Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-09-11

| Of the glass pane out. making an open
| ng large enough to insert the hand.
| worked so carefully that the diamond
! point scarcely made any of the grating
! noise so common when one operates
with cheap cutters. This one had been
made specially for me, and it was per-
feet in every detail.
AS I took the piece Of glass out and
! deposited it on the floor of the piazza
/ listened intently for few moments
to see If my operations had disturbed
anybody. Then applied my ear to the
hole in the pane to catch the breathing
of any watchdog.
Nothing could he heard of an alarm.
Ing character, and so | proceeded to
unfasten the window and to open it.
Now, ~ had been in the city or the
house huu been a modern one, | should
never have thought of opening that
window without searching for a bur-
glar alarm but out in the country,
miles away from any assistance and
in such an antique house did not see
the value of burglar alarm and con-
sequently never once gave it consider
alton.
I discovered my mistake in an in
slant, however. l had not raised the
window half an inch when there were
n ringing of bells and an electric buzz
ing all through the house that made
me turn pale. An amateur might have
thought that all the ghosts and spirits
of the dead had suddenly come to life
again. but l was too familiar with that
sound to be deceived
was off the piazza in half a minute.
Quick as l was, however, a fash Of
light in the windows of the house beat
me. The alarm had lighted every cleo
trio light in the rooms, and the old
mansion was In brilliant blaze.
Even at this critical moment, when
all my faculties should have been alert,
/ made another mistake. Instead of
seeking safety in the woods rs fast as
my legs would carry me waited to see
further developments. Would the doc
tor and his servant come out and
search for me? l laughed softly to
myself at the idea. Certainly they
could not expect assistance from an
other house inside of half an hour.
Then what was the burglar alarm for?
To frighten robbers away; that was
all, l concluded.
But I changed my mind a moment
later when l heard the quick patter of
steps that I knew did not belong TO
human beings. Two black objects
came rushing down the lawn from the
barn. and in the semidarkness I made
out two enormous Dane hounds. The
object of the burglar alarm flashed
across my mind in an instant.
The electric wire that had started the
bells to ringing had also released the
watchdogs. and they were now upon
me.
AS if by instinct they rushed upon
the piazza catching the scent almost
Immediately. But in that instant had
turned and fed toward the woods, my
only place Of safety. Could | reach
the woods and climb tree before they
caught up to me?
This question flashed through my
mind, but could not answer it. | al
ready heard their feet behind me, strik-
ing the ground with heavy patters as
they loped rapidly across the interven-
ing space.
The blood seemed to rush to my head,
and for an instant l thought of death.
] had never been cornercd quite so
completely before. l gathered up my
strength for a final effort and cleared
the fence with bound. but as leaped
upward the foremost Dane made a ire
mendous lope and cleared the top rail
OF the fence in fine style.
We both landed on the other side, but
the force of the hounds leap carried
him several feet over my head. Be-
fore he could turn upon me I had
cooked my revolver, and as he made a
savage dive toward me | exploded it
full in his face. The range was so
short that the explosion must have
partly stunned him, for he rolled over
and kicked few times and then lay
quite still
But had no time to prepare for the
second one. AS if angered by the sight