Our rival, the rascal : a faithful portrayal of the conflict between the criminals of this age and the defenders of society, the police . .askis the cover of a face so inhuman thatwe dare not let our fancy runriot in conjuring its image, butbury our heads under the bed-clothes as hunted ostrichesplunge theirs in the sands offiction, if not of the , through the thickestscreen of sheets, bed-spreadsand blankets we can feel thescorch of those basilisk eyes glaring through the slits in themask and making us squirm like bugs under a burning glass. This is that Methuselah of burglars who
Our rival, the rascal : a faithful portrayal of the conflict between the criminals of this age and the defenders of society, the police . .askis the cover of a face so inhuman thatwe dare not let our fancy runriot in conjuring its image, butbury our heads under the bed-clothes as hunted ostrichesplunge theirs in the sands offiction, if not of the , through the thickestscreen of sheets, bed-spreadsand blankets we can feel thescorch of those basilisk eyes glaring through the slits in themask and making us squirm like bugs under a burning glass. This is that Methuselah of burglars who from time imme-morial has crouched under beds or stowed himself away in thecorners of closets, to rise up and murder the sleep of the good,easy man of the house and his slumbering family. His resur-rection is always as startling as an earthquake, even to thetraditional old maid who has let no night pass without a peepunder the bed, as if a burglar was a visitor who was likely todrop in any day in the year. It is not to be denied that this nerve-shattering image has asolid skeleton of reality which is justly an object of dread. One. SKELETON KEYS 04 OUR RIVAL, THE RASCAL. need onW recall a bare tithe of the instances of brutal nightraids that have been made upon unprotected households inthe last twenty 3ears to justify in great measure the commonfear of burglars, and there is, of course, a black record of deadlyassaults in the annals of house-breaking stretching back to theearliest dawn of history. The peculiar heinousness of theviolation of the sanctities and safeguards of the home and theimminent threat of bloodshed that attaches to such an outrageare justly recognized in the extraordinary penalties imposed bythe laws of all countries upon this description of burglary. The house-breakers and the sneak thieves who commonlymake their inroads in the day time or in the early hours of theevening are usually to be distinguished from the professionalburglar. Often the rascals who st
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectcr, booksubjectpolice
