Washington telegraph., 1854-09-13

comfort, the boys went up to their bed, and
/ the old man retired to his little room
The two boys thought not of sleep. or if
/ they did, it was only to avoid it. Half an
/ hour passed away, and they could hear their
father snore. Then they heard move
ment from those below Philip crawled
silently to where he could peep down thro
a crack, and saw one of them open his
/ pack. by the rays of the moon, from which
! he took several pieces of flesh to the dogs.
Then he went back to his bed and laid
down.
/ At first the boys thought that this might
/ be thrown to the dogs only to distract their
attention but when the man laid down
the idea oe poison flashed through Phillips
mind He whispered his thoughts to his
brother The first impulse of little Daniel
as he heard that his poor dogs were to be
poisoned, was to cry out but sudden pres
sure from the hand of bis brother kept him
silent
At the end of the boys bed was q dark
window, small square door, and it was d.
rectly over the dogs house, Philip resolved
to 60 down and save the dogs. The under
taking was a dangerous one for the least
! noise would arouse the villains-and the
consequence might be fatal But Philip
Slater found himself strong in heart, and
he determined upon the trial His fathers
life might be in his hands. This thought
was tower of strength in itself
Philip opened the window without mov-
ing from the bed, and it swung upon It's
IootLor,, b;Dros ,n;tLo,t ,o;.o H. bo
threw off the sheet and tied the corner of
it to the staple by which the window was
hooked. The sheet was then lowered on
the outside, and carefully the brave boy let
himself out upon it, He enjoined his
brother not to move, and then slid noiseless-
y down. The hounds had just found the
meat, and they drew back at their young
masters beck, and Philip gathered the flesh
all up. He easily quieted the faithful
brutes, and then he quickly tied the meat
up in the sheet There was light ladder
standing near the dog-house. and setting this
up against the building, Philip made his
way back to his little loft, and when once
safely there, he pulled the sheet in after him
The strangers had not been aroused. aud
with beating heart the boy thanked God
He had performed an act, simple as it may
appear, at which many a stout heart would
have quailed The dogs growled as they
went back into their kennel. and if the
strangers heard them, they thought the poor
animals were growing over the repast they
had found
At length the hounds ceased their noise,
and all was quiet An hour passed away.
and so did another. 1t must have been
nearly midnight when the men moved again,
and the lad, Philip. saw the rays of candle
fash up through the cracks Of the floor on
which stood his bed He would have NOV
ed to the crack where he could peep down,
but at that moment he heard man upon
the ladder. He uttered quick whisper to
his brother, and they lay perfectly still
The man came to the top of the ladder, and
held his light up so he could look upon the
boys. The fellow seemed to be perfectly
satisfied that they were asleep. for he soon
returned to the ground floor, and then Phi
lip crept to the crack He saw the men
take their knives, and heard them whisper
ing.
We'll kill the old man and woman first"
said one of them. "then we'll hunt the mon
ey- If those little brats up there (pointing
to the scaffold) wake up, we can easily take
care of them"
But we must kill them all, said another
of the villains.
YES" returned the speaker ''but not
the young ones first they'd make noise,
and start the old man up"
Philips heart beat with terror.
Down the ladder outside quick" be
whispered to his brother. Down, and
start up the dogs Run for the front door
and throw it opeu-it isn't fastened Oh.
30 Iss the dogs in the house. b. quick a.
YOU can I'll look out for father Wills; YOU
60"
Daniel quickly crawled cut through the
window, and Philip seized rife and crept
to the head of the scaffold Two of the vii
lains were Just approaching the door Of his
fathers room. They had set the candle
down on the floor, SO that its light would fall
/ into the bedroom as the door was opened
Philip drew the hammer of his rifle back.
and rested the muzzle upon the edge of the
boards. One of the men had his hand up
on the latch. The boy hero uttered sin
gle word Of heartfelt prayer. and then he
pulled the trigger. The villain whose hand
was on the latch. uttered one sharp. quick
cry, and then fell on the floor The bullet
had passed through his brain.
For an instant the two remaining villains
were confounded, but they quickly compre-
hended the nature and position of their enc
my, and they sprang for the ladder They
did not reach 1t however, for at that instant
the outer door was flung open and the
hounds-four in number-sprang into the
house With a deep, wild yell. the animals
leaped upon the villains, and they had drawn
thern unnn the floor inst as the old hunter