Show av 7 e B beisser I 1 ru I 1 I 1 Y FIRST burglary I 1 M I 1 f remarked F uncle bob sudden I 1 ly I 1 Us as dicky and he I 1 sat gat on the piazza together was committed when I 1 was IL a boy of twelve What lYou You committed 0 a burglary Z you uncle bob boat may oh that was an awful thing to do not such a very awful thing the way we did it said uncle bobs calmly listen and ill tell you all about it teddy gordon my school chum was the swiftest runner in Pokes ville one fourth of july he captured no less than 50 in prizes next morning I 1 met him coming down the road hello teddy said I 1 decided what to do with your money yet yett yes he replied tm im going into the burglar business ted gordon have you clean gone out your senses what on earth do you mean 9 I 1 exactly what I 1 say replied ted calmly ive got my eye on an easy house to begin on and look here bob im going to take you into partnership s well not it if I 1 know it said 1 I my eyes opening wide with amazement at teds beds coolness in the first place its dead wrong and in the second its very dangerous oh I 1 guess join in this enterprise ter prise all right responded ted with a smile now listen looking cautiously about to see that there was no chance of being overheard ted unfolded his plan why its a splendid scheme I 1 broke out presently of course ill join you and look here ted the old lady got any bulldog or anything and I 1 dont believe she even locks her doors nights corne come along now and let us ua get together our and arm in arm we strolled down the street muttering our plans as we went miss judith browm or aunt judy as she was often called lived in a somewhat dilapidated little cottage about hall half a mile down the road the poor old lady had recently fallen upon evil times the income with which she had tor for years managed to keep body and soul together was suddenly cut down to one half that amount and to make matters yet worse her eyes began to tall fail her so that she could no longer add to her small income by sewing and fancy work so altogether matters were looking about as black and gloomy as they well could the carpet in her sitting room was very threadbare the chairs bid and rickety and as tor for the table it could ac arcely support the few cracked dishes her frugal meal required her to put upon it occasionally aunt judy had a lady visitor and then with what mortification the poor woman was compelled to set before her caller chipped cups and saucers and to warn her not to bear too heavily on the chair upon which she was sitting only a few of her acquaintances quain knew tilly she said one evening to the little girl she kept more for company than anything else tilly tomorrow to morrow when you go down to the grocers see if he wont give you another soap box we must save the chairs tor for our bijl ers this evening after the fourth she was vms feeling very downhearted down hearted indeed it looked as though she would have to openly appeal to charity and this she had never been driven to before it was so hard to do it so hard A little after eight she and tilly retired to their chamber up under the eaves and soon they were fast asleep about ten when all was dark and still a wagon drove up and turning out from the road stopped on the other side of aunt audys back yard fence here it lay completely hidden both from the house and from the street three minutes later laier ted and I 1 poked out our heads above the boards and seeing that no one had been disturbed w we e climbed lightly over and crept up to the back door As we expected it was only on the latch for it if there was anything that aunt judy had no occasion to tear fear it was the midnight wel once inside the house we drew down the te blinds and lighted our bullseye lantern the old cat looked up at us in surprise from the kitchen hearth hearm and then evidently considering the idea of burglars too absurd to entertain tor for a moment again dropped off to sleep I 1 in the kitchen we quietly removed our shoes in true burglar fashion and crept forward the scene of our operations emu erat ions a us was as the sitting room whis whispered ted gently I 1 now if we are ar e discovered we are an found the situation lent the chest nut a afresh fresh pungency and it was as much as we could 1 do to td keep from I 1 bursting into ji a roar of laughter we got 80 evja conr ander control how bow aver d set sa to tow work w ark 4 Z dithering XVI u aa man chairs cb 21 SO as WO we v r ho at jirise tre W bear ar 1 thin 1 loathe aci 4 thi back adi b f doii after J X I 1 r that we ax P and aid then ia with mum thom ike jimia i a couple id ajajj of armfuls aaili each id IV johi W k I 1 I 1 by W rc v e cg iw 0 o uria I 1 V is lafi j F ia on aia th i j E v AE 91 i butom I 1 ake I 1 W it liw iw 11 i U I 1 aw ted I 1 it 11 11 I 1 i our wo ar 4 1 ael I 1 87 mag if Z lw 6 5 4 V io 1 a 0 ft M I 1 I 1 1 1 5 I 1 0 sra ware out of earshot that 9 th this 6 greatest I 1 lark out oh but won wat the old lady be surprised though I 1 i ted basore was snore serious he evidently felt his big responsibility as origin atar abir and smil hacker bAcker of the affair 1 I say boh bob he whispered what do you suppose a say if ifwers were found the only reply I 1 could make was ja another jenother scream of laughter j v when tilly carnet came down in the morning to light the fire her eyes almost popped out of her head with amaze ment As soon as she recovered herself she rushed upstairs on reaching the first flight however shil she paused as an idea entered her mind and stood leaning against the bannister then with a broad grin for her decision seemed to amuse her greatly she ran up and burst into aunt judya room oh missle missle she cried crie d ats all gone missie the robbers have all your furniture its all gone missle even to the carpet and spoons and everything poor aunt judy was a sight to behold in trembling haste she threw on her wrapper and hurried downstairs pushing open the parlor door the excited old lady received a shock which well nigh took her off her f feet there before her was a brand new set of furniture chairs sofa and table and the latter spread with a nice white tablecloth and with bright new knives and forks and spoons and pretty cups and saucers upon it the like of which she had never expected to see in her little home again in the center of the room was a nice large rug and stuck up in ia the corner was a roll of handsome carpeting sufficient to cover the border oi of the floor that was yet exposed with i a quick glance the astounded woman took it all in and then she dropped on her knees and sobbed aloud for some minutes she remained thus her head buried d in her hands and then rising her face greatly brightened she said sim simply cimpl pl make some tea tilly we must christen our new tea pot POL As tilly lifted the cover of that article something green flashed to her eye from the inside she shook it out oh look missie she cried look cooki here money see ten ten and five 25 oh missie this is just great the lord is good het he yes tes child replied aunt judy and then the old pride coming suddenly upon her she said but well have to find out who did it and send them back we keep them tilly its too much like charity A little later when the minister was going 9 by she called him to advise her no matter what his arguments were he had well nigh persuaded her to accept the gift without question when tilly clinched matters 11 sides missie she said offering her speech as a supplement to the ministers the burglars got your furniture halat they time enough to give up the new things when they bring back the old ones 11 1 I will keep them said aunt judy smiling and so ther the thing was settled yes the newspapers got hold of the affair and pretty soon teddy and I 1 were known about town as the blessed burglars but before this happened the minister at aunt audys request had inserted this little item reward offered any person giving information concerning the burglars who entered the premises of judith brown on the night of july beb will receive a thousand thanks As tor for the burglars themselves miss brown would be greatly pleased to have them call upon her some evening when she is awake to receive the gratitude their kindness and consideration deserves omaha bee |