The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-11-01

room with, and this particular gentleman
mad more than he needed-and while I
was going about collecting the vases and
otner little knick-knacks that pleased my
Iancy' stumbled upon the study of this
billionaire's son.
1T was 8 o'clock in the morning and
the lad was still at work upon his nathe-
mates, upon which he had hunked at his
Yale examinations. Naturally he sprang
10 his feet and demanded to know what I
wanted. l told him l wanted to he helm
full to anybody who needed assistance
Whereupon with some degree of sarcasm
he observed that possibly l could help him
on his mathematics Well, of course I'm
an educated man. and 1 accepted the chal-
IenSe right away. / sat down alongside OF
him. tackled the problems that We're wear
ing the bloom off his fresh young brain,
and in one hour and thirty minutes had
made the whole thing so clear to him that
colOrs"
He must have been grateful" said L
He was replied Gentleman Pete. He
sent me home in a cab and helped me
carry my sWag down stairs. But does not
this evidence convince you that l have a
right TO be considered an authority on the
difficult subject of Polite Burglary"
1t certainly does" 1 cried. with real
enthusiasm. You are the Chesterfield OF
the business par excellence. and l shall be
glad enough to include your book in my
series. What shall we call 1.-THE
ThiefS DontS%
He looked at me reproachfulIv.
Really, my dear sir, do you know
sometimes you surprise me" he said.
Never such title as that! You apparent
~ 90 not dltIerentiate between a thief
ana burglar. Thieves are necessarily
low people. They are the submerged class
among the light fingered"
humDIy beg your pardon | put in,
handing him a box containing hundred
cigars as a sort of paliati0n of my Offense
I've never looked into the question and
so cannot say that l appreciate all the
niceties of the business"
We'll, 1 can sum up the situation in a
very brief statement which you will prob
ably remember he said kindly. Suppose
you take MISSIONER He is a painter-or
was. Eh?"
Yes" said I.
And the man who inseribes in huge
New Jersey barn-he is also a painter. is
Certainly" I assented.
We'll you wouldn't call them both
artists, would you?'
No said i. =. would not. should
"WeIl, there's just as much difference
between thieves and burglars as there Is
between the ginger painter and MeissO-
nier. The thief is a common low born,
unskilled litter of other peoples property,
who will take anything he can lay his
hands on, from the plumbing of a coun-
try house to a door mat for the mere
pleasure of stealing, of deprvinS some
body else of what he has. But the ideal
burglar is a different creature. His is not
a business, but a profession. He acquires
intel!igently, not at haphazard. You
wouldn't catch a burglar of standing rob-
bling a small flat temporarily deserted by
the family of an ice chest or a ponEee
silk bath robe by climbing down the fire
escape from the floor above. He leaves
that kind of work to sneak thieves. His
work is carefully planned in advance; his
operations are bold and profitable, and as
a rule he robS people who can afford to
be robbed. 1t can never be said of Gentle
man Pete that he took from the poor and
needy, and it is Just to inculcate such
volume in this undoubtedly valuable series
of yours"
Here, perceivng that he had taken as
much of my time as he was entitled to and
putting my new pocket camera into his
overcoat pocket he rose up to depart
Il will send you the manuscript tOmor-
rowSby express" he said. Whereupon we
shook hands and he went out and /
pressed with the serious interest and pride
the man took in his profession. As yet
the manuscript has not arrived, but l have
had additional evidence OF Gentleman
Pete's capacity as a polite burglar in the
note L received by messenger from him
during the heavy rain Of yesterday. 1t
ran as follows:
Dear Sir-In the hurry of my departure
from your Office the other day forgot to
take with me your very handsome silver
mounted silk umbrella / hate TO trouble
YOU but il is raining so hard this morn
very much obliged if you Will send IT to
me at once by bearer. Yours very truly
Peter Pinkerton. b.
OF course l sent the umbrella and re-
ceived in return courteous acknowledge
ment of my prompt compliance with his
request.