The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-12-11

; landsman yoa prefer wips-bu You knOv
the Old song says- .i-
"a ,aiIor sheet snehsr o eros."
! He told me q number Of his old adyen
lures, and hours passed away like minute
in listening to them; but / am free 10 I'D
INIT that none Of his yarns were half n
! pleasant to me as some Of the siIken threa(
ends be let fall about his daughter Em
! incline. There was something in th'
! rough manner IN which be gave vent d
the feelings Of d father, that possessed I
tenderness which never could have beeE
, expressed BY the soh vocables Of Senti
J mentality. 1t is thus (excuse my poetry
that we ofsen admire the fragrance Of {
flower. the more foe the rough petals from
which il emanates i was oaptivated. and
twitched the old gentleman on the string
which yielded me the best music, till
Thought be suspected some love-larking in
i my sly attsmpsi'to get him to praise the alb
sent &ir one. -a
"Come, come" be said, "mind your
grog although Isay il who shouldn't ny
it, she's as pretty q little craft ~ ever sail
| ed the ocean Of kfe; bot we're not to take
hsr i'm tcw througbcut ali our veysges-
I so, we'll drop her. rff t-r- '-..
mot till drink to her. with Jour leave. -
said I.
''Oh. an to that, there's no harm, . said
BE- n'AllI say is. its . pity you belong
to ths land sharks. IL you'd been sea
man, ! might have fsncied you for SON
in-law."
The words startled me: and if he bad
bad the keen perception Of q refined man
Of the world. he might have augured some
thing from the sound Of my voice, though
my words belied my thoughts.
swell, here's to her," said /; and NAV
her fortune yield ber better cast up than
limb Of the -" Law, would have
said, bat he roared out "devil, with q
lAugh. and jpinsd him. g. .a
But, as | had a long walk before me,
was obliged to take my leave of the old
gentleman rather early in tho night. His
daughter had not yet returned, but be was
not uneasy on her account, as il was a fine
moonlight night and she was we'll acQuaint-
ed with the road.
Let me see you often," my young
friend" said the Captain. Il should like to
become better acquainted with you. We
always pipe to breakfast at nine O'Clock, and
to dinner at three. hate your late hours
Come whenever you are inclined to do so.
shall be happy to see you"
We shook hands and we parted, and was
really sorry to leave my new and agreeable
frIen1. wy rF
| was walking quickly along the road
homewards; the moon was shining brightly
and the shadow Of the high hedge darkened
half the road, when l thought heard che
sound Of suppressed voices some short dis
tance ahead Of me- stopped and listened,
and almost Immediately afterwards, / saw
two men creep out from the light side Of
the road, and, locking cauti dsly around,
dart over into the shade. The stealthy mo-
tons Of the men, and their evident wish for
concealment, impressed me with conviction
that mischief Of some kind was intended,
and was determined to watch their move
fmeuM 4 gutvEsU6gh -tbe. bease end erSpt
silently along the back Of it, till came to
a sort Of recess for holding stones, where /
paused and listened. ! again heard the
murmur Of voices near me, and, crawling
quietly on, came close behind the speak
ers, 90 close to them that l could distinctly
hear every word they said, though l could
not see them.
She'll be here soon Jem," said one of
them. 1--WE couldn't have had better
night for such job"
"Too much light for my taste" replied
the other. However, we must make the
best ont Our own mothers wouldn't know
US in this disguise. and, without it, she
would be too frightened to take particular
notice Of Us But are you sure she has
the swag?''
"Certain. Smooth-faced Jess told me
that her mistress was going to receive the
rent for her father this evening""
''Oh, that's all right. Well save her
the trouble Of carrying it all the way home.
II will be rather awkward, though, if she
has any one With her," '- .'..' 'a 4
mo fear Of that. I was in the shrub
berry when she was leaving the house, and
heard her refuse to have servant with
her. / took the short way across tho fields
to meet you. and I'm surprised she hasn't
come up yet She can't be long now,
however"
This was pleasant conversation for me
to oyerhear. 1t was evident that robbery.
if not murder, was about to BE- perpetrated.
and / was as evidently destined to be q wit
ness Of the act. / might. to be sure, have
saeaked out Of he scrape, as the men we're
quite unconscious of my vicinity, but l
could not bear the idea Of deserving fellow
creature in,the hour of danger, without an
attempt at her rescue-and yet what could L
dol / was unamed. save with small
walking cane, which would be Of little avail
against two rufisus who were, Of course,
well provided with the means Of offence. l
was just rneditating to crawl cuwards and
endeayor TO warn the expected female Of her
danger, when | was arrested by hearing one
of the rascals murmur-'.H Here she is at last,
Jem."
A light step was now heard, and peeping
in a gap IN the hedge close beside me, /
saw female form fast approaching The
lad y-fof such she seemed to be, By her
dress-was walking along the illuminated
part Of the road, apParcntly unconscious Of
danger or fear, for she was humming tune,
and every now and then glanciug up at the
moon. The critical moment bad arrived.
l could almost hear the thrcbbing Of my
heart, felt such feverish impatience to
put an end to my suspense. Ny nerves
were strung to pitch Of desperation. I
felt as the strength Of dozen men were
in my arm. seized . large stone, and
crOucbing in the gap Of the hedge, / waited
with breathless impatienee for the expected
attack. The lady was nearly opposite me
when the rufhans rushed out upon her.