Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1902-02-27
OUR LECTION
NV only protection against burglars

was either nnrd of Il ring or he could
not G,ar!u!..i..,r "A ir,nI,is ana
foes, but by lie l..... ..a,i owned JACK
fortnight none Ut my friends would
come near me.
So l followed the example of the
clown at the circus who owned an elias
tic dog. took him in at night and
let him out In the morning. Jack had
his chair in the sitting room, close to
q veranda and a window, from which
the side gate could be seen and past
which the sidewalk extended for a
square or SO, ours being the last house
on the block.
I sometimes wondered myself II I
was not as much afraid Of the dog
as of the burglars, but he never moved
from his post, and l became used to
his low growls and barks If any one
passed. which did not often happen.
One day a company of friends came
from the city and stayed over night
at my earnest solicitation. We sighed
several times during the evening, "Oh.
for a man" But there was not one OF
those useful bipeds in the company.
After music and a late supper we told
ghost stories and ended up with bur.
glar experiences, by which time there
wasn't thimbleful of brains among
us-nothing but hysterical fears and
nervous tremors.
Then we had a good deal Of trouble
In composing the dog. Seeing new
faces seemed to disturb him, and he
was full Of low growls that were
threatening and belligerent. He want
ed to fly at each one Of my friends sep
arately. Then he tried to take them
collectively, but I hung on his collar
with both hands, while Hannah coax
ed him with bone, and we finally
landed him in the old chair, which was
his throne by day in the woodshed and
his couch by night in the parlor. Once
there, he curled himself up for keeps.
while the rest Of us scrambled up
stairs and shut ourselves into our sew
eral apartments.
1t was the noon Of night and as light
as day with full moon when I was
awakened by hearing some one at my
door and a small feminine voice call
ing In hushed syllables. "Let me in;
oh, let me in" and opened the door
instantly and saw a company of ghosts
in the hall, each one Of whom whisper
ed in accents that Glove to the roof Of
her mouth:
Burglars, burglars in the house"
I whispered back, with Gathering
teeth, Its Jack"
Jack was indeed making remarka-
BILE demonstration. He neither barked
nor growled, but made strange hiss
ing noise that am told is native to the
bloodhound alone and is the most awe
inspiring threat that bloodthirsty dog
can make.
"Don't," said one of my friends as
was about to turn on light.
IF you do, the burglars will see us.
Let us look out of the front windows.
1t Is as light as day, and they will not
know that we have seen them"
So we crept, hand in hand, with two
frightened children clinging to us, to
the windows, STOPPING low so that we
could not be seen, and, sure enough,
two men were walking along softly in
the middle Of the road, coming directly
toward the house by the side where
the dog was on watch, and no doubt
they were quite unconscious that there
was any dog on the premises. for when
they reached the door they stepped
upon the sidewalk, opened the gate
noiselessly and climbed the two steps
to the veranda.
During this time the dog had kept
up that same peculiar expression Of
his anger, and l had seized the seven
shooter and was grasping 1t In cold
and shaking hand, but the moment the
two men stepped on the. veranda the
dog sprang from his chair to the table
and threw himself against the window
with yell of rage that was like the
roar of wild animal, followed by that
long. baying cry familiar to those who
have ever heard pack of bloodhounds
give tongue.
We all thought the window was bro
ken from the easement, that perhaps
the men would shoot our only protect
or and make their way in, but in a
moment we were treasured. The noise
the dog made prevented our hearing
anything, but we saw the two men 60
ing away, at first slowly, then faster,
and they went back the way they
came
Were they burglars? Wait till I fin
ish my story. The next day took my
little family and accompanied my
friends to their home in the city. We
had each noted the dress, size and gen.
eral appearance Of the two men, one
being tall and wearing derby hat.
while the other was short and wore q
cap.
There was great excitement at our
little suburban station, and a crowd OF
people had gathered about some police
officers who had captured two men
We craned our necks and saw our two
burglars.