[General] had plenty of experience not getting caught

[albert210]

Hello
I have a little difficulty understanding the bold part?
Does it mean "The Baudelaire orphans were experienced and therefore they were able to eavesdrop without being get caught? or does it mean "they were experienced in eavesdropping and not being get caught"?

Eavesdropping—a word which here means “listening in on interesting conversations you are not invited to join”—is a valuable thing to do, and it is often an enjoyable thing to do, but it is not a polite thing to do, and and like most impolite things you are bound to get into trouble if you get caught doing it. The Baudelaire orphans, of course, had plenty of experience not getting caught, so the three children knew how to walk as quietly as possible across grounds of Caligari Carnival, and how to crouch as invisibly as possible outside the window of Madame Lulu’s caravan.

"The Carnivorous Carnival," Novel by Daniel Handler

 

[emsr2d2]

All we know for sure is that they had done a lot of things they shouldn't have, and had managed not to get caught. I don't think it's meant to refer specifically to eavesdropping, but to "most impolite things" that would get you into trouble if you got caught.

 

[jutfrank]

It meant the kids were good at going unseen. They knew how to avoid anyone spotting them when they were in places they shouldn't be.