The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1866-05-17
THE IRON VAULT.

one, and possesses n strange fascination
rendering it one of the most agreeable o.
pursuits. Many who follow it, see nothing
in it but labor-think of nothing but its
return in gold and silve-. To me it has
other charms than the money it produces
am callea upon almost daily, to open
doors and peer into long neglected apart.
inents; to spring the stubborn locks o
safes, and gloat upon the treasure piled
within; to quietly enter tile aps rtments oi
ladies with more beauty than discretion,
and pick the locks of drawers containing
peace-destroying missives, that the dan
gerous evidences, of wandering affection
, may not reach the eye Of Il husband, OIL
! fiai her. in possession of the missing KEY;
to force the fastenings of cash boxes, and
repositories of records, telling of men
made suddenly rich, of corporations plum
dered, of orphans robbed, OF hopes crush
ed, of families ruined. Is there no charm
! i'm all this ?-nn food for speculation? mo
scope for the range of pleasant iancy?-
Then who would not lie n iocksmiih tho
his lace is hegrimned with the SCOT of the
Jorge, and his hands are stained with rnA?
But have a story to tell-not exactly a
story, either, for a story lmplies the com
pletion as well Ms the beginning of narra-
i've, and mine is scarcely more tnan the in
PRODUCTION To one. Let him who deals in
things of fancy, write the rest. ..
In the spring of 1861 think it was in
| April opened little shop on Kearney
street, and soon worked myself into fair
business. Late one evening, lady, close
ly veiled, entered my shop. and pulling
from beneath a cloak n .iapanned box, re-
quested me to open it. The lock was Gu
| riously constructed, and I was all of an
hour fitting it with KEY. The lady seem
ed nervous ut the delay. and mt length re-
quested me to close the door. / was a lit
tie surprised at the suggestion, hut COM
piled. Shutting the door, and returning
/ To- my work, the lady withdrew her veil,
disclosing as sweet a face as can well be
| imagined. There was q restlesness i'm the
eye and a pailar in the cheek, however,
which plainly told of a. heart i'll at ease.
and in moment every emotion for her had
given place to that of pity.
"Perhaps YOU are not well, madam, and
the night mir is chilly?" said rather in
quisitively. s,r-s 81 Ha5...sal
ielta rebuke in her reply: " had no
other Object in requesting that the door be
closed, than to escape the attention of per-
sons" .srslts.s. s.,f..t.., 10
! did not reply, hut thoughtfully confin-
ued ,ny-work. She resumed: 'Tlat little
box contains valuable papers-private pa
pers--and have lost the key. or it has
been bee s!aIsn shaspid pef cihitt cihitt Mfare ne bon OF
such am errand," she continued, with some
hesitation. and giving me look which it
was no fficult matter TO understand.
'Certainiy, madam, il You desire it. If
cannot forget your face. will at least
attempt to loose the recollection of ever
, seeing il here" ,. .,...... d. ... ..sa.I.ar
The lady bowed rather coldly mt what
considered fine compliment, and / pro-
ceeded with my work, sat SIZED that a sud-
den discovered partiality for me had moth
/ ing to do with the visit. Having succeed
ed. after much filing and fitting, in turning
the lock, L was seized with curiosity to
get a glimpse at the precious contents OF
| the box. and suddenly raising the lid, dis
covered bundle OF letters. and n daguer-
reoty2e, as I slowly passed the box 10 the
owner. She seized it hur-iediv, and piac-
ing the letters and picture in her pocket,
locked the box. and drawing the veil over
her face, pointed to the door. opened it,
and ~ she passed into the street, she mere
ly ed--"Rpmember!' We meet
again, and I have been thus particular i'm
describing her visit to the shop, To rend r
probable a subsequent recognition. '-
| About . o'clock in the morning, in the
by a gentle tap upon the window of the
little room back of the shop. in which |
lodged. Thinking OF burglars. sprang
ont Of bed, aud at a moment was at the
winnow. with a heavy hammer i'm my
hand. which usually kept at that time
within convenient reach at NV bedside.
/ who's there?' inquired. raising the
hammer, and peering ont into the darknes
for it was as Egypt when under The curse
of Israers God. s-... +.
"Hist!' exclaimed a figure, stepping i'm
front OF the window: .'open the door,
have business for you. ,..s..... -.. ... .... d
"Rather past business hours, should
say; but who are you?' 80.
''No one that would harm you," return.
ed the voice, which imagined was rather
feminine for ~ buraslar'ss +,-...-,----,-.
''Nor no one that can.'' replied. rather
emphatically, by way of "a warning. as
frightened my grin upon the hammer, and
proceeded to the door. pushed back the
bolt and slowly opening the door, discOv.
cred the stranger already standing upon
the steps. ~ .H sa ha H. f-ru agsg
"rwhat do you want7" inquired very
aprupriy. sn,f 80. a.l - ...47 sf ..q
II will tell you,' answered the same sof,
voice, sit you dare open the door enough
for me TO enter"
"Come in" said I, rcsolntely. throwing
the door aiar, and proceeding tn light Il
candle. Having succeeded, turned to
examine the visitor. He was small and
neatly dressed gentleman. with heavy
Raglan around his shoulders, and n blue
navy cap drawn suspiciously over the
leyes. As I advanced toward him he seem
ed to hesitate a moment and then raised
the cap from his forehead, and looked the
curiously in the face. did not drop the
candle, hut acknowledge to n little ner-
vousness as hurriedly placed the light on
n table, and silently proceeded To inves,
myself with two or three very necessary
articles of clothing. AS the Lord liveth,
my visitor was u lady, and the same one
for whom had opened the little box abou,
II month before! Having completed my
hasty toilette, I attempted tn stammer an