Soon after his arrival in Hull he began to look out for the places most available for his purpose, and contrived to commit some daring robberies without detection. He had noticed a small villa which stood on the outskirts of a village, a few miles from Hull. The house was far removed from other habitations. It was very tempting, not to say inviting, to the burglar. Peace had played his violin at a beershop in the neighbourhood――that is how he came to notice the Gothic cottage, as it was termed. To obtain an entrance would be matter of no great difficulty. Most of the inhabitants in the neighbourhood went to bed early, and rose with the lark. It was between ten and eleven o’clock at night when Peace arrived at the villa in question. A flight of steps led up to the front door. A bay window, with stone balustrading in front and a portico above, jutted out from the first storey of the habitation. When Peace had reached the lawn in front of the house, he hesitated for a short time, before he made up his mind as to which was the easiest mode of access. He came to the conclusion that it would be best to perform on the door. He had but little difficulty in picking the look of this. The door yielded to his pressure, but he found that it was fastened by an inner chain, the end of which ran into a hollow tube. It was impossible to effect an entrance without releasing the chain. Peace drew from his pocket two pieces of wire, both of which were bent at the ends. With these he believed he could push back the chain, release it, and enter. While occupied with one arm through the aperture disclosed by the partially open door, the two French windows above were thrown open, and a woman’s head and shoulders were visible. Peace, whose back was towards the window, was quite unaware of the fact that his movements were watched. Indeed, so intent was he on his work that he did not hear the noise occasioned by the opening of the window. He was not so successful as he had anticipated in pushing back the chain; and while manipulating with his accustomed skill and perseverance he was suddenly awakened to the position of affairs by receiving a terrible blow between the shoulders, which seemed to take his breath away. He faced round suddenly, when much to his discomforture he received another blow on the side of the head, which caused a thousand lights to flash before his eyes. “Oh, you nasty burglarious wretch,” exclaimed the old woman above, who was his assailant. “You murderous villain!” The speaker was flourishing a long house broom, with the thick end of which she delivered another blow on the burglar’s head. Peace was quite unprepared for this unlooked-for assault; he caught hold of the broom and swore a terrible oath. A struggle now ensued between the two, Peace held firmly on the end of the broom, and the old woman above clung tenaciously to the handle.