Omaha daily bee., 1899-01-30
THE RETIRED BURGLAR.
one OF the Most Curious of All Hts
Memn rkRbIe Experiences.

NcmorkabIe Experiences.
In the course OF my time" says the re-
tired burglar in the New York sun, 81 have
opened a considerable number OF iron boxes
OF one sort and another. but never one
under more peculiar circumstances than
this one. in house IN small town In
this state. This safe stood in the dining
room against the wall on one side; my
light fell on 1t when | opened the door
of the room to look in. 1t was big old
fashioned safe. more likely. here. 10 con-
tain documents and mortgages and one
thing and another like tbat. than money.
But a safe is always a pleasant thing TO
look at; II makes you think OF money. any
way, and so | was glad to see this safe,
and, of course, hoped ia find lot OF stun
in It, too. Then | started to swing nv
lamp around to take a glance at the rest of
the room before walking in. but | hadn /
more'n begun TO move 1t before | brought
into the light pair OF shoes with the heels
on the floor and the soies up at an angle
OF about 10 degrees toes toward the safe.
Tbere were feet in those shoes. of course,
and the legs went up from the other side
at an angle Of As degrees. to what | didn t
need to look to see was a man sitting there
in chair in front OF the safe, asleep.
well now, yon know, that was unex-
pectee; and while II man in my business
mus. expect unexpected things and be ready
for EN- and not be surprised or startled.
this was really so very unusual that | will
admit l was just little bit startled by it
and my hand must have shaken little and
while under most circumstances tina.
wouldn't have made the slightest difference
in the world, here 1t made all the differ
ence in the world, for the hand that shook
halJ 1a,,,
at that moment close to the jamb Of the
door. l knocked the lamp against 1t; Just
a little bit OF tick, but enough to wake
up the sleeper; I could see his feet draw
up toward the chair.
Then / wanted to get out myself and |
started along the hall / was in toward the
cellar door I'd come in at. but | hadn't
taken two steps before l heard man say.
Hold on, there-wait. Come back
"And went back 1t was a command
but 1t was an invitation. too. and | was
ready to meet it or to chance it and I went
back to the dining room and looked in and
saw a man lighting the gas; he'd been
having for light before a kerosene lamp
that / saw now standing on the table with
the oil burned out The man turned and
says to me:
Come in
"He wasn't quite so tall as was. but he
was a pretty solid sort of a citizen. who
could have held his own with me in a
square rough and tumble easy; and he
was a man who was accustomed to bossing
things and having folks do what he said
| couldn't tell for the life OF me what nc
was, what his business was, but I guess
he was just simply the richest man in the
town and spent his time looking after his
property. And when I'd come in he says
what's your business, my friend?'
And said was travelling blacksmith.
Hint. he says. You do most of your
work nights?'
And ! said yes, did do more or less
night work.
land / imagine you've got handy kit
Of tools right in that bag there, now he
says, pointing to my bag, that l had set
down alongside of the chair was sitting
in.
And l said yes, had tools there for any
ordinary work
You see that safe? the man says,
pointing toward the safe he'd been sitting in
front OF when l first looked in. and | looked
at it and saw the big, old fashioned safe,
looking very imposing and strong but Il
safe that man that knew how could cut
u
1 said yes, l did.
We'll, says the men, i want to get into
that safe. There's some papers in there that
I've got to have in court tomorrow morn
ing or this morning. rather at so-and so, at
10 o'clock And I've broken the key and
I've been trying here for half the night to
break the safe open. DO you suppose you
could open lt?'
We'll / had to kind of cough to conceal
my emotions. because | could have opened
the old box. you know, In ten minutes; bu,
| said yes could open it, thought
Well, now, says the man, you pitch in
and open it, and he sat down in a chair
there near the safe and got ready to see me
work. And put my bag upon the table and
got out my tools and went at it, with the
owner looking on, and greatly Interested. He
was man of years, but this was some
thing new to him.
"ln about three quarters OF an hour had
the door of the safe off and laid on its back
on the floor.
" You certainly are a handy man with
tools, eh?' says the man, and then he asked
me to look through the safe and see tha,
there was no money in it, which was quite
right There WASH: any. You'd have got
nothing says the man. But you've saved
me lot Of bother and trouble. he says,
getting those papers for me in time, and I
want to pay you for it. How much do you
think ought to give you?'
And said Id leave that to him.
How much do you make day.? he
says.
And told him my earnings varied; that
sometimes / made nothing and sometimes
| made good deal, but | thought didn't
average more than $40 day He seemed
to have his own ideas about that, too; but
he handed me over twenty dollar note and
said the work was worth 1t to him.
And then he escorted me to the door And
he didn't ask me not to come back nor
threaten nor warn nor anything; he knew
that my knowledge of his habits about
money insured him from any further visits
from me, as far as that was concerned, and
he wasted no words over 1t. He just let me
out the door and didn't even say good
night.
II, ,,rtN It,,,.,