East Saginaw courier., 1866-06-28

IN safety, ana Braspeu tho hn"o -
hand. The knob turned, but the door
did not open; it was locked; it was
my fate to be thief; and after a mo-
ment of new dismay turned again
doggedly, reached the stair, and re-
entered the apartment ! had left.
1t was getting like home. 1t was
snug and private. / had a chair there
waiting me. i thought to myself that
many a man would take a deal Of
trouble. to break into such a house. i
wondered how Jack Sheppard felt on
such occasions. / had seen him at the
Adelphi. He would make nothing OF
getting down into the street from the
window, spoons and all. ] tried this;
/ the shutters were not even closed, and
the sash moving noiselsssly l had no
difficulty in raising it. ! stepped out
on Jne balcony, and looked over
Nothing was to be seen but a black
and yawning gulf beu cath, guarded
by the imaginary spikes of an invisi-
Bile railing. Jack would have laugh
cd at this difficulty, hut then he had
more experience in the craft than /,
and was provided with all necessary
appliances. AS for me, i had stupidity
forgotten even my coil of rope. The
governors house, found, had either no
balcony at all, or it was too far apart
to be reached. PresentlyI heard a
footstep on the trottor, little way off.
1t was approaching with slow and
measured pace; the person was walk
ing as calmly and gravely In the night
as though it had been broad day
Suppose / hailed this philosophical
stranger, and confided to him, in a
friendly way, the fact that the baronet
without the slightest provocation, had
locked me up in his house with his
silver spoons in my pocket Perhaps
he would advise me what to do in the
predicament. Perhaps he would take
the trouble of knocking at the door,
or crying fire, and when the servants
opened the door, / might. rush out and
30 make my escape. But while / was
looking wistfully down TO see if i
could not discern the walking figure,
which was now under the windows, a
sudden glare from the spot dazzled
my sight. Itwas the bulls eye of a
policeman; and with the instinct of
predatory character, 1 shrank back
trembling, crept into the room, and
shut the window. dgaH 'or
BY this time l was sensible that
there was, q little confusion in my
thoughts, and by way of employing
them on practical and useful objects,
| determined to make tour of the
room. But first, it was necessary to
get rid, somehow Or other of my plum
der, to plant the property, as we call
it; ard with that view, 1 laid it care
fully, piece by piece, in the corner of
a sofa, and concealed it with the
cover. 4,,- arp
This was great relief. almost
began to feel like the injured party
moro like captive than robber;
and 1 groped my way through the
room, with a sort of a vague idea that
/ might perhaps stumble upon some
trap-door, or sliding-panel, which
would lead into the open air, or at
wo rst, into a secrect chamber, where
/ should be safe for any given number
of years from my prosecutors. But
there was nothing of the; kind in this
stern, prosaic place; nothing but few
cabinets and tables, and coucbes, and
arm chairs, and common chairs, and
devotional chairs, and footstools, and
statuettes, and glass shades, and
ick-knacks, and one elaborate .gi-
randole hung round with crystal prisms
which played such an intermidable
tune against each other, when l.
chanced to move them, that 1 STUN
bled back as fast as / could, subsidized
into a fauteml so rich, so deep, that |
felt myself swallowed, as it were, in
its pillows Of swa IS down. F
How long l had been in the house
by this time, Lean not tell. 1t seemed
to me when l looked back to form a
considerable portion of a lifetime. In
deed, L did not very we'll remember
the more distant events of the night;
although every now and then the fact
occurred to me with startling distinct
ness that all had gone through was
only preliminary to something still to
happen; that the morning was to come,
the family to be astir, and the house
breaker to be apprehended. My re-
Elections were not con tinuous. 1t may
be that 1 dozed between whiles. How
else can l account for my feeling my
self grasped by the throat. TO. the
very brink Of suHocation, by hand
without a body? How else can 1 ac-
count tor sister Laura standing over
me where reclined, pointing to the
stolen plate on the sofa, and lecturing
me on my horrid propensities till she
grew black in the face, and her voice
to an unearthly scream which pierced
through my BRAIN. -8-f
this fancy occurred, / started
from my recumbent POSTURE; A voice
was actually in my ears, and living
form before my eyes; lady stood
contemplating me, with half scream
on her lips, and the color fading from
her cheek; and as L moved she would
have fallen to the ground, had / not
sprung up and caught her in my arms.
l laid her softly down in tho fautemi.
1t was morning twilight. The silence
was profound. The boundaries Of tho
room were dim and indistinct Is it
any wonder that / was in some con-
siderable degree of perplexity as to |
whether 1 was not in tho land Of
" Madam," said /, eff you are
vision, it's OF no consequences; but If
not, l want particularly to get out"
i"Oiier no injury" she replied, in a
tremulous voice, ''and no one will
molest you. Take what you have como
for and begone."
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