The Press., 1900-04-26
ANOTHER. MAN -
IN THE HOUSE.
He Was Mistaken For Lover, but
Confessed That He Was a
Burglar.

DOudSuuc hACAC o. eAN NOOA ~~AN 60
a practiced ear at the keyhole. There
was a faint sound of breathing, SO
faint that Donaghue pressed his rough
ear still closer to the brassy aperture
in the door and listened even more In
tently. His small eyes glistened in the
dark hallway like the eyes of cat (he
had been nicknamed "The Cat" for this
very popularity, but there was no one
in the house to see those glistenine
eyes save tiTcaeorvants, fast. asleep two
stories above. and the occupants Vi
this one room. He had watched thai
house three preceding days and nights
He knew that it was occupied by q
young man and his wife - evidently
newly married and beyond doubt rich
He knew that the servants were, a
cook, two maids and a butler, and he
had almost worked out in his mind
just where the pretty wife placed hel
jewelry when she went to bed in the
second floor room and just what means
the husband took to secure his proba-
bly, we'll filled purse.
When one is in the habit of making
social calls of the description that Don
aghue was making. it is much better to
find husbands away from home, the
servants and occupants of the house
all asleep and the policeman on the
beat quite out of hearing.
The fact was Donaghue shrank from
notoriety. He preferred a quiet en-
trance by the window wholly unob
served if possible and, departing, lef'
not his card nor anything else that was
Of value and at the same time porta
BILE. Indeed Donaghue was not the
tall, handsome fellow that most heroes
are On the contrary, he was of medi
UNI height, spare, slouchy and had &
general appearance that was anything
but prepossessing. He was not mem
Der of polite society.
Dead easy" said Donaghue to him
self. "A young married couple. as
thought, and husbands away on the
loose. She's calling his name in hel
sleep. But l needn't expect him unit
morning, and when he does come home
he'll probably be drunk. That's wha
1 call dead easy"
He turned the knob of the door an(
opened it the fraction of an inch. His
small eyes glistened in the dark as BIZ
found that the door was not locked
and that in all probability it would moi
squeak.
Slowly and with infinite care he
opened the door and entered the room
Four feet from him, as he stood al
most breathless, with his hand still
clasping the knob of the door, lay the
sleeping form of a woman. A food OF
moonlight from the window fell upon
her and melted the pink of her cheek
the cream of her throat, the lace of the
nightdress and the white sheet thai
wrapped her into one semigolden hue
The undulation caused by her breath
ing made her look like dropping lily
swayed by the gentlest of breezes.
"Great heavensw thought Donaghue
what beauty~ He could hear hel
family mutter the name "Paul-Paur
at intervals, and he had a vague con
seriousness of a certain disrespect fol
Paul, whoever he might be. A mar
must be brute to leave such a WON
an alone at night. He fingered but 8
AAOAACAl, LhOuS0. DCnuty " as Lu1uS
of little value to Donaghue. His own
Maggie was hardly cursed with the
fatal gift of beauty, and she was quite
as jealous as other wives. He stepped
softly and quickly to the dressing case
at the other end of the room. He pick.
ed up a perfumed lace handkerchief
and threw it away impatiently, al
though in his more youthful days a
lace handkerchief he would have con.
sidered prize of no mean value. Be
low it he found what he wanted and
expected-a locket and chain, a jewel
ed watch, heavy bracelet, a pin and
what seemed to him a handful OF
rings. He held them all up in the moon.
light and noticed how they sparkled in
his trembling hand, and he smiled with
delight.
He turned and looked at her. He
felt like adding a stolen kiss to the
other jewels he had taken. He almost
laughed aloud at the thought of such a
man as he kissing such a peerless
beauty as the woman who lay on the
bed before him. And he was just
about to depart as peacefully as q SO.
cial caller when suddenly he heard the
slamming of the front door in the hall
below.
"Her old man." said Donaghue, for
getting that he was probably a young
man, "and I'm caught. Caught-bur.
glary-ten years at the least I'll kill
him. But I'll be caught whether /
kill hir1 or not, and''-self upbraiding-
ly-"1 could have got away easily
enough if l hadn't stopped to look at
her"
Again he stepped quickly to the door
and listened. He heard footsteps iu
the hall beneath. The man had STEP
ped into the back pt.Ilur, or library,
whichever it was. Perhaps the man
had been out ON business and would
stop there for minute or two at his
desk. Perhaps there was, after all, a
chance for escape. He was cool and
careful. He dropped the jewels on
the bed. 1t would not do to be caught
with them about him. And he went
out.
The door squeaked this time and the
young wife started in her sleep, awOke
and half rose in her bed.
Donaghue at the same time heard
the shuttle of feet in the room below.
He paused and listened at the top of
the stairs.
Even though the man had heard the
door squeak, he had not left the back
room.
Donaghue tripped down the stairs
as softly as cat. He had been in q
tight fix before, and he was never
cleverer than when he knew that he
was in danger.
But luck was against him. There
was fur rug at the foot of the stairs
The floor beneath was polished. He
slipped and fell, and in spite of himself
he uttered an exclamation that was pro-
fame enough to be Enthusiastically mas
culine. He heard the man rush from