The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1860-06-07

of the watch in my vest pocket. began
to feel a tevcrish anxiety to know ant
brave the worst.
| am, and have always been pecularl,
sensitive to the depressing influences
which an ill-lighted room exercises on the
mind even under the most favorable cir
! cunstauces .and,in my present situation, !
did not fail to be effected by the sombre.
ness of the apartment. which increased
as the wick of the candle grew longer and
longer. There were no suutferS, aud
feared to attempt to improve the light by
any other means, lest should cxtinguisll
it. And IS cazed at it new appre-
hension seized me. But small piece of
the candle remained unconsumed. In
twenty minutes, therefore. or half an hour
should be left in total darkness. Itur-
ned pale at the thought. All men, alike
the timid and the brave, have an instinc-
tive dread of an unseen danger. Ajax,
the very incarnation of physical courage,
when a sudden darkness covers both the
contendiny a.nics, concludes his prayer
with
Give me to SEE. and AJ.N asks no more.
And the vain glorious coward PAROLES
expresses the same idea when, after he
has fallen into the ambuscade and been
b!indtoldcd, he exclaimed
! ''Give me to live. or to LOOK upon my death
To remain where | was, in the dark,
was out of the question. To cndeavor to
force my way down stairs, an idea / had
previously rejected, was row my onI Iy al
tentative. Still | thought | would not
unnecessarily prec; ;pitate the catastrophe,
| would wait, as patiently as might be,
until, as near as could guess, the light
had but few minutes to burn. and then
at all hazards. to try and make my way
out. waited ten, fifteen minutes, and
| glanced at the light, and then was about
to carry my resolution into eject when |
heard slow, heavy step ascending the
stairs; it stopped at the door; there was
a short pause, and then keT turned in
j the lock; the door opened, and then
man entered the room, followed by the
woman who had conducted me to the
house. III had entertained any doubts
as to what the issue of the affair W: 5 to
be. one glance at the powerful, sinister
looking rutiian before me would have dis
sipatcd them. He carried in his ri ght
hand tough cudgel, or rather blud -eon
and on the whole, presented the appear
ance Of being a pretty formidable antag-
oni-t. Still fit very considerable
degree q satisfaction AZ the thought that
! | had but one man opposed to me. Why
the woman had accompanied him was
1t a los = conjecture. though from sub
sCJncnt events, I arrived at the conc,u
sion that her presence was due to the fact
that She proposed it should serve as /
check to any unHecc ssary display Of VIC
lencc on the part'of her companion tho
from her satisfaction when she learned |
was a stranger in England, il was evident
that she had anticipated and was prcpar,
ed to embrace the alternative Of carrying
matters to extremity should | by rcsis-
tance render it necessary.
The man at once. rs though any pre-
tcncc at Disgusting his purpose was per-
fcctly useless. said, Hand me over your
watch and what money you have about
you, and" he added. seeing | showed no
disposition to comply with his request,
but remained mo,iorlcss at the fireplace,
"be quick about it or it will be worse for
you
AS he spoke he advanced toward me
with his arm uplitted. At the same mo
ment the woman. who had hitherto re
mained a passive spectator of the scene
threw herself between Us. and exclaimed
in tone which thrilled me: "Oh nC
blood, Tim. And you,' she added, turn
iu- to me, give up, without resistance
whatever he requires, and no harm shal
bcfall YOU
As size spoke sudden idea struck me
In moment | Was by her side, and gras
ping her arm with one hand, with the
other drew pistol from my breast. aut
presented it within few inches of he,
head
"AIvance one step and | fire." crieC
to her confederate, whose rapid had beer
my movement, stood for a moment gazing
at US with an expression Of stupid Devil
derment On his coarse features. Rufliun
as he was, the wretch paused irresolute
Whatever might be the nature of the tie
which bound him to the woman | helC
in my grasp, it was at least such as rem.
dered him not indifferent to her fate, ,ant
the energy Of my language aud name,
left him no reason to doubt that | woulC
execute my threat if driven to it. Nov
mark me" continued, addressing my
self to the woman, "you will take th
light in one hand, we will proceed to
gether down stairs and when we rcacl
, the street door | will release you. But
, remember, should you attempt to pla,
Inc false, OF the first sign of trcachery OF
your part or that your confederate, you
, life shall pay the forfeit. You,' I sal,
to the man, will remain here, if you at
| tempt to follow us you know the conse
, quence.
Without further parley, 1 advance,
toward the door, still holding firmly tn,
woman's right arm in her left hand sh,
bore the light, and in this position W,
passed from the room. As We did so
noticed that her face, which excitemen
had momentarily sufFused with Sigh
color, was again deadly pale. This CAV,
cause tor new apprehension on my part
What if she should faiut? In this cas-,
the light would fall from her nerveles
hand, while at the same time shoul,
lose the advantage which her fears at pre-
sent afforded me. Fortunately, howeve
we reached the lower hall without m,
Tears being roalval .,I as H. -.