The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1905-12-29
A Burglar 5 Story


How did y 20 lfE'
"Got o tip that an old miser Twin at
20 street had fine lot O. swag in
his chimbIey. Them miser buffers is
jist the kind ! likes to handle, seem
their money don't do 'em nor nobody
else no good, MS better in circulation.
goes to 70 n finds 1t a trap. / only
had TO shake the back door to open
up, n went into the kitchen. There
wasn't nothin' there but an old cook
stove, chair IA few coolzin' pans
hangin on the wall. If it hadn't been
q miser's place, Ia "a went away
drops my boots. n with my lantern in
my left hand n my gun in my right
them nisers II die for their money
mounted the stairs. what didn't have
no carpet on to en-. got halfway up,
When heered the softcst leetle voice
say:
Mamma
'sY' didn't never hear a child call to
its mother in the middle Of the night,
did y? Wual. it's jist like a voice COM
IN outen the blessed regions the min
lister used to talk about when was a
boy
" i want a drink o. water. the little
thing said. heered the mother cit up.
s'pected them kind o people didn't
have no water upstairs n that she'd
come right down But she didn't. She
went TO the winder, spcct n must
"a got some water. for the next I
heered was a child drinkin' with the
noise they makes-sort O. gulpin' it
DOWN. the mother said:
There. go to sleep, sweetheart
And Instead o sayin it like one O us
she said ii like lady. knowed she
was lady, got run down.
There wasn't much TO this, but it
happened ia the middle D the night,
and, you know, at that time things ii
inipressin', specially revolver niuz-
zlc At q faller's ear. ana couldn't git
the little uns soft voice outen my
mind. nor the mothers. neither Any
way. somep'n ratified ne, for / stepped
back, then mp, not KNOWN which way
to 20. and the stairs creaked.
Mamma. said the little voice. did
you hear that noise:'
/" No, darlln'. Go 10 sleep; there was
no noise
lis II a burgiarT
mo. Of course not
"tNyhat ii d burglarY
"a man who takes things from other
people. Now 10 u sleep
~Bnt the child Insisted on It's mother
goin' to see what Gle noise was about.
so she cot up and stood a moment at
the head o the stairs. The little TN
must a ratified me terrible. cause IN
putin my lantern under my coat l LET
out ray o light The woman saw
Il. In the coolest way in the world she
said:
You are welcome TO anything you
can find here Heaven knows IL there
were anything in the house that could
pawn Tor a breakfast for my little one
would pawn liz
Madam, said, brIngin' ont the
light. do you and your child live here
aionaT
ayes.
No old manr
..No.
Il believed her and. biddin' her good
night. went outen tic house the same
way I come In. The next day / learn.
ed from the feller as put ME on to the
naiser business that IN layin down tho
number he intendcd TO make ii III but
his blooinin' 1gurcs was SO bad that |
TUX his fora7
II couldn't git the soft voice of the
child ouFen INV ears somehow. nor the
pale, snfreiin' face of ITS mother ~ SHE
stood there at the heal 81 he stairs
lighted by my lantern ia had a big
streak O luck lately and II was about
time got RIM ia ag'in. II wasn't long
before the cops had me c0rnTed. and I
know It was matter Of il few days
before they'd Sit inc. Course when
they got me It meant at least another
ten ycsrs' tigac. What nd do with
the plumber had on handg There was
two ways come up 10 inc how to nse it,
One was to lessen my tlmc by givin' It
up to the owners the other to hand 1t
over to the woman with the child.
'Waal, made m rny mind to give It
to her. | turned 1t MI Into cash.
knowcd If left it with her without d
deceivin' story as 10 her comm by It
honestly she'd try and find the owner
went to her house the night before [
was TUX. lifted the kitchen h'arth and
put the ssVag under In the fnor1in' |
posted a letter to her tellin' her that
onct miser lived IN that house and
had left q heap o. stuff under the
kitchen h'artll HE was dead long ago
and hadn't got no relations.
II hadn't rnore'n rot the letter posted
before a cop put his hand on my shoul-
der
The narrator paused to relight his
pipe. TINT had gone out.
.sfhey offered 10 knock five years
ofT-n my time" he resumed, IF Id tell
where to find the STUFF, but it wouldn't
done me no good anyway Twenty
years was same as fifteen to me. Be
sides. broke Jail in three,
"Did the woman ind the swagir
Spect she aid ! met her on the