Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1854-08-25

walked, feeling my way down the aisle.
was quiet IN thednrk. for my lantern was
i'll the vcStry room, and kept n finder box
and matches there to light it. ] had to grcpe
about for the kcyholc tthc heavy iron plated
door, and again to fum'1c among my bunch
Of keys to find the right one. am not
man vi weak nerve but strange sensation
came over Lnc, us | stood there in the dn-h,
feeling through all the bunch fUr the key.
The air Of the church vas close, and had II
faint smell Of mouldcring leather, such as you
smell in some libraries. believe it made me
feel faint for, just then, had so tinclng
in my ears. that | seemed &C. hear the bells
already bcginnirs 10 peal forth in the bcllry
! listened and iancicd could hear distinctly
tina, confused Jingle which proceeds full peal
The fancy terrified me for the moment, for
knew that had seen the sexton i'll in bed
that day, and that even he could not be there
unless he had got the key from me. But
when this notion had passed, J set it down for
another invention Of mine, and began to think
the tombstone affair no more worthy cf belief
than this. 80 turned thr great key with
both my hands AMI, opening an inner fire
proof door, let myself into the vestry-room
When was once in there, knew where
to find my lanthorn and tnder-box in q mo-
mcnt. ! always kept them on the second
shelf from the ground in the closet lust be-
hind where the plan cf the parish cstntc at
Fast llaydoche hangs up framed and glazed
But the pew opener kept her busters and
brushes there also and we used to have words
about her throwing my things out of order
sometimes. This time found that she had
scattered my matches, and | had to stcop
down and feel about for them amcnl all the
things at the hcttcm OF the closet, which took
some time, When found them, struck
light and blew the tinder with my breath
saw the sexton do exactly the same thing one
night rs | stood in the dark, right at the end
OF the aisle, and his face reflected the fire ut
every puff, and looked quite devlish az it
shonc out strongly and faded away again.
mention this because have thought of it
since, and believe it had something to do with
what beiel me that night. Lighted my candle,
and shut it up in my lanthorn. 1t gave
very weak light, and the sides Of the lanthorn
were Of thick, yellow horn; very dirty and
| dusty with lying in the closet for RARELY
had occasion to go into the church after dark
Swinging this lanthorn in one hand, and
holding wood under the other arm to light
my fire with, went up the steps again into
the dark side aisle just at that moment,
and ~ ] was shutting the vcstry room door,
| suddenly felt heavy hand laid upon nv
arm. startca and cried, Who's there l.
letting my lanthorn fall, SO that the light
went out, Nobody answered but some one
Immediately held me from behind, trying to
keep back my arms with extraordinary
strength. was not a weak man, although
am short but struggled long to get round
and face my enemy. and Just as was getting
Il little more free, another one came to his
assistance. | called aloud for help. but they
stuffed my mouth with something, and sworc
If called, they would shoot me through the
| head Upon this they bound my arms tightly,
and led me back to the vestry-room. where
sat on II chair, while they lighted candle
they had with them
! was a little frightened, as you nav sup
/ pose but thought they were only thieves.
who had followed me- and got into the church
through my forgetting, in my fright about
the tombstone. to iastcn the church door {:
and, as knew that there was very little in
the yestry-rOOm, | was rather glad to think
how they would he baiilcd When they rot
II light, saw that they had masks on. They
! were well dressed, and although they swure
at me, it was evident that they were not com
mon burglars could tell that from their
language. One laid long shining par of
pistols on the baize that covered the table
out Of my reach. knew that he did it to
! intimldate me, for he asked me Immediately
| Tor my keys, in Il loud voice, 1t was no use
my refusing them; | was quite helpless and
( Of my hands | told them that the rector
/ kept all the plate in his house, and that there
was nothing i'll any of the closets but Il few
bottles of wine, and some wax candles The
/ oldest man, | think, asked me then where the
| books were kept; but | would not tell him.
| determined that, let them do what they
might to me, | would keep to my determine
| ton, not to tell them where the books were.
They tried much to terriiy me, with words at
first, but finding that did not do, the elder
one, who was the principal in everything, put
his pistols to my ear and declared he would
ask me three times, and after the third time,
fire. Now ! was i'll great terror at this, and
never believed myself So near death as | did
then but had made kind of vow to N.Y.
self, and being in q church. thought u curse
would hn upon IN if I yialded 80 ! hold IA ,
tongue and when he found | was firm, in.
stead of firing. he flung his pistols down upon
the table again, and began sulenly to try all
the locks he could find about the room with
the keys he had taken from me. In this way
he soon found the books he wanted in a fire.
proof safe.
And now both of them began to pore over
the books by the light of the candle. They
choose two with vellum covers, which knew
to be the marriage registers-the old and the
new one-containng all the marriages that
had taken place at old Chorley church fol
seventy years back. | heard one ask the 9TH
cr if there was no index for they did moi
understand our way of inde1ing, which wa,
, merely to write down all the letters of the al
phabet, with the numbers of the pages al
/, which names beginning with each letter coulC
be iound-taking the first letter from tn,
, bridegroom name of course. So they ha,
long search each of them turning over tn
leaves of one book and examining il page b,
t page. | watched their faces, and tried {,
| bear in mind at what part of the book the
were, in case they should stop. The one wn
A ! had the old book came to place at last
4 which seemed to contain what he was lookin
. or. lie showed it to his companion, an
Y they conferred together for moment in
: whisper. Immediately after the older on
: tore out, | thought, some half dozen leaves
: lie was gong to burn them in the flame q
e the candle at first ; but his companion stage
d him, and he tore them up, and put them i
| his pockets. As soon as they had done thi.
| they turned hastily to depart, as il they wer
|, anxious to be gone now their business wa
[ done. The older one took some more cor
from his pocket, and bound me fast in til
Il great yestry chair drawing the cords roun
IS my wrists and uncles, till ! cried out WIT
N the pain. Then threatening again to retur
n and blow my brains out il they heard III
r. voice, they went out down the aisle, lcayir
N the vcstry-room door open. All this hal
.c pcncd in httle more than an hour for ii
clock chimed the two quarters after midnigl
Il At this very moment
~ sat there two hours alone but il seem,
il to me 50 long that, if had not heard eycl
lc quarter chime, should have expected to 81
the day dawn through the stained glass wi
II. dow. It was the drcarest two hours tn
ns ever passed in my hie, 1t was bitter col
AT and sitting here hclplessly in one positio
my limbs grew frozen, and the cords seem
50 To get tighter and tg ter, and stop the moy
at ment OF my blood twas no wonder | {,
g. nervous after sucn scene. W here ] 81;
c with my back to he wall looked right IN
ne the church, and the door was lett open.
"a could feel cold wind rushing from il in
,sS the room aud, as sat staring into the dar