Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1869-03-25
without, as the cold beeame more
intense. There are many in the
town of-who will remember the
exceeding severity of that winters

intense. there are many IN the
town of-who will remember the
exceeding severity of that winters
night.
Suddenly murmuring like a
human voice sounded in the hall
outside my door, and then my ear
detected soft footballs as if made by
naked feet. .7E.
With every faculty sharpened a
hundred-fold, lay and listened.
had fixed my eyes on the door,
which l felt certain I had locked
after my entrance, when it noise
lessiy opened, meeting with no re-
sistance from bolt or bar. Then
two men came into the room!
The first 1 Immediately recog-
nized as the suspected thief, but
the other was a stranger, whose
face had never seen before. No
disguise was attempted by either.
Both wore fur caps; but these
were rather pushed back from the
forehead, exposing the full face, and
evincing no desire OH their part to
prevent recognition.
They closed the door as quietly
as they had opened it; and then
stepped up to the bedsideaand there
stood whispering softly-3o softly,
indeed, that I could not distinguish
a word Of what they said. Judging
from the gestures used, and the
expression of their faces, it seemed
as if one were persuading the other
to relinquish some design, which
the latter appeared unwilling to do.
After what seemed to be minutes
of suspense, but which might have
been seconds, the suspected thief,
whose name was Clarke, stepped
forward and, throwing off the bed
clothes, seized me by the arm; then
with a powerful effort lifted me out
Of bed, and dragged me into the
middle Of the room. His compan-
ion suddenly sprang forward, and
grasped his arm, and, as my eyes
instinctively followed the motion,
1 saw to my horror that in his hand
was a broad -bladed bowie knife
A slight struggle took place, but
was productive of no noise. Even
at the time, I was struck with the
!, fact that their footsteps seemed to
Z cause no sound, whilst I could
distinctly hear the patter of my own
: feet as l changed position to avoid
them! This appeared all the more
strange, as had detected their foot
, fall before they entered the room.
At length Clarke desisted from his
efforts to wrench his arm from the
other mans grasp, and asked in q
sharp, quick voice, which did moi
f seem to convey any sound beyond
f the ears of his companion and my
l self:
"Why shouldn't / p
; "Don't make a fool Of YOURSELF
| said the other grufiiy. "Haven't yor
! trouble enough on your hands al
ready? Doyou want to make m ore
: and swing for it? If you must dc
2 it, wait till we get through with the
) 'other business y"
l To this Clarke made no response
but thrust me forcibly down on 6
t chair, which stood by the wiadow
while at the same time holding his
. knife in proximity to my throat, he
whispered: ..
: ''S;t there, darn you, till we ge1
/, through! Then I'll cut your throa
as sure as my names Clarke
5 Saying this, he crept to where hi:
: companion stood, quietly waiting
l for him.
l The night, as 1 have said before
} :as intensely cold, so cold that th'
water was frozen down to the yer,
4 bottom of my pitcher; and sat il
this bitter air with nothing on bu
). nv night shirt, and with bare fee
/; upon the floor.
I / remember having read, that mer
5 brought face to face with death, OF
e ten have the actions of their whole
! lives pass before them in momen
} Of time. Such a panorama Of lif'
[ was presented to me. Incidents o
!, my boyhood, long since forgotten
: and which at this day | cannot ever
t recall, were vividly presented by IN,
7 memory. I thought Of all the mis-
t deeds and shortcomings Of my life
: and, singularly enough, of all IN.
pleasures. Sharp twinges of regre
n 1 had as well, and bitterly groanee
[ over the ignominious death await
!, ing me. I thought also of all m,
e expected pleasures, my anticipation
4 Of worldly success, my good re
a solves, my separation from loving
e friends, and then pictured the con
r sternation of mine portly host ant
S his jovial guests, whom I had left il
t such fine spirits, but few hours be
/ fore. when in the morning they
l would find CHASTITY corpse, will
4 'that across his throat they woult
e hardly care to see," I dared no
/ call for help; knowing that long be
Y fore it could reach me, the deeC
3 would be consummated; and l hat
e no desire to hasten my fate, ever
2 though il seemed inevitable. Strang'
e to say, during all this time not th
faintest feeling of fear came owe
: me; only sense Of regret for leay
: ing earth by the dastardiy hand of
! cutthroat! So little was fear pres
Y ent with me, that when Clarke, leav
}. ing his companion for moment
n approached, and, evidently, to tr,
/ my nerve, drew the back Of his knit
S across my throat, did not ever
e shrink, although the touch of th'
/ cold steel was like the hand of deatl
(, itself! I met the angry CLEAN of hi
l eye without the quiver offs muscle