The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1854-08-10

the most jealous and niggardly wretche
on the face Of the earth / hate him as
hate the -, and it has long been thc
fervant wish Of my heart to get out of hi
clutches, and at the same time to pay hin
off old scores. All my servants were hi
spies-and that fellow, whose business
you have done SO completely, was thu
worst of them all. am scarcely TWEEN
ty-two, and as ] flatter myself, at least no
ugly, if any Of you choose to take me a
long with you, | will accompany him tc
the woods or to the village ale house -
Nor shall any of you have reason to re
pent sparing my life You are in well
stored mansion. but it is impossible you
should be acquainted with all its secret cor,
ners. These | will show you, and if dc
not make you richer by 5000 dollars
then serve me as you have done my cham
ber-maid.'
Robbers of this kind are certainly vii.
lains, but, nevertheless, they are still men
The wholly unexpected tendency of the
baroness address added to the unaffect,
ed tone with which she spoke, and the
more than ordinary beauty of the female,
altogether produced powerful effect on
men whose hands were yet recking with
the blood they had shed. They all step
ped aside, and consulted together in a low
tone, for some minutes. The baroness
was left quite alone, but she betrayed not
the least wish to escape. She heard two
or three thus express themselves: Let's
despatch her and the game will be
up She however, scarcely changed hel
color, for opposition of the others did moi
escape her acute ear. One, who was
probably the captain of the banditti, now
advanced towards her.
He asked twice or thrice whether he
might rely on the truth of what she said
whether she actually wished to be releas
ed from the tyranny of her husband and
90 with them, and whether she was ready
to resign herself to one of them, to him
self, for instance, during the few peaceful
days they could enjoy Having replied
in the affirmative TO all those questions
having not only suffered the warm en-
brace of the robber, but returned it-foI
what will not necessity excuse? he al
length said,
Come along, then, and lead us round
The = trust you ladies Of rank but
we'll venture for once. But let me tel
you, beforehand, that were you ten time:
as handsome. this weapon shall cteavt
y0r SkuH the moment we see the leas
disposition to escape or betray us.
'Then it will be safe enough-and were
this the only condition of my death,
should outlive you all, and even the wan
dering Jew himself The baroness smil
ed when she pronounced these words,
hastily snatched up the nearest light, as
though she had been so anxious as any oi
them to collect the plunder and be gone,
conducted the whole company through
every apartment, opened, unasked, every
door, every drawer and every chest; as
sisted in emptying them and packing up
the valuables looked with the utmost in
difference over the emangled bodies; spoke
with the familiarity of an old acquain.
lance to each of the horrid troop and
willingly aided, with her delicate hands
in the most laborous occupation
Plate, money, jewels, and other valua'
bles were now collected together, and the
captain of the banditti was already giving
the order for the march, when his destin
ed bride suddenly caught him by the arm
Did l not tell you, said she, that you
should not repent making a friend of me
and sparing my life You may. indeed
have your fling in places you find open
but it is pity you cannot come at treas
ures that are a little concealed. What
do you suppose that among Golfers so full
of the most valuable effects there are nc
secret places? Look here, and then you
will be convinced to the contrary
She pointed to secret spring in the ba
ron's writing-desk. They pressed upor
it and out fell six rouleaus, each contain
ing two hundred dollars.
'Zounds cried the leader of the rob
bers. now see you are an Incompatible
woman. | will keep you for this like q
duchess
md, perhaps, better, still, replied she,
laughing, when | tell you of one thing
more. [ am well aware that you mus
have spies who informed you of the
absence of my tyrant--but they did moi
you of the four hundred guilders he re
ceived yesterday
Not a syllable where are they?
%, safe enough under half a dozen
locks and bolts. You would certainly moi
have found them and the iron chest, had
itnot been forme Come along comrades
we have finished above ground, and now
we'll see what is to be done under it,
Come along with me- | say, into the eel
lar
The robbers followed, but not without
precautlon. At the entrance of the eel
lar, provided with strong trap-door, a
man was posted as seminal. The baron
ess did not take the least notice of this
she conducted the whole troop to a
vault at the farthest extremity OF the eel
lar. She unlocked it. and in the corner
of this recess stood the chest she had de
scribed Here, said she, giving the cap
tain bunch of keys, here, unlockit ant
take what you find as wedding gift,
you can obtain the consent of your com
panions as readily as you have gaine'
mine.