Evening journal., 1903-07-13
NJ ROOMMATE
loaglnal.l

WIS uhYcllnE one summer on W ISL
ness and had collected about S5OO/ rom
a man who insisted on paying " god,
1 stopped overnight at a T.otel "a
crowded that l was obliged 70 EoEe a
room with another man. He /,vas in
bed when ! went to the roc m and 7
did not see him. for while I wns ,.,-
dressing he had sheet Dir avn I'm ovar
his face and was apps .rontIr so,,,a
asleep 1 placed my m snev In INV in
side vest pocket ana, rolling nm tho
vest. placed it under%ny pillow This
being done, / lock ed the door vh,ch
was near my|bcdJlay down ana went
. TO sleep.
was'awakenedtn the night bv tbe
sound of'soneApetllic substance dron.
ping on wood and hy light shining in
the court saw'theri rilm figure of man
near the window placing something in
! a drawer Offthe haroau. Then heard
him shut Hhel drawer very cautiously
so as to makeithe least possible sound
lnstinctiVely l felt under my pillow
for my vest. 1t was gone!
SurelyAG had been robbed. and It was
evident fthat my gold had been depos-
tied in Sthe ,bureau drawer But why
had(theArobber not kept it on his per
son? Andswhy had he not taken IL
away? 'Helhad only to unlock the door
andfpass fout. But be would have TO
passtver7 near to my bed Indeed the
lock was iwithin a few feet of my
head, ,SandI remembered that the bolt
wentfintosthe socket with some dif1-
cuityiandjnois Doubtless the man
feared tohwazen me? He would await
his. opportunity. Meanwhile it was not
necessary that he should run the risk
Of beingfcaught with the money on his
person.
1 lay awake long while deliberat-
ng;what to do. had no arms with
mel besides. am not disposed to risk
my life with one Of these desperate
fellows. One doesn't know when they
may consider it TO their interest to Kill.
I must'use artidcc. Should wait till
I could hear the man drawing the
heavy breath of a sleeper, then crawl
to'the bureau, open the drawer, take
the money, crawl back 10 the door,
open 1t and bolt? l dismissed the plan
at once. The man probably would not
go TO sleep, and II he did the opening
Of the drawer might awaken him. No;
this plan was not TO be thought of.
The next plan / considered was to
get up and touch the electric button.
But this would not work, for did not
know where the button was located,
Besides, the robber might finish me
before could accomplish the purpose.
While was Illuminating / heard the
man turning in bed. He was evident.
ly not asleep. Then he got up. |
heard him feeling about for something.
The next sound was that Of his getting
into his clothes. He was going TO get
up and deliberately walk away with
my money.
A plan came to me, on which | acted
at once. ! groaned. The man stood
still In dark corner. Evidently he
had not calculated on my being awake.
l groaned again, this time as though IN
excruciating agony. Still the man
stood mOtionless and silent.
Il say" l cried, you in the other
bed! Call for help I'm dyingw
"Um-ah! What is it?'. in the tone
OF one suddenly awakened.
IL want a DOCTOR"
whats the matter with youY
At this point l was taken with such
severe paroxysms that l couldn't an
swer at once. For heavens sake,
strike a lightw l said as soon as
could speak
In a few moments the gas was lit,
and man in his nightshirt stood near
the foot Of my bed. ee 81
What should be my next move? III
asked him to rouse the house he might
expect to lose his plumber ana would
probably take it with him
Cant You go downstairs" 1 said.
ito the bar and bring me up q stiff
glass of brandy with Jamaica gin
geri"
nc hesitaleu, apparently not certain
Of the best course for him to pursue. /
began to groan again. this time fairly
shrieking with pain, at the same time
sitting up in bed and staring straight
at him. did this that he might not
take the contents of the drawer unless
he did it before my eyes.
Stop your yelling" he said "I'll
get what you want"
He put on some OF his clothes and
went out. l listened till / could hear
his footsteps no longer. then got up,
went to the bureau and found my vest
A coin had fallen from the pocket, and
1t was this that had awakened me. l
put the gold In my trousers pocket and
the vest back in the drawer.
Should / get away or await his re-
turnf / had made up my mind to hus-
tie on my clothes and go and was part
ly dressed when | heard the man re-
turning. / tumbled into bed aud re-
commenced my groans.
''rhe bars closed" he said.
'1s that SOP l asked despairingly.
"Then 1 must get up and go out to