A Mere Amateur.

Otago Witness, Issue 2804, 11 December 1907, Page 91

A Mere Amateur.

A. -last .lie ' had forced the -window open. With gritted teeth and beating heart he' crept over -the sill and stood trembling in a luxuriously-furnished room. ' -Not daring to close the window after him, for feai^of awakening the inmates, the man gently drew the curtains across it to disguise from prowling policemen his means of ingress. Then, stooping, he removed hie boots. Inch by inch he crept, cautiously feeling his way through the <krk room. He found the door— it was open; now to gain, the stairs and ascend them. Oh! would he do it— would he? Only this once let him gain his object, and escape, and never again would he elide from the straight and narrow path. His hands touched the banisters, he felt for the stairs. Slowly he lifted a foot and placed it on the first etep. What seemed to him an ear-splitting creak sounded out. So loudly ' thumped, his heart that he was sure even if the creak had disturbed no one that 'his heart-beats must awaken the whole household, and then ! He waited for what seemed to him an eternity*— no sound. His foot was on the next, and then the next step. He would succeed ; he would. sj "I am waitng for you, Matthew, eaid a stera voice; ','it's after 1 o'olock. Just come upstairs like a rational being, instead of oreepinjr about like a burglar. I have a few words to say to you." With a heavy heart Mr Matthew Pecked mounted the remaining stairs to where Mrs Pecked, arrayed in dressing gown and curlpapers, awaited him on the' landing.