Two men were seen to enter an empty dwelling-house in the dead
of night. The alarm was given by a watchman near by, and a
young police officer, who had been but seven months on the
force, bravely entered the black and deserted building,
searched it from roof to cellar, and found the marauders
locked in one of the rooms. He called upon them to open,
received no reply, yet without hesitation and without knowing
what the consequences to himself might be, smashed in the door
and apprehended the two men. One was found with a large
bundle of skeleton keys in his pocket and several candles,
while a partially consumed candle lay upon the floor. In the
police court they pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary, and
were promptly indicted by the grand jury.
At the trial they claimed to have gone into the house to
sleep, said they had found the bunch of keys on the stairs,
denied having the candles at all or that they were in a room
on the top story, and asserted that they were in the entrance
hall when arrested.
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