The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1870-09-29
ANDERSON c. H., SEPTEMBER 1870

him. He turned toward his wife, and saw that
there was man by her side also, with revolver
aimed; felt, rather than saw, that she had
walked when he did, and was waiting, self
possessed, for whatever was to come. AS the
darkness yielded to his eyes, he was aware OF
the third figure, standing at the window.
"Perfect quiet, remember, and we will tell
you what is to be done," said the same voice,
cool, with an utterance entirely distinct yet
hardly louder than a whisper. "You have
nothing TO fear if you obey orders. A knife is
ready for the heart of each of you if you dis
obey The lady has simply to lie still; as she
will be bound to the bed and her mouth stopp-
ed, that will be easy and the gag is very gentle,
Houghton will rise, put on his trousers, and go
with us to the bank, always in range of this
pistol and in reach of this blade. The keys
are already in my pocket. Number Three, will
you scratch match that may help the gen.
tleman to his clothes"
The figure in the window stepped noiselessly
forward at the summons. As the blue fame
lighted the room Foster Houghton observed
that his visitors were all masked, with black
silk, through which a narrow slit permitted
vision He noticed that their feet were shod
with listing, so thick that step made no audi
BILE sound on the straw carpet. He noticed that
long, thin black cloaks covered their forms to
the ankles, so that no details of clothing could
be noted to identify them. And while he OBJ
served these things, not venturing to stir until
the threatening muzzle was withdrawn from his
face, he felt his hand tightly clutched by the
fingers of his wife, beneath the coverlid.
Years of familiar association had made him
apt at interpreting his wife's thoughts and feel
ings, without the aid of the spoken word.
Either by some peculiar expression in the grasp
itself or by that subtle magnetism which We
know exists among the unknown forces, he felt
that there was something more than the natu-
raj terror of the moment, more than the cour-
age of heart ever Drawer than his own, more
than sympathy for his own supposed dismay, in
his wife's snatch at his hand. More alarmed,
at the instant by the shock thus given than
by the more paIpablc danger he turEed his head
toward his wife again, and in her eyes and in
the direction they gave to his saw all that she
had seen.
The masked figure in the centre of the room,
in producing match, had unwittingly thrown
back one side of its cloak. By the sickly fame
Just turning to white, Foster Houghton saw,
thus revealed, the twisted chain he had played
with IN his own boyhood, the golden crescent
with his mothers hair, the massive key with its
SEAL Just as he had seen them on his boys
breast at sunset. In an instant more taper
was lighted the curtain of the cloak was drawn
together again. But the secret it had exposed
was impressed upon two hearts, as if they had
been scared with iron. AS drowning man
thinks of the crowded events of lifetime, Fos-
ter Houghton in that moment ofsupreme agony,
of dozen links of circumstantial evidence
the boys batficd desire for money, his angry
words, his evil associates, his missing revolver,
his deliberate explanation of a night-long abb
sence, his intimate knowledge of the affairs of
the bank. except the secret combination OF the
lock, which he had often teased for i'll vain.
Two things were stamped upon his brain to-
gether and he was thankful that his wife could
know the horror of but one of them.
His own son was engaged in plot to rob the
bank, by threats of assassination against those
who gave him BIRTH He himself was irrevo-
cably enlisted in plot to capture the robbers,
and SO to bring his boy to infamy and pun
ishment worse than death.
The discovery compels pause in the narra-
tive It made none in the actual progress OF
events The man who had spoken motioned
the cashier to rise and assisted his trembling
hands in covering his limbs with one or two ar
tices of clothing. The one on the opposite
side of the bed moved quickly and deftly as
sailor, bound Mrs. Houghton where she lay,
without touch of rudeness or indignity be-
yond what his task made necessary. knot
ted handkerchief from his pocket was tied over
her mouth. The third figure stood at the win
dow, either to keep watch without or to avoid
seeing what took place within; but Foster
Houghton's eyes could discern no tremor, no
sign of remorse or hesitation, in his bearing.
"Now, Cashier" said the one voice which
alone had been heard since the stroke of the
clock, "you will have to consider yourself
ready, for We have no time to spare. feel sure
YOU know what is healthy for you, but still l
will tie this rope round your waist to save you
from any dangerous temptation to try side
street. Number Two, you will 60 below and
see if the coast is clear"
With one more look at his wife's eyes, in
which he saw outraged mothcrly affection,
where the strangers saw only fright and pain,
Foster HoughtOn suffered himself to be led
from the room One of the robbers had pre-
ceded him one held him tightly by the wrist;
one, the one whose presence gave the scene It's
treble terror, remained long enough to extn-
quish the taper and lock the door. The outer
door was fastened behind them also; and then
the noisclcss little procession tor the cashier
had been permitted to put on his stockings
only( filed along the gravel walk through the
pitch blackness which mist gives to moon
less night, toward the solitary brick building
occupied by the Blue River National Bank.
They passed the school house where Foster
Houghton had carried his boy dozen years
before, with bright new primer clutched in
frightened little fingers then the desolate old
mansion of his own father, where the boy had
been petted and worshipped as fervcntly as at
home little further on, the church, where
the boy had been baptized, and where the
youth chafed beneath distasteful sermons-its
white steeple lost in the upper darkness; and,
few PAGES beyond, the academy, within whose
walls the cashier had listened with such pride
to Harys eloquent defamation OF a Iho ths ke+ 1set
Commencement day. He thought of these
things as he passed, though so many other
thoughts surged in his mind; and he wondered
;f another heart beside his own was beset with
such reminiscences on the silent journey.
BEFORE they reached the bank the man who