Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1864-04-06


in her hand. Not satisfied with the lock
which looked crazy, she porceededt0 pil'
every moveable article Of furniture agai
nst the door; that done she turned to
the FIRE, which vas burning cbeerfully
While she stood there medita,ing upon
the insufieiepcy cf the furniture for a
barrieade. the door key, which She was
twisting about her fingers, dropped into
the ashes Mrs. Benson stopped to pick
/ it up, and as she stopped, with her face
in an NJ lside down position, g'eam Of
! fire sent its light underneath the bed
behind her It flashed upon shock
head Of the reddest hair she had ever
seen. Mrs. Benson raised her head
again rather quickly. The first tangible
idea that presented itself in the dizziness
that crept over her was to pull away the
barricade and call Ior help. But long
before a sound could be made audible
below, her fate might, and doubtless
would be decided. Then she thought Of
protesting aloud TO have forgotten some
thing which she must 20 to fetch but
thinking Of all the circumstances, she
could not help believing tie sour people
down stairs to be in league siIh the red
man, 30 that certain death nust follow
that move, even if the robber we're uot
too wide awake to permit the ruse. She
had heard Of its being done, and so, no
doubt, had he, and he Vould understand
it. Besides all this, >he had not found
the key, and somehow ne shrank from
bending down again to search for ii.
Who knew what She might encounter the
next time2 a knife, perhaps, or a pis-
toI, or that one cleaning eye; and some
started motion might cause the robber
to suspect her knowledge OF his presence
No, she could not look for the key.
A little while longer, Mrs. Benson
stood warming her hands at the fire
then she turned round to examine the
position Of the bed, which had been
drawn down so as to leave a saall space
between It's low head and the val, and
it occurred to her that this arsangemeut
had been -ri9ce by 'thero}ber, vino woulyi
doubtless prefer to emerge irom behind.
where there would be least chance Of the
victim catching sight Of him, and 50 uu
necessary nniye might be avoided.
By reason CT her little barricade on
Que side, and the wall on the other, she
would have to creep in at the foot of the
bed. After thinking over her position
as calmly as possible under the circum
stances, she took a ,t-ong thick, woo'en
scarf OF unusual length, which bad been
wrapped over her chest for the journey
and tied behidd, aud putting out the
candle, she got into bed, yawning again
audibly. The FIRE buried low in tn,
CRATE, and the room grew nearly dark. Il
any one cauld have looked into it, they
would have seen on the bed crouching
figure, holding in its two hands the w,
ends Of tie scarf-one Of these ends be
ing slipped through long loose knot q
the other, and a pair Of large eager eye
straining upon that fatal space between
the he'd head and the wall.
A clock struck dogn below. Mrs
Benson could hear the dull, Whirlirl
sound of every siroke in the house, and
hy,terIcal desire to scream seized her
but just then there WAS a slight dragging
noise under the bed, and her eyes weir
again fixed in that strained watchFulness
The dragging came near the wall, slowly
The watcher had well calculated that th
form Of her terrible visitor must 2usl
itself up head first, shoulders fat agains
the wall, and the arms comparative
pinioned. The hideous chance was tia
it might como up on one side or the othe
Of the big moose waiting for it. Nor
dragging, then shock head above Ii
pillow, stifed gurEIing eryi and the tw
hands of the watcher we're tugging ava
with all their might at the two ends {
the wooden scarf.
? Chaneing to pass by the strange lady
door in the early morning, the sour lanC
5 lady was startled by the sound Of a 7oic
uttering strange sounds, medley Of ia
king, screaming aud chuckling. 81
r called her husband FIRST, then the lady
2 servant; and after some alteration, ii
latter insisted on b. eaking open the doc
A clatter Of falling furniture followed
and edging themselves in with some dif
Guilty, they found the lady still in Ii,
, crouching position, and still clutchir
with both hands at the ends Of the sea
o about the CHASTITY, staring head. at Il
sight of those three horrifei faces, 81
burst into a fit Of hysterical crying, viii,
(said by my reciter) probably saved b
5 reason.
E The suspicious which Mrs. Benson h,
: conceived that her hosts we're in leag1
o with the robber las the shock.head'