HIS FIRST AND LAST BURGLARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2707, 31 January 1906, Page 90

HIS FIRST AND LAST BURGLARY.

By Tomahawk.

(For the Witness.)

He groped his way up the carriage-drive in the dark. He was afraid to use his dark lantern lest some wandering guardian of the law might see the lantern's reflection and pounce upon him.

James Mills was by profession a railway porter, but, being rather hard up, he had resolved to burgle the house of Johnson Vere de Vere, the owner of a large mansion just outside Jimmies native town.

Besides being hard up, Jim was in love — desperately in love, — and the object of his affections was Cecile Mayer, Mrs Vere de Vere's pretty maid. When Jim had confessed his love to the beauteous Cecile (who, it must be told, was a sad flirt) she had turned up her nose and refused him point blank. Jim was also an inveterate gambler — not one of your cold-blooded gamblers who play cards and lose all their money in that way. Oh, no ! Jim's mania took the form of buying innumerable tickets in TattersalPs, and not a sweep did that enterprising firm organise but Jim had at least three tickets in it. And, like ninetynine out of every hundred devotees of this delusive form of chance, Jim had abominable luck : never by any chance did one of his tickets draw a prize.

On the particular night on which this incident occurred Jim groped his way up the carriage-drive in the dark — now colliding with some invisible bush, and now blundering off the drive altogether. Jim had one little idiosyncrasy : he always thought of his grammar lessons when anything like this occurred ; and after repeating the definition, "An adjective is a word which describes what a thing does," etc., is it to be wondered at if he gave a few emphatic illustrations? By-and-bye, after what seemed to Jim hours of blundering about in the pitchy dark, he stumbled up against an ornamental balustrade, and knew that he was not far from the house. Groping about, he soon found a window, which yielded when he pushed it up ; and, placing his brand-new burglar's kit on the ground, he carefully raised the sash, so as not to make the slightest noise, and quietly crept into the room, which turned out to be the kitchen. Striking a match he lit his dark lantern, but after a cursory glance round the room he found that there was nothing of value in the culinary department ; so he silently found the staircase and as silently crept upstairs, carefully testing each step before he trusted his weight on it. Luckily there were but few creaky steps in that staircase, so Jim soon found himself at the top of the flight without having disturbed anyone. The next object to be attained was to find the library, where he knew there was a large safe wherein Mr Vere de Vere kept his ready money and private papers. Stealthily he made his way along a passage and opened a door ; but a prolonged snore warned him that that room was not the one he was in quest of. Again he tried, and this time the light of his lantern shining on the bound backs of many rows of books told him that he had at last reached the library. Quietly he stepped in and closed the door, and looking around he soon espied the object of his search — the big safe — standing in a corner of the room.

"Hang it!" he growled beneath his breath. "I've left my kit outside that blamed window !"

Whilst wondering what to do Jimmy heard a footstep in the passage. "By gum !" he thought, "they're coming in here !" — for the footsteps had stopped outside the library door. Hurriedly Jimmie hid himself beneath the little table which stood in the centie of the room. "Just in time," he thought, for the door opened, and Jimmie from his hiding place saw the end of a long white nightdress with a pair of shapely feet peeping out from under its snowy folds.

"A blooming woman!" he muttered; then, whilst thinking of his kit, ho iccollected that ho had left his dark lantern — luckily with the dark slide on — over on the safe.

The /oman was evidently looking for some paiticular book, for she had plated the oil lamp, which she had been <arrying, on the table, and was cloaclv examining the tightly-patked shehos ot books.

Stealthily Jimmie crept out, intent on regaining his dark lantern while tho woman faced the otliei way.

Crash! He had a< < iJentall v o\pr turned the light table wheieon the lamp was standing and under which he had been hiding. In an instant the whole room was in flames. With a loud scream the woman turned lound. and. to add to his dismay, Jnninie iound that she was his beautiful C'erile — the i< \ hcvitcd girl who had stolen his Ik ai t ,iv. a\. It turned out later that she hid bmn s ( -ut by hor mistress, who rou'd not shin, to ft tcli a tertriiu book horn th< hbiars.

Thf fl ft m os leaped liiylu-i, ai..l miiii i moved. The £ul s^em-rd btupi (i J vitl teiror. Alter the first t>ht»> k JiijiPin wa-> cijajl to the occasion. Kublnnt; aii'j» the ro'vn, he seized the temfied icirl lound tlip v/Hnt. aii'l, wiv.ppiiiy hib co.«t. whi'li ha Ikk] )>! i>\ J ;ii.,| y 1 ( lUU\ {'<), lOUlld ll 1 beautiful Ik, id and •Jiuiildeis. ho dashed tkiou^h the h\u.Ki ior iLe door. Il was

stuck, and would not open, and the fierce tongues of flame— every minute growing bigger — licked Jimmies face as he struggled with the refractory door-lock. At last the door gave, and, singed and scorched, his face one mass of blisters, he struggled with his burden down the stairs and into the drawing room, where he deposited the almost senseless girl on a sofa. Then he started for the door in order to warn the fire brigade. " Don't leave me, Jimmie," gasped Cecile. for she had recognised him. '"But I must warn the brigade," expostulated Jimmie. "I won't be long, dear." "There's — a telephone in — the hall,' said me girl, who had barely recovered from her fright; "use that." Without a word Jimmie dashed to the instrument and gave a loud ring. "Number, please?" came the thin litfle voice from the exchange. " Wait a minute," said Jimmie, who in his hurry had forgotten to look up the fire brigade's number. "Yes — it's — it's Xo. 1," he continued, almost in the same breath. Jimmie afterwards confided to Cecile that he seemed to wait hours before he heard tho "Hullo!"' of the night watchman at the fire brigade station.^" "Tl ere's a fire at Cliellodene," he answered. "Mr Vere de Vere's house. You know ! Come at once." "Right" came the answering voice from the station ; " we'll be there immediately." By this time the whole household was alarmed, and the frightened servants were clustered m tht big hall at the foot of the stairs, The brigade soon arrived, and after a short shaip struggle, with the assistance of the many townspeople who had tumol out- and the servants, got the flames well under hand. Then Jimmie went back to Cecile, who by this time had managed to find a fewmore articles of apparel than those in which Jim had first seen her. "Oh. Jim '"' she said reproachfully, "how could you?" Jim only hung his head and said shamefacedly. Well, I'm so hard vp — md you won't marry me, you know, Cecile, so I felt mean-minded and desperate," he added rather lamely Cecile said nothing, but commenced to trace out ihe pattern on the oilcloth with '.he toe of her dainty shoe. '• I'll get locked up for this when they find out," continued Jim pathetically ; " just because of Tattersall's — and because you wouldn't marry me," he added as if by a sort of inspiration: "just because yon wouldn't marry nie." Cecile looked at him queerly out of a pair of dreamy eyes, and said, "Well, yen know, Jim, you couldn't keep a wife — you spend all your money in. Tattersall's sweeps." Jim's face lit up, and he stepped over and took the frail and shapely form in his arms. "Then you do love me, Cecile!" he cried. "If I can make a nice comfortable home for you, will you marry me?" Jim, in his great joy, it will be noticed, had forgotten all about the burglary. Cecile gave him a shy little look and buried her face on his shoulder, and Jim, thinking of the old maxim, "silence means consent," kissed her again and .itjau:. "Oh, Cecile!" he ciied, "you've made me the happiest man in New Zealand tonight." Next morning a telegram came for Jim, and wondering greatly who could have sent it, of>ened it, to find tha* bis luck had turned at last, and one of his tickets had drawn a prize. The amount astounded him. "First prize— £soo," lie gasped; " £5,000 !" and then he rushed off to tell Cecile of his good fortune. • • • « ■ Jim was not arrested on a charge of burglary, for the good reason that no one but Cecile and himself knew of his Lousebreaking escapade. Ceeile had told her mistress that the lamp got overturned in the library, "which wasn't a lie, was it" she exjDlained to Jim. Mr and Mrs Mills now own a nice little hotel, and of an evening, after all the bustle of the day ie over, and Jim and Mrs Jim aie sitting over their nic, Jim often thinks of how I'ecils w is billing to sacrifice herself for such a worthless scamp as he, aiA aUo of his first aixl last burglniy.