The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1856-12-20
OTTAWA, ILL.,, SATURDAY MORNING. DECEMBER 90 1885,

.
pectin- to see DiciIenboch, or both of them,
enter the room, and perpetrate some fresh
assault upon me- Ni;nrOd would of course
/ begin snufiing tho candles with pistol. balls
and Dicifenbach, as soon as she observed my
state Of nervous excitement, would insist
upon blisters and mustard plasters, and
perhaps upon little more phlebotomy.-
Hitherto had but one sister at a time to
deal with. But if they formed triple ALI
ance, and set upon me in concert. was
lost, without a hope of rescue. Fortunately
neither of the other sisters made their APP
pearance, and at last the youngest, to my
great relief, took up my basket and depart
ed. No sooner was she gone than Frager,
according to his custom, removed the disa-
greeable impression she had made upon me-
One got accustomed In time, he said, to her
strange tastes and stranger pets, and when
once she was married she would give up her
researches in natural history, and settle
down into an excellent wife. | was quite
sick of the simple old creatures iniatua,ion
and apologies, and begged to be allowed to
/ 20 to bed.
| at last" said to myself, on finding
myself alone in my room, Il shall have
/ little repOse after the heat and burthcn Of
/ the day, after all my dangers and advcn-
/ lures So tired was ! that | Immediately
undrcssed, blew out the lights, and sought
my bed. Pulling back the clothes, | step
ped in, and much more hastily Jumped out
again | had come upon some hard sub
stance, which moved between the Sheets
Ii | WAS not gxatly mistaken it was live
tortoise. Whist | dc,.beratct whether
should cry murder, sleep on the sofa, or
dress and leave the house, something bit my
great toe with such violence THAI | actually
yelled with agony. \ gigantic craT!i~A
clung to my foot. ! kicked ABOUT in 50 dcs-
perate a manner that | at last shook the
creature off, and | heard it % with a crack
against the wall. | fed to the sofa. hoy
rible thought assaiIed me. What if Frascr,
through absence OF mind, had usherel me
into OHen'S museum and menGccrje. This
appeared 10 me the more probable that on all
sides heard strange sounds, aS II numerous
creatures were crawling, trotung, singing,
aai hImming around M. Something teT
up to me with a buzz and a bounce, and
caught in ny hair | c,u,chcd at It, and
shudJered as found in my grasp a beetle as
a sparrow. | dashed il tur,oUsIy f ON rnn,
aai had the satisfaction Of h9aring il smash
against some hard substance. Scarcely was
| rid of the beetle when | was b.itcn Sharply
II the calf Of the leg pat down my
hand. but the creature had done hrs work
and gone, leaving severe smlrtlnE and lrTl-
taticn. | know not whether 1t was lie or
one OF hI- friends who at the next instant
made an onslaught upon my ankle. began
to hunt about for the matchbox, that |
might a. east see my enemies. | sought IN
vain, and quite unable to conjecture the na-
tIre Of the monsters thar, during my
search. p.nchei. b.t. and stuH- and a>Sal-
ol M IL every conceivable manner. Once
OF twice trod with my bare foo, on Eiaeous
reptiles, whose cod, Shiny touch made me
leap into the air. NJ capers would doubt
less have diverted any who saw them, but
10 me it was no laughing matter. 10 mar
tyr Of ancient times or victim cf the Tehu
qarirLt ever suffered more than | d! { in that
chamber of horrors. Ine monsters thai
cJu.re gate on the bottom Of the sea can
hardly SurpaSs in variety the inmates OF
that room. The darkness and my excited
Imagination further cmbc!ished them. Pre-
senty | heard 4 hiss. a snake by all
that's Aorr!O!c,' said - myself, about to
coil -olnl and devyur mt.' And set al
- !. an lu!--u". c.amor, shouting an curs-
5a- Ike AK when wounded, that il must
have been audible round the house. To add
- t-- turmoil IL my cagerHc~s u e-clyc
from s,.4-t.5us winch ucarl coming after
me with 4 sort Of cIappcrinc noise, ups:t
=
upon it were opened by the lll', and | i'm
mcda:ely perceived a great increase Of ami
nation around me. | continued u storm
Ike luuaiic. Ii was all one to me whether
anybody IN the house slept or not The
awful row kept up at last rouSed the coun-
sc.ior, who made his appearance i'll his
dressing gown, candle in hand. lie at once
Jaw the cause OF the disturbance.
Hang the girl. :" be cried; she wall soon
fiji the whole house with her geological col.
ltctious'
put myself in mind of pictures l has
, seen Of Adam on the sixth day of the crea
= ton, surrounded by all manner of beasts anC
creeping things frager led the way Il
another room, which rs yet was not invaded
by Oken's vermin.
"Iou have nothing to far here" said my
host; and he aided, true to his system o
making the best of everything, you vi!
s,eep a ! the better for your Little mislo-
= tunes
Heaven grant it ~ sighed |, and thought
that | should have s'ep. quite enough vita
, out them After searching the whole room
under the bed, in the drawers and closets
, and satisfying myself that no specimens oI
natural history, either alive or deai were
there. again got between the shgets-this
,
not the less detcr.uincd TO tiy Wicsenthal a
, cockcrow. With this wholesome resolve
+ stretched myself out and went to sleep. as
presume the tortoise did in tAe bcd original
. ~ destined for me.
Scarce had Aurora. with her rosy fEgers,
Tuge,l the hill-to?s aad bathed ;Ac plain in dew,
E when was aioot and packing. hist thu
I occupied, | reflected that, under al the cir
, curns,ances, French leave was decidedly tn
q, best leave for me to take, othevw ise shoulC
have regular fight with Frager, who woul,
never let me depart When halted for th
night. would write him a letter, telin:
him that, with the best will in the world,
}, had been unable longer to endure the &C
centricities of his charming daughters.
, would put it TO him as gently as possible, 81
as not to hurt his feelings; and felt sur
that when he reflected I'LL had gon
through under his roof, he would not fee
:, surprised at my abrupt departure No
: could my uncle blame me, when told bin
: of nv tribu!ationS, and related the conduc
of the three mad women.
VIII lst pondering all these things, com
pletcd nav packing. | made sure that no
BODY would be st rrng in the house at tina
. cary hour, and at any rate that the ladle
! would be deep in their feather beds. | wa
- deliberatng whether | should bravely shou
= der INV portmanteau, or leave it to be sen
u" after me, when the door burst open, and t
> nv immense Consideration, in strobe MIN
rod, with brace of duel!ing pistols in he
hand.
"Merciful heavens" said l to mysel
y "torture begins again. 1t must be owne
- that these amiable demons 60 to work early.
Without salutation or ceremony Nimro
strobe up to me.
"Your conduct last night" she sait
:, "your ill treatment of my sisters property
!, and barbarity to several of her pets, are a
insult to the family and demands atOnemenl