The weekly standard., 1869-10-13
SELECTED STORIES.
The Stratagem.

SELECTED STORIES.
The Stratagem.
Not long since had occasion to visit one
of the Hudson Kiyer cities, place contain
ing a population of about ten thousand souls.
found, considerable excitement prevailing.
A most daring robbery had been committed
and an attempt at murder. A dwelling be-
longing,to wealthy gentleman had been en-
tered thesnight before by colored men, or
those disguised as such. That the latter
was the case seemed to be the prevailing
opinion. A large quantity OF money had
been taken Just before tthe Tho thieves thieves de-
camped, the occupant of the dwelling heard
the burglars, and be met them pistol in
hand. Before he could use il, however, he
was felled to the floor By terrible blow on
the forehead, and rendered senseless. A son
had come to his assistance, but, being un
armed, be was seized and bound while his
life was threatened if he made the least out
cry.
Twas seated in the reading room of the
hotel, and listened to the discussion Of the
affair. .-
II tell You there wasn't q nigger in the
fence in this NATTER said one, "and l have
the best of reasons for thinking So"
"What are your reasons, DickF asked q
second party. , lsz
"Welf you know that little Bob was seiz-
ed and tied2"8 .- si
$50 they say" Ns 10 !,
aAnd his hands were found to be black
ened BY some substance which resembled
burnt cork. It must have come off the hands
of the Williams" ~.
"Very likely And this proves the ether
suspicious to be correct These burglars
are men who are well acquainted with the
house, or they never could have gone through
it as they did. If they had been lot of
rascals from New York, they wouldn't have
taken the pains TO disguise themselves. But
they'll be found out sure" et
"There is but one other clue to them
''What is that 2ns.l-4 -4-s-.gz.-s.-.4.-....4-s....
II won't speak of it here, as it might de-
feat certain plans which have been laid;
but-u---
Ihadteea suffering for some time with
bad cold, and at that moment violent fit
of coughing seized me- All conversation
ceased in an instant, and when recovered
saw that every eye was fixed upon myself
l did not especially note this for moment
but then their whisperings, and began to
fancy that the men acted strangely and
threw angry glances upon me- Still I could
not divine the meaning, mile. :. :. was that
l he'd disturbed and annoyed them. Pre-
sently one of the party said:
I wouldn't be bit surprised if one of the
villains in this house now. Ifso, he had
better look out for be will not escape. De-
tectiye Bowen is after him, and he never
misses his man. .,.l. -.
Again saw that especial attention was
directed toward me, and the thought flashed
into my mind that / might be suspected, as
was stranger here 1t gave me very lit
tie uneasiness however, for / had only arrived
two hours before, direct from New York,
and could easily show my whereabouts OF
the previous night. rather fancied to my
self the ridiculous figure these men would
cut if they should actually accuse me, and
then fnd out thier mistake. m.
A moment after, large brilliantly pain
ted wagon drove up before the door. A
huge torch was blazing upon it, and the dri-
yer was one of those eeniuses who 20 about
the country with magic cures He got up,
portant fact that he was selling an oil called
'Sealium.' 1t was manufactured from the
seal of the North seas, and would instantly
cure every earthly ILL., The vendor waxed
eloquent as one after the other of his patients
declared that he suffered no more after an
application of the OIL
observed that a second person occupied
a seat near him, but SO quite was this man
that no one seemed to heed him. After a
time the Doctor cried:
Now, gentlemen, / will soon bring from
you an acknowledgement that my oil is really
wonderful
This evening have cured toothache head
ache, earache, backache, bellyache, and
heartache, and / assure you that the latter
disease is the most difficult of all to deal
with. Now I am only going to cure colds
for the remainder Of the evening. You are
all aware that coughs should not be neglec-
ted, for it is sure precursor of consumption.
Now let every man who has cough step
right up a4 s.,-l .a,..f = :
Give him trial. said one of the men ]
had observed in the sitting-room, as he gave
me nudge izs ss.s... r-st .
Twill presently ], answered.
DO it now he spoke rather yehemently
but then he yielded in milder tone.
You have very bad cough, and if you
don't improve your chance, you may loose
Thank you for your solicitude,' answer
ed, but think shall take my own time.
do not anticipate immediate death if I
did, don't think seal-oil would save me-
By this time the Doctor was surrounded
by number Of & barkers,n and I observed
that the. attendant gave bis assistance, ex
amining every pulse and peering closely
into each face.
The eold air had brought on another fit
of coughing, and turning toward me, the
Doctor said: ~a-7's sfaE
"You appear to be suffering, sir. Step
this way andI win relieve you-you are
quite Eelcome.n I advanced, and as did
So, I distinctly heard, some person behind
me make the remark:
,sHe's got the right man, sure"
Approaching the wagon, the Doctor
bathed my forehead with the oil, and then
the other requested my hand 4 give him
he Examined the hand closely as he did SO.
Then he requested the left, and it went
through the same operation. After this he
remaEked:- 4r -aI a.-s -.
sFour cold Is severe, though by no means
dangerous You have been traveiing7n
"Only from New Yonk to this point"
replied a.s ~
"It rained in the city last evening. Per
haps you exposed yourself?" ~
mel did not leave my house aftel
eight o'clock"
you are stopping at this hotelg"
81 lam"
"I will see you after am through here
When I reached the front-door of the no
tel, passed and looked back toward tn
wonderful medicine-man. That he hadn'
cured me was certain; but then had al
hour to wait before the oil would take effect
IL struck me now still more forcibly thai
before that / was an object of especial OF
tention by two or three pc sons standin,
near me.rz0pes of them bent and looked q
my tandz y another peered into my facs
his own within few inches of mine. Thi
angsred me and asked:
IDOL owe you anything, Sir 2" .sa
81 hope not; but ct first Thought it POI
sibl that You owed me your life.n ~
These words were almost hissed In my ea
and confess that they startled me. Imad
no answer, however, but turned my eyt
again toward the wagon. At that instant
saw man approach, and as he paused /