“Hallo! Hallo, in there!”
The response came from my wife in bed.
“Open the door, Dan; open the door!”
Humbly I placed the lamp on the floor close by the door, caught a tight
grip on my old war-piece, and then quickly shoved the door wide open. I
intended, of course, after getting my bearings, to pick up the lamp and
enter the dining-room on a tour of inspection. But, I assure you, there
was no time for any such careful procedure. As soon as the door was
opened and the light went streaming into the dining-room, something fell
to the floor with a terrible thud, and quicker than it takes to tell it
a great big black something, that looked to me like a buffalo or
elephant, came bounding toward me. It was all so sudden that it
surprised me, and I fell back trembling. Over went the lamp. It broke.
Out came the oil. It took fire, and pretty soon the Cambrequin close by
took fire. Down I snatched it. I reached for the first thing handy, and
tried to smother the fire on the floor. In doing so, I stepped on a
piece of glass and cut my foot. I burnt my hands terribly. My night
shirt caught on fire. I ran to the bed and sat down in order to quench
the blaze. This shows I still had some presence of mind left, although,
as a matter of fact, this new extinguishing process scorched my legs
awfully.
[Illustration: HUNTING THE BURGLAR.]
When all was quiet again, and I lit another lamp in order to take an
inventory, my bedroom was a sight to behold! I found that in the
struggle, my old army sword had been plunged amidship into the handsome
mirror of our dresser, and had also made havoc of a reproduction of
Millets’ Angelus. I discovered, also, that I had used my brand-new $50
overcoat to extinguish the fire, and that many of the handsome photos of
our friends that stood on the mantle had been ruined. Altogether that
one night’s experience cost me in the neighborhood of $100, not to
mention my own personal injuries. It was a terrible night, I tell you.
And far off in one corner, I saw, crouching in abject fear, the cause of
all my troubles--the burly black burglar. And what do you think it was?
It was nothing in the world but an old black Tom Cat, who had been a
member of our family for many years!