St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1869-10-15

Is SO perSIstentiy and perpetually quot
ing
1t was of no use; | could not Sleep
went back To my old occupation of
thinking again, and | believe, at one
time, | went through the record of my
SINS Fortunately ely for me, | was then on
iy young man. Heaven help us How
would some OF us like to be shut up in a
box now, | wonder, with such food for
thought rs that!
How long we went on in this way, |
had no means of knowing, but the time
seemed TO me inSufferably long. | after
ward rcCkoned that it could not have
| been more than an hour or an hour and
"A hall at the most, but | should not have
been surprised ut any moment to see day
light streaming in through the cracks of
my prison. After awhile we stopped,
and, rising on my elbow and putting
my ear to the breathing holes in the box,
l made out that my captors were disput-
ing Is to the road they ought TO take. /
lay down more puzzled than ever, for we
could not be near the college and we
could not be going TO any established
rendezvous. In either case, they would
have known the way.
was not kept in suspense much long
cr, tor, after gong short distance fur
iher, at Il quick pace, we stopped, and
the box, with myself inside, was taken
ont and carried some little distance We
appeared at first to he g,ing through a
door or e, gateway, Tor the box struck
against ore OF the po,ts-through gate
1t must he. | thought, Is | heard their
feet crunching the gravel Immediately af-
tcrward. They carried me a little way,
and then ,ct Inc down roughly. The
next moment | heard a sound which |
imagined to be bell handle flying back,
after violent pull The faint noise OF
retreatinG footsteps followed. and then.
IN the quiet that succeeded. heard the
WAGON driven IadidIy away.
At that instant the truth flashed upon
me. Itey h,M hIt me at he door OF tie
Crhons!
y cold sweat broke out at the thought.
l. was like some horrible nightmare, and
/ came near shrieking aloud Pressing
my Knees up against the cover of my
bat. ~trovc with all my might to burst
1t uti, but my frantic efforts accomplish
cd nothing Ptu~ing a moment to -ath-
er my strength tor new struggle, heard
a window upcn overhead, and grutf
'u.tc exclaimed twice, "Who's there p
/ held my breath 10 listen. The window
WAS closed again. and all was sill. /
waited D.>athlr>>iy, but nobody came to
the door Then remembered that the
ur!!i' over the door would probably con-
rrti my bon from the owner of the voice
Evidently had short reprievc granted
tried again to see the hour: but my
watch had Il gold face. and there was
not light enough in-Iic my prison. One
;h.ug VS. crItain; it could not he morn
ing, .ur thr-e men would und pubt edlv
tax" the middle OF the night to play their
trick, and would time their movements
- IL To reach home before daybrcak. |
must have II least two or three hours be-
fore | should he Gi-covcrcd And then
ia" servants would b. up first, and per
..al~ / could brine them t. keep the mat
Ter secret. | wondered if Miss Bessie
WAS IN early riser, AMI whether she was
allowed t. 90 cut III the morning before
ihr dew wL- of the gra-s. wondered
whether II WAS the custom in that house
Il III to have the door>tcps washed or
swept before breakfast
Thc-c and other thoughts flashed thro'
my mind aS ! ;Ig"in tried to force eft the
nd | very soon made up my mind that
the screws We're too strong Cor me: and
although had = sufficient knowledge of
urcu;,mc~ TO understand the force OF the
knee lever, | could not arrange nv full
crum 80 - 10 work with advantage. NV
knife next occurred to me. had pref
ty strong one i'll my pocket, and in anoth-
cr moment | WAS whiting away at the
breathing holes over my head. | sup
pose, in my anxiety, WIS - eager, for
had accomplished very little bcvond
getting some s;Iw-du>t in my left eve,
when -nap went the blade al the point
Tie bit OF steel fell on my cheek, and |
was just congratuating myself that had
not put out the sight of my right eye,
when a voice exclaimed, close to the
breathing holes,
"'Sh. Are you there, old fellow %
"Ycs :" exclaimed. "Whu is it 3
OH, Tor heavens sake, get me out of
this
Ssh. Don't make any noise. It's I,
Charley-Charly Stecpie. I've followed
You all the way over"
1t WAS like new lease of life to me to
hear Charley's voice. knew very well
he would not leave ne now
is these anybody with you, Char
ley ~ asked
No; I'm all alone"
"'What time is it -
Two O'Clock"
Two O'clock | could scarcely believe
him. But there was plenty of time be-
fore Us.
by joye, they have screwed you up
tight, haven't they ,"
''l's. IIayo you got screw-driv-
cr
no; and don't know where 1 can
get one at this time of night
WAT half a minute" | whispered
| had still the larger part of my knife
blade Ieit, and very soon enlarged one
OF the holes in my box sufficiently to pass
the knife through to him. To my mex
presslbie joy, he whispered back to me
that he could use it. The screws had
not been pressed hard, either through
haste or tl1m the fear of making the box
dangerously tight, and with caretllness
and patience Charley succeeded in get
tiuU Out four of thrm Imnatient Mt nv