Page:Houdini - The Right Way to Do Wrong An Expose of Successful Criminals.djvu/20

14 every loose board which may betray his presence is astoning. Many a householder has awakened in the morning find his house rifled who would deem it impossible for any one to enter his house, much less his room, without immediately arousing him.

To show how carefully a burglar plans for the "cracking" of some specially desirable "crib," one ex-convict declares that he has often expended large sums of money in making the preliminary arrangements for some great coup. If a burglar should happen to be caught in the house-breaking act, it is fairly important that he should not be recognized afterwards; so most professional burglars are very careful to provide themselves with a disguise when out on their "work." One reformed criminal told Inspector Byrnes that he had several times been seen by people while entering houses, but they had never once been able to recognize him afterwards. His simple plan he described as follows: "I always wore a specially made wig, with false side-whiskers and moustache of the best quality. My wardrobe was extensive, and contained reversible coats and reversible trousers, after the style used by quick-change artists on the stage. With the aid of these, I have been able to make a complete change of appearance in less than two minutes." It is easy to see how rogues take more pains to perpetrate robberies than honest men do to get a living.

The Burglar Who Walked Backward. A London burglar, who served a long sentence, told the chaplain of the prison the following amusing story of one of his experiences: "One of the toughest pieces of work I undertook was a big jewelry shop in the Seven Sisters Road, one January night. It was a 'put up' job—that is, the business came to me through one of the brokers who supply burglars with places for likely hauls, and receive in return a large commission. The jewelry store in this case was protected by iron shutters, not easy to open from the street, but valuable goods were supposed to be left over night in the window.

"I approached the crib down a narrow entry to the rear,