Which literary device does the author use in these lines from a short story?

So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily's lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork and at the cellar openings while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand. . . .
(from "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner)
a simile
b metaphor
c syntax
d irony

Question

Which literary device does the author use in these lines from a short story? 

So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily's lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork and at the cellar openings while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand. . . . 
(from "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner)
a simile
b metaphor
c syntax
d irony

anonymous · Answer

Simile, It used the word 'Like' to compare.

" and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork"