The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1864-07-15

| one WAS WIau inc HtlBhDoIS cdlleu u
bitter Protestant" consequently she
was employed by all the Protestant
ladies of Limerick, aud was, moreover,
a weekly pensioner of some religious
society. BY Miss Sally the little
Protestant clear-starcher was looked
upon as q spy, and dreaded and
avoided accordingly.
One day, handsome carriage
stopped at the door, and lady of
modish appearance having inquired for
Miss Sally, alighted, and assembled the
stairs TO her room. She had some
very fine work with her and concerning
this she had hundred instructions to
give Miss Sally remembered after
wards, that while shewas talking about
the work the lady's eyes kept CHANGING
here and there rather curiously But
as this was by no means unusual in her
fine lady visitors, it caused her no UNI
easiness at the time. Her customer at
last departed, and Miss Sally resumed
her occupation, suspended during the
rather tedious directions to which she
had to hearken.
The visitors sharp eyes, however,
had not gone aprying in vain. Inside
/ the front room there was, as | have
often seen in those old houses, n little
room or closet, without any window,
only lighted by means of a glass door
connecting it with the apartments with
out. 1t come out subsequently, that
the fine lady spy had seen the shadow
of a man inside. In less than half an
hour the whole street was filled with
soldiers, and up to Miss Sally's room
they came to secure their prisoner.
They knew he had not had time to es-
cape-they also knew that from the
closet there was no second outlet; so,
when they were in The room without,
they were sure he was trapped.
Into the closet, then, they thronged,
General Duff at their head. But the
room was apparently empty. 1t was
without furniture, save mattress, a
chair and table on which were the
remains of meal. In one corner was
a little heap of tirewood, but not large
enough to conceal a man. For mo-
ment the soldiers were taken aback-
next moment they were treasured
There was bricked-up fireplace in
the room; and round it they all gath
cred. At that time there was tax
called hearth money, and people used
to build sort of wall of bricks around
a fireplace, that the Inspector might
see when he came that they made no
use of it. Aye, and may be when he d
turn his back the bricks would be
taken down until the time come for the
next visit. However, as luck would
have it, Miss Sally had really no use
for this fireplace; / suppose it was as
much as she could do, poor lady, to
keep up the fire in the front room
And it so happened that the bricks
were well and firmly built, and even
plastered over. and they reached to
within couple of feet of the ceiling
There was just room for man inside
and down there as the soldiers guessed
the poor fugitive had dropped. He
had only few minutes notice of then
coming, and, catching up a Ratchet
that was iii the corner with the fire
wood, he had just had time to Chamber
up and gain his temporary place ofre-
fuge when they broke in.
With throbbing heart he listened
to their threats, their cries of anger
their oaths He heard them asking il
it would not be best to shoot down up
on him, and kill him III his lair But
Gen. Duff bawled out mo, no mot
for hundred thousand pounds HI
must be taken alivel He cannot es
cape us; pull down the brick-work, anc
he is ours !" They then set to, anC
worked hotly; and what with the
knocking and hammering, and crush
ing and shouting, there was such al
uproar as was never heard before il
poor Miss Sally Carmody's lodgings
The bricks being sohdly built and plas
tered, it was not so easy as they hac
anticipated to tear them away. Anc
when at last they did effect their pur
pose, their supposed prisoner hac
, to be seen. While they We're uproot
ing the bricks that screened him from
them, he, seeing, or rather feeling, thai
there was no hearthstone under hi!
feet had conceived the hope that b.
cutting away the floor he might drol
down into the room below, and 50 have
another chance of getting off Witt
: the Ratchet he had caught up, he fel
, to work, the noise he made completed.
drowned by the uproar without; and
some minutes before their object wa
effected, he landed in the room below
Instantly the alarm was given by tn
$ soldiers nearest the hearth place. Som
of their number remained above, Will
! the rest hurried down to get into tn,
4 room below. But here was anothe
2 delay, for the woman who occupied
{ "A good Protestant, as several of then
: knew, and therefore not to be sus
I pected of voluntarily harboring
1 French spy (for such they declared tn
! fugitive to be)-was absent, and tn
| door was locked. Some, who had hur
, ried round to the back of the house
8 found the window of this room fas
I bolted on the inside, and there was m
\ other outlet from it. With shou
D they announced their certainty tina
the Frenchman was still in the house
caught in his own trap So the,
l. l. L A.