Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1861-03-01
IRAsBURGH, VERMONT, FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1861

other sound. 1t c.sed directly, and pres
emily forgot it,
An hour passed away, and | expert
! encted some perpkiiy, aud anxiety about
my dog, who hl not yet made his
appearance. Th landlord offered to
send boy to loolfer him, and did so
but the boy aftereing absent for some
time, returned wh no tidings of him.
Hoping he wouldDe visible by morning
l retired for the ght.
do not know lhether my conversa-
ton with the land4d had anything to
do with the matter,tut my dreams were
of nothing butt ROBBERY and uurder-
The moment l san to sleep the most
frightful fancies "a riot in my brain
and scarcely twoIho1rs could baye pas
sed ere | awoke Ihuldering rom one OF
the most horrible ledr,ams tat ever haun-
ted me.
1t was about midy,st, The full
mOoa, shining thr7ugh.he curtained win
dows, filed the room with light; not a
sound, save my owa teathing broke the
silence. A cold pevsTation covered me;
for a moment lay Rnost in a stale Of
exhaustion, so territd had been the az
itaiion produced by ny dream. Then,
with the silence opposing me, l rose
from my couch. / pt my hand under
my pillow to assure m'self that my pack
age of money ans ny watch, which
had placed there belre retiring, were
still tLere--then lauged at myself for
my excitement. WHY did such ideas
present themselves inthis place q?
| could very veil rason my magma
ton away but wanot SO easy to COM
pose myself to sleep gain. Thinking
would sit up awhile, [ dressed myself,
and sat down by an oen window, draw
ing the curtain partl aside. This win
dow looked out the bck of the inn, and
was directly over log shed, the roof of
which was not three ret below. AS the
house faced the southeast, the yard here
was completely in shdow; but suddenly
here appeared belowsome object which
l could not mistake or anything else
than my dog lie spang over the low
fence, ran across to h shed, aud scram-
bling up over som casks that stood
against it, reached he roof another
loi5less bound brougt him to my win
low ledge.
l was delighted to ee him coming, as
nay well be imaginel; but what in the
world was the reasoaof his mysterious
absence for SO long aime? lie uttered
10 whine of pleasureRs he reached me,
md sprans up with hs paws upon my
.nees, to greet me le was perfectly ST.
sui ho seemed TO void making any
Unnecessary noise. But what was my
stonishment to see that he was muzzIed,
nd that about his Ieck was securely
NOTED rope, the eid of which drag
ed on the floor, whih had evidently /
cen broken short off. |
He had been tied u somewhere, and
ad broken the cord w main force q
he muzzle--the cord-what were they I
,r? Where had he been Who had {
one this ?-and what vas the object ? t
low his sudden disappearance was ac- 1
ounted for. He had been removed by {
or forced away and by !
HON? A thrill ran through me;
ghtnin8 thought fearful thought
lrted through my brain.
-" Be quiet, sir" l whispered to my t
og. He crouched down.
Moving noislessly to the table by my
ed, took up the pistols, which lay there [
ID examined them-the balls had been I
.moved
And now the full danger of my posi- |
on flashed upon me. ! was in the very q
ace against which my hypocritical host I
I'd warned me-a den Of robbers Now ,
remembered how be handled my pis-
lit was then that the mischief had t
zen done. Doubtless / might expect /
sitors ere long for it was plain that 4
ere was a plan on foot to rob aud per- n
lps murder me before morning, What t
as / to do2 There was not a moment a
be lost in escaping or preparing my e
If against an attack. f
l saw that my door was securely fas- 4
ned then hastily and noiselessly pro- S
eded to load my pistols. But a cum o
ng hand had been at work-the ball n
uch was gone l stood motionless. v
was alone-unarmed. l bad no means d
defending myself against treachery D
t my own strength. resolved to s.
zard attracting the attention of those a
IN u,irbf ba ,votching and ,noLa r,,, 81