His instincts were right.
In a backyard on Temple Avenue, he found one of the residents on his route - 90-year-old Catherine McCleary - trapped in a hole that had opened up when she stepped onto her patio on a sunny afternoon.
Soon, police and Fire Department rescuers arrived and extricated the widow from the hole, which the police chief estimated to be at least eight feet deep.
McCleary, who has lived in the neighborhood about 40 years, was being evaluated last night at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.
She had gone out to the patio about 2 p.m. to pick up a railing that had fallen. Suddenly, she felt the asphalt give way.
A capped 31/2-foot-wide pipe leading to an unused septic tank had corroded, and the earth around it had eroded, Stratford police said.
McCleary was in the pit about 10 minutes before Breitenstine heard her cries and called 911 on his cell phone, police said.
"I didn't know what it was at first," said Breitenstine, 49, of Runnemede. "I kept hearing it and hearing it. I thought it was kids playing back there."
As he got closer, he said, "I heard a woman I knew on my mail route. I guess it was lucky I heard the sound.
"She was scared and whining. She said her leg was hurt but not broken, and that her stomach hurt."
Rescuers got the call at 2:16 p.m. and arrived at McCleary's rancher at 2:18, Stratford Police Chief Ronald Morello said. Fire Department rescuers from Runnemede and Laurel Springs also were called to help as McCleary's nephew James Pedl of Pine Hill arrived, Morello said.
McCleary's life-alert system had summoned Pedl after an operator could not reach her by phone, police said.
Stratford Fire Chief Michael Meyers led the effort, directing a rescuer to check the victim's status and then bring her up on a board, police said.
McCleary "was conscious, listening to instructions and alert - but a bit disoriented," Morello said.
The septic system had not been used since the area was connected to the municipal system in the 1960s, officials said.
Workers yesterday filled the cavity with several yards of earth.
"Talk about hidden danger," Morello said. "She was very fortunate."
