So he approached the door silently, and
jumped and caught at the top of the wall and stuck one foot on the
handle of the door, and, with the other on the knocker, drew himself
up and looked cautiously down on the other side. He had done this so
lightly that the only noise he made was the rattle of the door-knob on
which his foot had rested, and the man inside thought that the one
outside was trying to open the door, and placed his shoulder to it and
pressed against it heavily. Van Bibber, from his perch on the top of
the wall, looked down directly on the other's head and shoulders. He
could see the top of the man's head only two feet below, and he also
saw that in one hand he held a revolver and that two bags filled with
projecting articles of different sizes lay at his feet.
It did not need explanatory notes to tell Van Bibber that the man
below had robbed the big house on the corner, and that if it had not
been for his having passed when he did the burglar would have escaped
with his treasure. His first thought was that he was not a policeman,
and that a fight with a burglar was not in his line of life; and this
was followed by the thought that though the gentleman who owned the
property in the two bags was of no interest to him, he was, as a
respectable member of society, more entitled to consideration than the
man with the revolver.
Pages:
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197