Page:Houdini - The Right Way to Do Wrong An Expose of Successful Criminals.djvu/22

16 leaving the house, I walked backward again through the snow, and almost collided with the milkman just starting on his rounds.

You have a very remarkable way of walking,' he said.

Oh,' I replied, 'it is an agreeable change after the monotony of always walking forward; but in the daytime I cannot practise it, owing to the remarks of foolish people who will not mind their own business.'

"He seemed to enter into the joke, but no sooner had we reached the road, than he shouted, 'Police!' and 'Stop thief!' for all he was worth.

"I had a good start, however, and two hours later a Hoxton 'fence' received a considerable addition to his store of valuables concealed under the floor of his bedroom."

The question has often been asked how burglars get away with their booty, especially when it makes, as it often does, a bulky bundle. The police are apt to be suspicious of people who carry bundles in the small hours of the night, and ask inconvenient questions. If any one doubts this, let him try the experiment of going out between two and three in the morning, carrying a bag heavily loaded with bricks. He will not proceed many yards without being pounced upon by a "cop." A story in point is told by an ex-convict to a well-known detective. "I had a pal with me, and we broke into the country palace of one of the wealthiest dukes in England. The silver-plate we got filled two