The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1865-09-28

was the old man to dispose OF; that. Indeed
was the first thing to do, for, once let hin
give the alarm, aud all my efforts Would h'
fruitIess. NsAti
l sat brooding intently for about half al
Iipour,a the. end of which time had though
out plan which seemed to me the only on
at all feasible. There were some small pie
ces of y God lying on the HEARTH fragment
left after the fire had been lighted. took
up one of these and in the course of few
minutes had fashioned it with my pocket
knife into a sort of rude spatula, around
which tied piece of stout string that
foundin one Of my pockets. sPhg old mar
sat watching my movements attentlvely
apparently unsuspicious ofwhat was about
to do . lIt}i3 bgt al ULE
Everything was now ready for my at
tempt. Occasionally heard the faint mur.
nurs of voices below stairs, showingGthat
there were other inmates Of the house still
awake; and now and then the opening and
shutting of distant door sounded prefer
naturally loud at that quiet hour. confess
that now the final moment was come, my
Lheart failed me for minute or two, and
began now to doubt my ability to carry out
my plan to a successful issue. But this fit
Of weakness was Of short duration, and gave
hplace to an unfaltering resotutionJto do and
dare everything to effect my escape.
l rose suddenly from my chair, stepped
across the hearth in two strides and seized
! the hoary rascal by the throat, sfSpeaE or
make noise, and I'll murder YOU" | whis-
pered sternly in. his ear, and | passed the
bright blade of my knife close before his
eyes. Then before he had time4t recover
from the shock OF an attack so sudden and
unexpected, l had twisted the beIl-rope
into large loop, far out Oh his reach as he
sat there. ''Open your mouth, y | said to him,
''but do not speak, or you die" He was SHY
ering with fright, and had hardly sense
enough left to understand what said. ''Mer-
cyl mercy! good Young mar, = -lSesgaspod, and
then the piece was inserted between his
teeth and tied securely in It's place. and he
could say no more. next fastened his hands
behind him with my handkerchief; then drew
sheet off the bed, aud cutting it with my
knife into long strips, twisted these, and pro-
ceeded to tie him securely in his chair. When
! | had satisfied myself that he was so fasteu
ed that it would be impossible for him to re-
lease himself, and further that he was in no
danger Of being choked by the gag, | turned
my attention to the window;and having ia
ken off my boots so as to make as little noise
as possible i'll crossing tie floor, proceeded
to try the shutters, and, after five minutes
patient labor, succeeded in opening them al
most in silence. IL
The next, point was, the window; but l
found, to my disfnay, when | came to exam
inc it, that it was composed of small diamond
panes set in lead, and opened by means of
In, -
hope of egress that way. My whole scheme
seemed to collapse as looked, for my inten-
ton had been to escape through the window
and reach the ground by means of rope
made out of the bed=clothes. What,to do
now, | knew not; and as turned despairing-
'ly away, the old 1nan,s eyesAnlet mine with
a malignant glance of rage and triumph
Suddenly thought struck me Although
the stout man, on leaving tho room, had
locked the door behind him. was it not
probable that the old man had in his pos
sion another key that would open it? This
was question that solved at once by
searching him, and in one of his pockets |
found a peculiar key-a master key, | I'M
agine it to have been, which probably fitted
every door in the house; at all events it
opened the door of my prison, as was not
long in discovering. Although this was
only the first step towards my escape
could not repress the joyous bounding of
my heart when the door turned on its hin
ges, and l stepped cautiously out on the
landing, and then stood listening to the
murmur of the voices below stairs.
But the most difficult part of my enterprise
was still before me; this was to pass with
out discovery the open door of the room be-
low, and then go down the second flight of
stairs to the ground floor, and so out of the
first door | could find. The attempt, to
succeed at all, must be made at once, be-
fore the stout man came up stairs, which he
probably would ere long, to look after the
safety of his prisoner
Before venturing down in the direction of
the voices, l gave one last look round my
prison and examined once more the bonds
.ot the old man; then | blew out the candle,
and having removed the key, began to feel
my way down the stairs, one, at. a. time,
pausing to listen between every step. For
tunately the house was one of the old-fash-
toned kind and strongly built; and not the
faintest creaking of stair betrayed nv
presence. At length | reached large land
ing, giving access to four rooms.. Tie door
Of one OF these rooms was only partially
closed, and through the opening shone a
faint streamso light, while now and then al
muttered word or two, whose tones | all
once recognized, told me that there sat my
captor and his friend Their conversation
was nearly over by the time reached thel
landing, but they still seemed to be silent-1
ly busy over something. What was the
netarious business that occupied them at
such all unhoIy hour u
Noiseless as Il shadow, ] moved forward
till | stood on the mat at the entrance othe
room. The door was too far closed for me
to see the occupants of the ROOM or for
them to see me; but from where stood. RI
could see the chimney piece, and the large
pier glass which stood on It; and in this
glass | could see the reflection Of the stout
man and his friend-teuld see, too distinct
ly, what they were doing, which kept them
so silent and so busy. mad
They had got the brown leather pertnian,
teau open between them, and were intently
examining its contents, which consisted Of.
watches, chains, rings, and Plus together
with several small boxes filled, apparently,
with precious stones of different kinds-ali,
without doubt, the proceeds of some great
robbery. | stood like one fascinated for
getting for the moment the danger Of my
position At length the stout man spoke.
"a very pretty little haul, Master Mat
thew ~ said he. ''As nice stroke of bu-
siness as I've done for a long time, and
neatly done, too though l say it that
shouldn't Eve got two little, leather trav-
elling-bags up stairs, wbich.win. do adnai-,
rabIy to hold the swag. I'll go and fetch
them, and then we'll make a fair division.
as agreed on, and pack up ready for start.
| must give look to that young shaver up
stairs, and see that he's all right I'm puz-
zled to know what to do with him :
hang me, If amt ~
Stick a knife in his gizzard - sugges-
ted the slim man with yawn
No no; we'll not do that, if we can help
it answered his companion. That's a