The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-09-28

nurse, who was reclining IN an arm
chair at my bedside, and she instant
ly awoke. l said to her:
Keep perfectly still, say not a
courage and presence of mind, and
two or three whispered sentences
made her completely aware of our
dangerous position. And here the
thought occurred to me, that an inner
closet, that could be reached only
through my own chamber, contained
all our silver, jewelry, and money, and
that the burglars were at work as if
they we're aware of this fact. What
should we do? We had no neighbors
nearer than the gardeners lodge-no
firearms, even if we had been able to
use them; and under these circum-
stances an cutlery for help would have
been of little avail. Mrs. Marsham
went to the open window and looked
out. 1t was perfectly dark, except
when occasional flashes of lightning
in the distance betokened a coming
storm. If we made noise, we should
only precipitate the burglars move
ments. They might attempt to batter
down the door. just then heavy
peal of thunder drowned all other
sounds, and before the echoes had
died away, Mrs. Marsham had thrown
up the sash, and, stepping upon the
window sill, ha sprung out upon the
| Surf beneath. Fortunately the dis
lance was not great, and she sustained
no serious injury. With me, it was
then question of time-that is, if
she escaped without being caught by
confederates who were doubtless
watching below. ,..o
To add to my fears, / then heard a
new noise (the burglars were becom
ing holder and less guarded In their
movements. 1t was the sound of a
sharp instrument cutting the wood of
the door. But the door was two inch
es thick of solid oak, and progress
was slow With what inward alarm
/ watched and waited and waited
By the dim light of the night lamp, /
next saw the sharp point of the augur
bursting through the wood Then a
fine saw was introduced, but the rob-
| bers evidently feared that its harsh
grating would awaken the occupants
Eof the room, and it was withdrawn
| and the auger substituted, as the quiet
| er instrument of the two. 1t were
vain for me TO attempt to describe my
emotions during the next quarter of
an an b hGqr Taegs was was apparently n2a2aS
! for it as never prayed before, The
robbers intention ~ was evident. 1t
was to bore out piece of wood in the
1 door large enough to introduce a hand,
and then slip back the bOltWhich was
under the lock- The hand was soon
introduced, and the fingers sought for
the lock- The bolt was there, but the
little knob which had been attached
J.. to it, had been broken off long ago,
and since / can remember, I had been
compelled to Introduce some small OBJ
ject generally hair pin) to push the
bolt back; out of its socket, But |
was no longer able to control myself.
Nature asserted its sway over reason,
and | uttered an involuntary scream.
There was an instant's pause
at the door, and then loud
demands that / should open it, under
penalty of immediate death. i don't
know whether could have risen from
, my bed to comply with the Tufians'
commands, but [ did not; and then
they resorted to new and most fend-
ish method of accomplishing their
, purpose. 1t seems that my mother s
chamber had already been entered,
and herself bound and silenced by a
pistol held at her head; but the bur-
glars had not discovered, the courted
treasure in her room; and sought for
, it in mine. She was now brought into
the hall, and heard the ruffians ex-
claim
, Tell your daughter to open the
door, or we will kill yoU on the spot.
I remember making an effort to rise,
when / heard the sharp quick
! report of firearms on the lawn
below, rush of feet on the
! stairs and-and-John-I mean Mr.
! Duncan-you know the rest better
than [ do.