The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1906-05-10
A Burglar $ Story
[Original.1

ohhSt ASihoNAh3 q SuoSly piPS.
onct beat the state for another per-
SON."
"How did y do it?"
"Got tip that an old miser livin' at
70 P street had fine lot O. swag in
his chimbley. 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.
l goes to 70 n finds it trap. 1 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 N few cookin' pans
hangin' on the wall. If it hadn't been
a misers place, I'd "a went away. /
drops my boots, n with my lantern in
my left hand n my gun in my right
them misers III die for their money
mounted the stairs, what didn't have
no carpet on to 'em. I got halfway up,
when 1 heered the softest leetle voice
say:
"'Mamma.'
'sY' didn't never hear a child call to
it's mother in the middle of the night,
did y? Waal, it's jist like voice com.
in outen the blessed regions the min.
lister used to talk about when was a
boy.
"'I want drink O. water the little
thing said. heered the mother git up.
l spected 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, I 'spect, n must
"a got some water, for the next l
heered was 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 it like lady. l knowed she
was lady, got run down.
"There wasn't much to this, but it
happened In the middle O. the night,
and, you know, at that time things is
impressin', specially revolver muz-
zle at feller's ear, and couldn't git
the little un's soft voice outen my
mind, nor the mothers neither. Any
way, somep'n ratified me, for stepped
back, then up, not knowin' which way
to go, and the stairs creaked.
Mamma said the little voice, did
you hear that noise?'
"'No, darlin'. Go to sleep; there was
no noise.
"'Is 1t burglar?
"'No, Of course not
"'What is burglarT
ga man who takes things from other
people. Now go to Sleep
'But the child insisted on it's mother
goin' to see what the noise was about,
so she got up and stood a moment at
the head O. the stairs. The little un
must "a ratified me terrible, cause in
putin my lantern under my coat let
out ray O. light. The woman saw
it. In the coolest way in the world she
said:
You are welcome to anything you
can find here. Heaven knows if there
were anything in the house that I could
pawn for breakfast for my little one
l would pawn it,
Madam said, bringin' out the
light, do you and your child live here
alone?
ayes
"'No old man?
Ono
II believed her and, biddin' her good
night. went outen the house the same
way l come in. The next day 1 learn
ed from the Teller as put me on to the
miser business that in layin' down the
number he intended to make it 10, but
his bloomin' figures was so bad that
TUX his 1 for a Z.
Il couldn't git the soft voice Of the
child outen my ears somehow, nor the
pale, sufferin' face Of it's mother as she
stood there at the head O. the stairs
lighted by my lantern. I'd had big
streak O. luck lately, and it was about
time got run In ag'in. 1t wasn't long
before the cops had me cornered, and I
knew it was matter Of few days
before they'd git me. Course when
they got me it meant at least another
ten years time. What 'ud 1 do with
the plumber had on hand? There was
two ways come up to me how to use it.
One was to lessen my time by givin' it
up to the owners, the other to hand it
over to the woman with the child.
"Waal, made up my mind to give it
to her. turned it all into cash. I
knowed if I left it with her without a
deceivin' story as to her comm by it
honestly she'd try and find the owner.
l went to her house the night before
was TUX, lifted the kitchen h'arth and
put the swag under. In the mornin'
posted a. letter to her tellin' her that
onct miser lived In that house and
had left heap O. stuff under the
kitchen h'arth. he was dead long ago
and hadn't got no relations.
II hadn't more'n got the letter posted
before cop put his hand on my shout
der"
The narrator paused to relight his
pipe, that had gone out.
'They offered to knock Eve years
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