Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1860-06-29
MIS- T. Ill 4 y Y
ADVENTURES WITH A RoBBER.
nv rArLcRTrtsN.


The Smiths Of Smithville had Tor long
time been very much annoyed By the dsprs.
datlJn. Of s5mr unknown individuals, who's,
confused idea, concerning tho right Of prop.
er,y, lsi to tho frcqucn, abstraction Of di-
yer. good, and cha,,el' from the prem isc' Of
the an Sni,h,. m fur,ivc AMI my'teri.
ou' manner. Bag. OF wheat and oats van
i,hcl from IL. granary. pork from the c,l-
lar and corn from the crib; in ono nigh, q
sheep that bad jus, been slaughtered, cody
trottcd away and on another oscision sSy.
eral gallon, Of maple syrup cyaporatcd in a
Wight time. Milking stools wen, oG on
their three leg, aud ono morning Nj.
Smiths bc,t Ak, w., found 10 haye " cut
stick" log chains became ra,,le,nakss,
and ercp, ar, iron wcds,, male splits in
the Smith property, boots walked away,
aul the jack rode OF the nW.hor.c.
Vain were all the effort, Of the elder and
younger smiths to discover the mystery Of
,hc,a diarp,anuco,, and to cn,nP the Of.
fender. D'pairins Of bringing them {, ja'.
iicc, the Smith, found they could DO moth.
ing NOR, than - take measures 10 insure
tie ,a'ety of their property. Accordingly
they ball. new grlnary, with strong
wall, narrow grated window, and heavy
oakcn door. TO which was attached q Tor.
miiablc paddock. This prison like portion
Of the barn was built sail lclen,ly large to
allow the Smith, to TO lock up great deal
ofp5rtabl. property, sneh a. was most ike
" to tempt the cupidity oi thieves.
After tie sraunry was finished, month
passed, dnrins which time the deprcda.ion'
orths robbers were confined to the orchard
aud h,n.roost; when late on sunday eve
uiu., the elder Smith, u, DO wa, sitting
tipped asaips, the Kitchen wall, smoking
hi, pipc preparatory TO retiring, bcthousht
him that he had neglected lO lock the era.
nary before leaving the barn. THE was by
no meau,a singular circumstance, con'id.
erins ,la, Ihe grapary was usually locked
by the younger Smith, who had that night
"sone a cour,ius"
|, was a moonlight evening, and Mr..
Smith on approaching the barn va. eou'il.
erably started on ,cein. the door ajir. Ger.
tain Of having shut the door an hour preSi'
ou,ly. Mr. Smith thought Of robbers. Ills
.u,pcioa. w.re confirmed, when, on a near.
sr approach, he plainly heard movement
in the barn. Too cautious to endanser his
life by boldly attacking the rObber, Mr..
Smith, with considerable trepidation rc'oly.
ell to watch hs moveme nts and discover
who he was.
Looking through a crack in the east side
OF the barn, he saw a dim ghost ike figure
glide acro'. the floor towards the granary.
A happy thought ertcrcd Mr.. Smiths brain
Stealing into the harm ho crept silently
along by the NOW, until near the srauary,
when-clap he shut the door, adjusted
the paddock, and was or Is If for life.
Iii, impossible to say what made Mr..
Smith tremblc 50, Itmisht have been the
smothercI cry Of alarm that issued from
the cranary walls and rang fully on his
ears. a cry well calculated TO awaken super.
.,itious fear. But Mr.. Smith never owned
that he was frightened, although on reach
in: the kitchen he was as white as ghost,
or a' white as ghosts are supposed to be.
What is the mattcr2" cried Mrs.
Smith.
I've clu.h, tho robber ?" CALCULATED
Smith in breath. Hes locked up IN the
grauary. Give me my bOOts!'
why-what-wha, are you going to
do?"
"Ge, help. Hes desperate fellow,
and twill be dangerous to meddle with him
alone"
II is impossible to describe the excitement
Of Mr.. and Mrs. Smith on that memorable
occasion. The latter took !, upon herself
to load the muskst, while her husband wen,
for the neIghbOrs.
Mr.. Smith exchanged bis slippers for bis
boots. and ran FIRST 10 Deacon Naflos' house
where he expected to find the younger