The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1861-03-20
B. B. BLACKWELL, EDITOR.
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low and it viii be dangerous to med
lie with him alone.
1t is impossible to describe the ex-
element of Mr. and Mrs. Smith on
! that memorable occasion The latter
took it upon herself to load the old
musket, while the husband went for
the neighbors.
Mr.. Smith exchanged lis slippers
for his booss, and ran first to Deacon
Naffles house, where he expected to
find the younger Smith, who was
counting Naffles daughter He was
| surprised to find the house all dark,
as if Naffies had retired to rest, and
| blown the candle ou5 He knocked,
however, furiously, on the occasion.
After some delay Deacon Naffies came
down in his night d ess, stared at
| Smith in establishment, and demanded
his business at that time of night.
Caught the tkief-locked mp in
the granary-where's Increase 2"
Ha caught the thief ?" cried the
Deacon, who having lost some prop
erty as well as~his neighbor, was in
terested in the intelligence. Good
enough keep him till morning"
"Twon't do !" replied Mr. Smith
in an excited manner. He's des-
perate felIow-must raise the neigh
bors-where's my son Increase ?"
ooh, Sally is sick tonight, SO In
crease ceurted only abont an hour and
went home"
Went home ?"
eyes" said the Deacon, " half an
hour ago."
The elder Smith clapped his hands
to his head as if he had been struck
with an idea or some weighty sub
stance
Gracious !" he exclaimed
What 2" asked the Deacon.
L believe" stammered Smith, II
i have locked up"
Who ?"
Increase !"
"I'll bet you have !" cried the Dea-
con. 81 heard him say he had to
carry the buggy cushions into the
granary before he went to bed "
Look here" whispered the elder
Smith, q" | beg of you never to men
ton this-I-I-ifi it should ever get
out"
"Oh, I'll keep the secret" inter
rupted the Deacon, trying to preserve
becoming gravity. The joke is safe
and I'd advise you to hurry home and
let ont Increase. "
The elder Smith turned on his heel
and vanished, feeling very weak, prob
ably from the effect of the excitement
he had undergone.
Let us now look in upon the Young
er Smith, Who was actually shut up in
the granary 1t is impossible to des-
cribe his rage on finding himself thus
entrapped After shouting until he
was hoarse and nearly deaf, he closed
his teeth apgrily, and sat down on
bag of meal to await the result.
Increase had not been long in his
dark dungeon before he heard noise
in the barn. Surprising it was the
old man, who, having discovered his
error, was coming to liberate him, his
anger egaporated, and he conld not
help but laugh at the ludicrous mis-
take.
But there was mystery about the
sounds he heard, which caused the
Younger Smith to doubt whether they
were made by his father after all. He
listened. The key turned cautiously
in the lock. Slowly, stealthily the
door opened, while Increase scarcely
breathed Somebody entered noise
lessly, he touched young Smiths shoul-
der as he passed, and began to ex-
plore the further end of the dungeon.
Increase dropped on his hands and
knees, and taking advantage of the
noise made by the robber. crept ont.
Then to shut the door and lock it was
the work of a moment. Somebody
was locked up
Listening moment and hearing no
sound, Increase became firmly con-
WINGED that he had committed no err
ror, but caught real thief, and went
Immediately for assistance.
Shortly after this, and very much
ashamed of his mistake. the elder
Smith sneaked into the barn and ap-
preached the granary. 1t is necessa-
ry in this place to observe that the
elder Smith locked up his own son
with the key which he carried with
him, and that Increase locked up the
thief with false key which the latter
had brought with him, and carelessly
left in the lock on entering the gran
airy, and which the younger Smith
now carried away.
And now the elder Smith made
haste to open the door.
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