The Stories of the Three Burglars Read online

for arms. Upon thetall man we found a large revolver, a heavy billy, which seemed as if ithad seen service, and a long-bladed knife. The stout man carried twodouble-barrelled pistols, and upon one of the fingers of his right handwore a brass ring with a murderous-looking iron protuberance upon it,which, when driven forward by his powerful arm, was probably moredangerous than a billy. Upon the younger man we found no arms at all,and his hip pocket contained nothing but a small handbook on civilengineering.

  I now briefly explained to David the nature of the trap which had caughtthe burglars. He gazed upon me with a face glowing with amazedadmiration.

  "What a head you have got, sir!" he exclaimed. "I don't believe there isanother man in this State who would have thought of that. And what areyou going to do with them now, sir; hang 'em? That's what ought to bedone with them, the hounds!"

  "All I shall do," I answered, "will be to keep them till daylight, andthen I shall send word to the sheriff at Kennertown, and have him sendofficers for them."

  "Upon my word," exclaimed David, "they are in the worst kind of a box."

  Now my wife called me again. "What in the world are you doing downthere?" she called; "why don't you come upstairs?"

  This annoyed me, for I was not yet ready to go upstairs. I wished toresuscitate these fellows, for their stupor was so profound that I beganto fear that perhaps they had taken too much of the drug and ought to bebrought to their senses as speedily as possible. This feeling was duemore to my desire that serious injuries should not occur to the rascalswhile in my house than to any concern for them.

  "My dear," said I, stepping to the bottom of the stairs, "I have somethings to attend to down here which will occupy me a few minutes longer;then I will come up to you."

  "I can't imagine what the things are," she said, "but I suppose I canwait," and she went into her room and closed her door after her.

  I now began to consider what was to be done with the burglars after theyhad been resuscitated. My first impulse was to rid the house of them bycarrying them out of doors and bringing them to their senses there. Butthere was an objection to this plan. They would be pretty heavy fellowsto carry, and as it would be absolutely necessary to watch them untilthey could be given into the charge of the officers of the law, I didnot want to stay out of doors to do this, for the night air was raw andchilly, and I therefore determined to keep them in the house. And asthey could be resuscitated better in a sitting position, they must beset up in some way or other. I consulted David on the subject.

  "You might put 'em up with their backs agin the wall, sir," said he,"but the dirty beasts would spoil the paper. I wouldn't keep them in adecent room like this. I'd haul 'em out into the kitchen, anyway."

  But as they were already in the library I decided to let them staythere, and to get them as speedily as possible into some position inwhich they might remain. I bethought me of a heavy wooden settle orbench with back and arms which stood on the side piazza. With David'shelp I brought this into the room and placed it with its back to thewindow.

  "Now, then," said I to David, "we will put them on this bench, and Iwill tie them fast to it. We cannot be too careful in securing them, forif one of them were to get loose, even without arms, there is no knowingwhat trouble he might make."

  "Well, sir," said David, "if I'm to handle them at all, I'd rather havethem dead, as I hope they are, than have them alive; but you needn't beafraid, sir, that any one of them will get loose. If I see any signs ofthat I'll crack the rascal's skull in a jiffy."

  It required a great deal of tugging and lifting to get those three menon the bench, but we got them there side by side, their heads hanginglistlessly, some one way, some another. I then tied each one of themfirmly to the bench.

  I had scarcely finished this when I again heard my wife's voice from thetop of the stairs.

  "If any pipes have burst," she called down, "tell David not to catch thewater in the new milk-pans."

  "Very well," I replied, "I'll see to it," and was rejoiced to hear againthe shutting of the bedroom door.

  I now saturated a sponge with the powerful preparation which Dr. Markshad prepared as an antidote, and held it under the nose of the tallburglar. In less than twenty seconds he made a slight quivering in hisface as if he were about to sneeze, and very soon he did sneezeslightly. Then he sneezed violently, raised his head, and opened hiseyes. For a moment he gazed blankly before him, and then looked stupidlyat David and at me. But in an instant there flashed into his face thelook of a wild beast. His quick, glittering eye took in the wholesituation at a glance. With a furious oath he threw himself forward withsuch a powerful movement that he nearly lifted the bench.

  "Stop that," said David, who stood near him with his iron club uplifted."If you do that again I'll let you feel this."

  The man looked at him with a fiery flash in his eyes, and then he lookedat me, as I stood holding the muzzle of my pistol within two feet of hisface. The black and red faded out of his countenance. He became pale. Heglanced at his companions bound and helpless. His expression now changedentirely. The fury of the wild beast was succeeded by a look offrightened subjection. Gazing very anxiously at my pistol, he said, in avoice which, though agitated, was low and respectful:--

  "What does this mean? What are you going to do? Will you please turnaway the muzzle of that pistol?"

  I took no notice of this indication of my steadiness of hand, andanswered:--

  "I am going to bring these other scoundrels to their senses, and earlyin the morning the three of you will be on your way to jail, where Ihope you may remain for the rest of your lives."

  "If you don't get killed on your way there," said David, in whosenervous hand the heavy biscuit-beater was almost as dangerous as mypistol.

  The stout man who sat in the middle of the bench was twice as long inreviving as had been his companion, who watched the operation withintense interest. When the burly scoundrel finally became conscious, hesat for a few minutes gazing at the floor with a silly grin; then heraised his head and looked first at one of his companions and then atthe other, gazed for an instant at me and David, tried to move his feet,gave a pull at one arm and then at the other, and when he found he wasbound hard and fast, his face turned as red as fire and he opened hismouth, whether to swear or yell I know not. I had already closed thedoor, and before the man had uttered more than a premonitory sound,David had clapped the end of his bludgeon against his mouth.

  "Taste that," he said, "and you know what you will get if you disturbthis family with any of your vile cursin' and swearin'."

  "Look here," said the tall man, suddenly turning to the other with anair of authority, "keep your mouth shut and don't speak till you'respoken to. Mind that, now, or these gentlemen will make it the worse foryou."

  David grinned as he took away his club.

  "I'd gentlemen you," he said, "if I could get half a chance to do it."

  The face of the heavy burglar maintained its redness, but he kept hismouth shut.

  When the younger man was restored to his senses, his full consciousnessand power of perception seemed to come to him in an instant. His eyesflashed from right to left, he turned deadly white, and then merelymoving his arms and legs enough to make himself aware that he was bound,he sat perfectly still and said not a word.

  I now felt that I must go and acquaint my wife with what had happened,or otherwise she would be coming downstairs to see what was keeping meso long. David declared that he was perfectly able to keep guard overthem, and I ran upstairs. David afterward told me that as soon as I leftthe room the tall burglar endeavoured to bribe him to cut their ropes,and told him if he was afraid to stay behind after doing this he wouldget him a much better situation than this could possibly be. But asDavid threatened personal injury to the speaker if he uttered anotherword of the kind, the tall man said no more; but the stout man becamevery violent and angry, threatening all sorts of vengeance on myunfortunate man. David said he was beginning to get angry, when the tallman, who seemed to have m
uch influence over the other fellow, orderedhim to keep quiet, as the gentleman with the iron club no doubt thoughthe was doing right. The young fellow never said a word.

  When I told my wife that I had caught three burglars, and they werefast bound in the library, she nearly fainted; and when I had revivedher she begged me to promise that I would not go downstairs again untilthe police had carried away the horrible wretches. But I assured herthat it was absolutely necessary for me to return to the library. Shethen declared that she would go with me, and if anything happened shewould share my fate. "Besides," she said, "if they are tied fast so theycan't move, I should like to see what they look like.