Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1858-07-15

Christmas in Heaven, without an invita-
| ton" He chuckled, and the old fellow
seemed equally delighted at his sons wit
then taking up the candle, went off to fetcl
the knife.
All their motions had been so noislessl,
performed, and the conversation carried OF
in a tone so wonderfully clear, though lov
that l was astonished at the perfection
they had attained in their horrid craft
During the fathers absence, the son wa
not idle. He actually loosed the collar o
my shirt, and then stood quietly awaiting
the others return. r
You could never imagine, unless placed
IN similar circumstances, what multitud,
of thoughts passed through my mind in I
few minutes. l verify believe that everJ
Christmas with its accompaniments of ful
and feasting at which l had assisted sine,
l was the heighth of the table, was reviewed
in turn. Then | thought of the morrow
and the fair girls l had left, and how al
hour before, l was full of hope that ere an
other Christmas came round, l should cal
one my own, Still I found time fer ear
nest payer, and to think of all sorts of ex
pedients to escape my impending fate
Once fancied, now there was only one tc
contend with, might do something; bu
just then the touch of the muscular hand
on my throat reminded me that move.
ment would cause my instant destruction
Indeed, | have often wondered that the
fellow did not strangle me in his impatience
How bitterly did reproach myself for moi
raising an alarm when the footsteps first
became audible.
At length the fellow fairly gnashed his
teeth with rage, and uttering smotbered
exclamation of "Hang the tippling beast
he's at that wine againv' he also left the
apartment to recall his truant parent, and
fetch the implement of murder.
Now was the time, and you may believe
l lost none. The instant he left the room
l was on my feet; noiselessly l approached
the door, dashed it to, turned the key,
shut the bolt, lighted the gas, and once
I stood my heart ready to jump into my
throat with joy and thankfulness, with my
trusty pistols in my hand.
There was no chance of ftheir re-entering,
for their skeleton keys lay on the bench,
and every article of plumber was there also; Z;
for, intending to return, they had not con-
veyed it from the room.
l made noise enough from the window
my hostess and her danisel, now reused,
joined the chorus, and soon at the head of
a host ofalarmed neighbors and couple Of
policemen, we searched the house from top
TO bottom. One of the men | knew had
left the premises, as I heard him dash over
the area railings, and down the street; but
the elder ruffian we discovered, stupidity
drunk, in the cellar, the danger of his posi-
ton not having sufficed to prevent his in
dulging his favorite propensity, when the
temptation was so strong.
We found they had gained admittance
by cutting away the zinc from the pantry
window, their skeleton keys having made
the rest easy.
Bill, the younger ruffian, was too we'll
known to escape detection. He was cap
tured in few hours, and both he and his
father eventually obtained free passage
to distant land in vessel provided for
that purpose by Her Most Gracious Ma
jesty. The affair made prodigious sensa-
sion, and became the lion of all Christmas
parties that year; and the extraordinary
sympathy manifested by certain fair indi
vidual at the recital of my story, brought
about most satisfactory explanation.
My next Christmas dinner was eaten in
my own home, with her as its mistress.
I have often blessed my stars that good
Mrs. Wingate was not member of the
Total Abstinence Society; for had it not
been for the liberal replenshing her cellar
underwent a few days before christmas, in
for sons and daughters who were
to gather round her, and celebrate in her
house that true home festival, my throat
would have been in no condition to per-
form its function when the time arrived.
Thus have l told the only adventure of
any consequence in which l ever played a
part, and let me add, that whereas rich and
poor alike welcome Christmas as season
of joy and thankfullness, l doubt whether
any feel more keen emotions of the kind
than l do, since it recalls to mind an addi-
tional mercy vouchsafed at that period.