The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-03-29
My Burglary
Ii Had Farreaching
Results
BY ELINOR MARSH

e L ldu lofcu
beautiful scenes. l took to drawing
picturoe oarl- and In time became
va er Ga =; 'tchcr. In summer time
1 Grove around in a vehicle called a
rockaway, drawn by an old horse that
had been In my family a long while
and in whom l had every confidence.
At night l would sometimes stop at
hotel, sometimes at farmhouse, and
occasionally would place my blankets
on grassy ground and spend the night
In bivouac.
One evening when l was some miles
: from a town. which 1 expected to
reach before dark, Bob went lame.
! Looking about for shelter-for / could
not get on with lame horse-I espied
short distance ahead of me, perched
on ledge a cottage. 1t was as artistic
piece of architecture as l ever saw,
with its grounds and vines growing
over It, Indeed, the tout ensemble
constituted thing of beauty. III /
could only be permitted to spend the
night there l would be delighted
managed to get Bob to the gateway
Of the place and up a short winding
road leading to the house. / was dis
| appointed in not seeing any one about,
and as | drew near it occurred to me
that the place was unoccupied. The
blinds were not closed and there was
nothing to indicate that the house was
empty. What was 1t that told me that
| the place was deserted!
Leaving Bob standing in the road
way, l went to the house and raped
| on the front door with brass knocker.
| It did not seem to me, IL there had
been any one within, that those knocks
would have sounded so hollow. listen
ed, but there was no Indication of any
one stirring. Going around to the rear
failed to see any indication of liv-
| ing being. There were no chickens, no
| dog, not even lonely cat. Only a
| few flowers IN beds near the house that
I judged grew without being cultivated.
There was woodshed and some wood
in 1t, but plenty Of room for Bob in
case l should have to leave him there.
| Looking In at window, | saw a
library with fine broad fireplace and
among the furniture a large lounge.
The sash was locked, and went to
other windows, but found them locked
also. a trelis led to an upper window.
1t looked easy to climb, and went up
1t and found the sash unlocked. l went
into bedroom and down staircase.
The front door was locked and no key,
but l opened a side door by turning
the latch.
l could understand the fascination of
burglary so interested was / In appro-
priating the premises to my use for the
night. There was zest In temporarily
owning this place, so beautiful and yet
so desolate, which was enhanced by
my having to break into 1t and learn
what there was suited to my necessi.
ties.
The next thing was to unharness
Bob and give him his supper. Then
went into the house with my lunch box
in which | always kept something and
In which now fortunately had enough
to satisfy my appetite. There were
cupboards In which eatables might be
stored, but they We're locked. After
eating | lighted a lamp In the library
and looked over the books. 1t was evi
dent that whoever had filled these
shelves was well educated and intel
ligent person. | have never before
come upon library in which every
book had value. And what surprised
me most was that some of the books
We're up to date. read till quite late
then. throwing myself on the lounge
put out the lamp and went to sleep.
On awakening in the morning l wa:
astonished to detect the odor of coffee
What did ii mean? Was the house
after all. occupied? Had the occupant.
returned late? arose and went into
the dining room. The table was set fol
breakfast. but for only one person
Hurrying on, entered the kitchen. Oh
the range a kettle was simmering. anG
there was coffee pot that emitted the
odor. A toast rack stood on the range
filed. and couple of eggs were read,
for boiling.
/ l started to find whoever had com,
in. to apologize for my burglary. and
not finding any one on the groun,
floor, went cautiously upstairs. TIL,
bedroom doors were open as l had lef
them the night before. but no one wa
In any of them. The house was rs FREE
from any person except myself as /
was when broke into IL.
II went downstairs again, locke,
about me and listened. There was n
sound save the simmering kettle In tn
kitchen.
II Was l In my right mind? Was
asleep and dreaming? Was enactin
play for a movie shown
But the odor of the coffee, the re
membrance of the toast and the eggs
to say nothing of a dish of radishe
and some tempting butter on the breai
fast table, overpowered wonder. ant
going into the kitchen, l boiled th
eggs. and. removing them and th
toast to the breakfast table. sat dow
| to eat Nv grace was.