than it
takes to tell it, was in the room.
Careless servants, very I NUT
tered, as I closed the window after
me, but I'm much obliged to EN- all
the same. Now for it. I looked round.
1t was a fair sized, lofty room, we'll
lined with bookcases; but books were
not what I'd come for-food for the
minds well enough, [ daresay, but
money for the pockets better. How
ever, I soon spied little iron safe let
into a corner of the wall, and I lost no
time in getting to work. The orna-
ments on the mantelpiece seemed pref
ty valuable. 1t was well worth COM
ing for, I soliloquised, as filed away.
1t was very troublesome, one of those
new-fangled locks that nobody knows
anything about. At last, with wrench,
the door few open. I bent forward
eagerly; but instead of the good haul
I had expected, it was perfectly empty.
81 started back in anger and dis
gust, my foot caught against some
thing, and over went that COMPOUNDED
lantern with a crash. Now / had done
it. [ kept quite still lest the noise
should have aroused any of the maids;
but presently L consoled myself with
the reflection that if it had they would
be much 200 frightened to come down
and see. A faint click caused me to
start and look round; there, standing
in the doorway, candlestick in one
hand and a revolver in the other, was
a man, apparently about fifty years of
age. we'll dressed, and looking every
inch gentleman. Here was a go.
sprang up and faced him. He was
certainly very cool, for, keeping his
eve steadily fixed upon me. he adj