The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-11
The RETIRED III RGLAH.
He Tells the story of One of His Not Very
Frequent Windfalis.


Il did. occasionally" said the retired burglar,
strike a little windfall: never many, but now and
then one. and this was one Of them:
1T was a pretty ordinary sort Of a house and
I didn't And a blessed thing downstairs in 1t
that was worth anything to me, and | wondered
II | should find any more upstairs. | got up
there In the course Of time, 10 Look and see, and
took a look into the front chamber. This roo O..
had two windows at the front the door from the
hall was in one side Of the room, pretty close 70
the back. The bed stood about midway between
the back and the front Of the room, with It's head
up against the wall opposite the wall the door
was In. So there. looking IN from the door, the
front II the bed vas toward you. Ii WAS Just
a plain sort Of an iron bedstead. with brass trm
mings. Against the side wall that the head Of
the bed was against. and b tween the bed and
the from, wall OF the room, Stood The bureau.
An these things | picked up gradually from
the door, with the aid Of my lamp and another
thing that | picked up in the same manner was
that the bed was occupied by a man, and that
he was a somewhat eNtraordinary sort oia man
not a giant but the next thing 10 II, and should
say more than a giant for strength. When
on his back. and stretched out as straig ht
as a man could h., and with his
heels together and toes straight up. | should say
he wore 10 shoes, al least, and h. hlIsd the
bed from end 10 end. lie must have been over Nix
feet tall, and he was bull, IN every way an the
same scale with his feet, big and brANny: big
legs and big body, broad shoulders and a deep
chest, a big man. I'm no chicken myself. hut
II this man had ever got his arms around me
he could have squoze me INTO pulp.
And now he was lying there fiat on his back
and sound asleep. and breathing regular and
true. lie wasn't snoring, but breathing that
loud sort Of a breathing that people often fall
into when they are asleep, that Is really more Ike
a gentle sort Of an exhaust, and he Was a gong
II slow and strong and steady, ! only hoped
he'd keep on that way I'LL got through looking
the room over, and them sailed IN, around the foot
Of the bed and up alon: the side OF II, between
II and the fnnt of the house, for the bureau and
got there without a Ctrak and Just as smooth
and easy a. could br, And after | got tler, |
found the bureau lust as clean as the rec, uf the
house, and Id turned around and faced toward
the door again, and was standing there, still,
To- shake myself together and start right, in no
hurry, but under absolute full control, when
the man stopped breathing that i, ne shut of,
the way people often do when they are about
- wake up, or turn over, or take a fresh start
sleeping. " nat he was going to do, Of course
couldn't ,ell bu! ! knew wouldn't have long
self for n little while, and the room Was about
as still as death.
Then the man turned in he'd toward me, still
up as, To- go on sleeping you couldn't
tell which he was goIng. u do. But
he dhni wake up. He'd been lying
on his back he turned now on his rght side,
and settled down again, making considerable
splashinK around in doing so, throwing his left
arm over ~ that II hung ont OF bed, str tChing
his head back, and then opening up again With
his reg ular breathing. He'd settled down Ia sleep
again, all night, and his breathing was good
and full, but 1t was a little different sounding
from before, and not quite so deep, and I knew
the weight Of that arm over the edge Of he bed
must wake him up before very long But he was
al right now, and now was the time Tor III To
90 and was bending forward Ia start when |
heard something drop, Just the sOftest kind II
a lIitl. sOunC, don't know but what | felt this,
instead OF hearing it, but something had dropped,
and in an instant | guessed what II WAS. The
man was still breathing away steady and regular
but true, and | turned my lamp down on the floor
under his Oyerhanging hand Ii was what eX-
peCted, but better than | expected a ring that
had slipped off one Of his fingers Of the ou,stretched
hand and dropped TO the floor, and IT was a spar
bler thatiOoked back at the bull : eye In my lamp
with = good bright light q It's own.
i had to sioop, and reach in under his hand
one OF ny very few windfalls."