Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-08-03
fNOL. .XXXIV.HsAzGo

L. IN. -
Z ts'Y ot1are safe for the present" she said,
! ''but you must go away at once. 1t will
not be prudent to let you out at the front
door, as papa will hear us, so you must go
out at theowindow.'' y z.o Z TsE - 1913 saI ii
The window was raised softly, and Civ
Ing Jenny kiss, sprang out of it, | had
Scarcely touched the ground when / was
siezed by the collar, and rough voice de-
manded to. know why had left the house
in that way. Looking upI found myself
| in the hands of watcbman. While was
lhesitatings what to say, Jenny, who had
fheard the question. said to the watchmafi
tss "It's all right, policeman. che front door
key has been misplaced, and the gentle
man had to9leaveithe house through tile
IWiudOw.1 foi8W .soiiu fir .sais.IusH Vie-H
."Who are you ~ asked the watchman.
15bs.I am Miss Shorter,n she replied .'and
the gentleman is MIR. Sturgis, friend of
my tather's.iBd u e 3 vr!-5 r7r .sa.-a'I f.lf
"If you say so, miss, / suppose it's all
/ right" said the watchmau, releasing me,
but, he muttered, as he turned away,
ITS very queer to do business. in that
fstyle.'
The next morning g, before left my office,
received visit from Maj jor Shorter. De-
1ciining my offer of a seat; the old man
came up in front of my desk, and looking
I ME straight in the face, said, sharply
s'Richard Sturgis. you were at my house
last night. I'm sorry Z did not know it,
for / would have given you the punish-
mentyo1r impudence deserved" 9ii %
1 II began to explain the matter, but he cut
me short. e2 ~ g15irgdrs .niiaf y % hr5i -
ssNever mind. y he said, s,it's over now,
and it can't be helped. Don't try it again,
forzI warn you shall be on the watch tii
| He turned abuptly and left me- / GER
tainly felt rather sheepish,s but determin-
ed BOT to be outdone.i lIswas determined to
marry Jenny, and he was resolved that Il
| oh nd a In
stru ggle bade fair to be a hard one.s at
For several days i did my best to getoa
message to Jenny, but failed. AT last I hit
upon a. plan OF communication. Major
| Shorter's house was built directly on the
street, and as he had forbidden me to dark
en- his doors, / resolved to make use of his
windows, which, as somebody very justly
remarks, .'are just as good as doors, pro-
fvided they have no nails in them to tear
fyouf breeches." On the next Sunday night
4 stationed myself in the shadow of the
doorway of the church, and as Jenny came
by, accompanied by her father, Fmanaged
to slip. q note into her hand. In it Ire
vealed my plan to her, and as she passed
out of church a bright look which she gave
me signifed her Willingness to adopt it.
r. Every evening after this, at dusk. when
/ passed Major Shorter's house, foundon
of the parlor windows slightly raised, and
Jenny sitting by it, hidden in the heavy
curtain. would slip into her note, with
which l had provided myself before leay-
ing home, receive one in return, press her
| hand, and be off before her father could see
me. This continued for about three weeks,
when it was broken up by rather eun-
pleasant occurrence % i,aas.- a- IT
One evening j had gone with my note as
usual, and had placed my hand in though
1.-THE window, when it was suddenly siezed
with vice-like grasp, and the old major
thundered, as he threw up the window;
Now, you sscoundrel, I've got you have
1? III make you remember me, you i'm
pudent Villain i1a .l,-- = Q -at3 .51'.es
And with thatrh almost crushed my
hand. I yelled with pain. -e ? 17TT
ut hurts, does it?" growled the old
man, savagely. mot so soft and tender as
the hani you expected to squeeze, you
villain"
Before this ]. had been too much sur
prised to speak; now cried out angrily:
''Let my hand alone, Major Shorter.
What right have you to treat me in this
manner?'' ~ 2Hi i3e 9a ea'
.Rigbtp' he shouted. ~"Right! Zounds,
sir, what right have you to stick your hand
in at my window? I've notion ohaye
you arrested as thief"
Take care, sir" exclaimed, trying to
wrench my hand from him. "You may
regret this"
'.WaitYtill get out there, and I'll make
you.regret it." ZFtE
He released my hand and started to come
out after me, but did not wait for him,
took to my heels. = S@ E-sF'
The next day 1 received note from the
major. 1t was short and sweet, and some
thing to this effect: 'a'T as tHa
SIR: You are an impudent blackguard.
In chasing you last night fell and hurt my
| leg, which prevents me from seeing you
this morning. write now to inform you
that if 1 catch you lurking around my
house again / shall certainly shoot you.
90 f7Ft5E % =. JOHN SHORTER
This letter, especially after my experience
the previous night, made me feel very, un-
comfortable, but 1 consoled myself with
the reflection that you must catch a man
before you can hang him. L set to work to
devise another plan, and when L had ar
ranged it tom my satisfaction, communicated
it to Jenny by Slipping note into her
| hand. at church. ,--.-ar7 g. -,.t,.f-
In the rear of Major Shorter's dwelling
was an alley. The back building extended
| to this alley, and in the second story was
a window overlooking it. L asked Jenny
! in my note to tie her letters to string and
| lower them from this window after dark;
1 would then get them, and tie my letters
| to the string in return. This plan worked
admirably for while, but like the other,
WAS not to last long. One evening had
Eiust tied my letter to the string when /
was startled by a loud "bang" from the
window above. and a smarting in my
Ehands. Away sped, followed by another
report. heard the old man shouting after
me, but did not wait to, hear what he had
I to saw. When / got home / examined my
hands, which smarted painfully. but the
wounds were very slight; the major had
evidently loaded his gun with salt, which,
1 it was quite painful at first, was not dam
II II fnn MT n in q
1 upon him, and give him a thrashing, but
| the reflection that such course might
| lose me Jenny, determined me to take it
| as quietly as possible. j encountered the
major on the street the next day, but al
though he called to me that he wanted to
see NE / avoided him. had had enough
| of him for some time to come.
| / did not see or hear from Jenny for at
least month after this. At last received
note from her one morning telling me to
come TO the house that night, that her ia
ther had left the city, and would not re-
| turn until the next day.
When night came flastened to the house,
and was met by Jenny at the door. lspent
/ pleasant evening with her, and was just
rising to go away when we heard the front
! door open. n. ., ,,,-- IA - ---i4- RI.
20 dear, there's papa now. What shall
U we do 2" exclaimed jenny in alarm 'i m
We had no time to loose, so told her to
be quiet, and concealed myself behind the
4 sofa. @ 81
The major came in directly after, and
seeing Jenny's anxious and Hurried look at
once suspected the cause of it,. He seated
| himself on the sofa behind which j was
concealed, and heard him give an angry
grunt. 1t was clear my presence was
4 known to him. q.
..Jenny, dear, he said, ssgo into the
kitchen and tell Tom to bring me bucket
Of hot water.r