The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1864-12-07

ed it. =.. r@.r
"Don't be in hurry, Picton. Let Us
make sure that they are both asleep; it will
save trouble. I always hate to have fuss
in doing these things"
"Of courae they are asleep before this
time. But to make sure, you had better 60
up and see," replied the one with the
longest knife.
heard footsteps ascending the ladder.
and silently made my way back to the bed,
and when knew that the landlord was
listening, made a noise as If were turn
ing over in bed. This had the desired
effect; for moment after | heard him
descend the ladder, and in low voice
communicate the fact to his companions
that one or both Of us was awake. In "a
moment the light faded from the crack in
the floor, and all was still in the room
below.
What was to be done. That was the
question | asked myself as I sat there in
the darkness, with the rain beating loudly
upon the roof close to my head. How
was | to escape from the certain death that
awaited me, at the hands of the asssssins
below?
AS sat thus fur moment, almost STU
pefied, movement Of Louis told rue that
he was awake. I bent down close to his
ear, and placing my hand over his mouth.
so as to prevent any exclamation Of alarm,
| appriz-d him, in a low whisper, Of our
dangerous situation. . The boy never
tlinched. He showed more fortitude than
had done.
"We must escape from here quickly" he
co. :ci in, hol
mencing to put on his garments.
But how is that to be done? We can
not pass through the bar room, Louis; and
said in 4 whisper as low as his own.
"By the window. There is one there,
fastened up with board. saw it when
we came to bed"
A ray Of hope dawned upon me. There
might yet be chance Of escape. Softly
crossed the chamber, and by the sense Of
feeling, found the window. 1t was filled
with wide board, across which ran two
bars, fastened on either side, thus rendering
the board immoveable. There was no place
in which the hands could be inserted-and
if there had been, it would have taken the
strength Of giant to have wrenched the
bars from their places. 1t was apparent
that the builders of the house intended to
have glass window inserted here, but
from some cause it had.not been done; and
to secure the aperture against the admission
of wind and rain, the board had been put
in and securely fastened in its place. In .
low whisper | made Known this dilemma
to Louis, who had crept to my side.
Cut them off with your knife; it won't
take but little while. will watch at the
door"
Yes, that was the only thing to be done,
| set about my task, and Louis crept back
to the door, to watch the coming Of our
enemies.
My knife was dull, and the wood was
hard So | made but slow progress. The
moments went ON, and at last enc of the
bars was cut il two. One.iour Of my
task was done-for each bar had to be cut
twice. Uark! what sound was that? Some
one coming up the staIrs-a pause at tho
door Then heard the b2adstead creak
as if some one was turning thereon. Louis
had learnt his part well. A moment later,
and the footsteps descended the ladder,
and all was quiet again.
Never before had worked so hard; but
now it was for life. Life was the stake, and
the shelter of the forest was the boon I
coveted. Again the battle ragged between
dull steel and wood.
Oh, that terrible hour! 1t seemed ar
age to me- Thrice did the assassin come
to the door, and thrice did Louis play his
part. But I well knew they would not
wait much longer. Why should they,
when they We're 50 much the strongest.
At length the last bar was cut through
and removed from its place, and it was but
the work of moment to remove the board,
All! never did the air of heaven seem 81
sweet, as when dash Of rain struck me
full in the face. 1t seemed as though even
then was free from danger. The cold
gust of wind sweeping across the chamber
appriSei Louis that / had effected my
object, and he was soon at my side, having
the thoughtfulness to take my portmanteau
from its place under the bed as he came.
How far it was to the ground was the
next question to be determined. | put
forth my hand, aimlessly, and to my great
Joy it rested upon the roof Of shed,
which seemed to slope off towards the
ground This was unexpected good luck,
and in a few moments | was upon it, in the
pelting storm. Louis quickly followed me,
and cautiously we felt our way down to
the caves, which we found to be within q
few feet of the ground; and in less time
than it takes me to tell it, we, were upon
the earth 1t was dark--so dark that we
could not see our hand when placed six
inches before our eyes. After few min.
utes of cropping about, however, we
succeeded in finding the road, along which
we sped as fast as it was possible for men
fleeing for their lives to go.
1t was just as we were leaving the oper.
space and about to enter the forest, that We
heard dull shout behind US, and glancing
back we saw brig ght light streaming fror.
the window through which We had made
our exit. Our escape WAS thus early
discovered.
A mile OF more we dashed along the
road, and sought shelter in the forest.
From our dark covert we heard footsteps
pass and repass, and doubted not that our
would.be asSassins were in pursuit of US.
The morning came at last; and cold, wet,
and stiff We entered on the road and sped
along towards the village, which we reached
about ten o'clock. | told my story to the
proper authorities, and in company with
the officers went back to the Dead Wolf,"
which we found silent and deserted. They
had probably anticipated our visit, and
left for parts unknown.
A PAIR OF SPAsMs.-One of the spiritu-
al nanerS hayi,v l,o1ly dacl,rad.