The St. Cloud journal., 1871-05-11

10 y.i< ID: IL. NO.43. /
!, =; =. 49, II =. All sid - x35
She pressed her face close 70 tie taIs glass
.thes raised the window and peered
'ot into the darkness, but could see
nothing. She smiled At Nancy's foolish
Fears, flushed the relinquished task,
Ind returned to the kitchen.
9 II don't see anything Of your mao,
Nancy" she said. "Wbat did be look
like? p" = r ~ 10 p.
"He looked like a>robber, marm."
"Now, Nancy we don't have robbers
at the farm. Such q thing was never
heard Of. 1tavas your fancy and now
you may 60 to bed. You are tired, I
know with your days work"
Nancy heslta.ed. 'Could the things
be moved back into.my room, marin ?'
she ask ed. ~.
s'Wby, no, Nancy I don't Gee how
they can. You can get along tor one
night, can't you we expect to get
along most anyhow in housekeeping
time" '2'g>3 . c.E'
: Don'tsmind anything about the rest,
Miss Dale, but it is outside"
"Oh, the stone |! Well, Nancy, it is
too heavy for you or me to lift,, but
when Samuel comes home I'll ask him
to step up and set it inside your door.
Will that do Now go right to bed and
to Sleep" -..
She lit her candle, and climbed the
stairs to her room over tho kitchen.
The space at the top was crowded with
tables and chests and other articles be-
longing to the upper regions Of the
house, for Mrs. Dale was in the midst
Of q thorough cleaning. Leaning .gainst
= bureau close to the head of the stairs
stood Nancy's precious charge. She
stopped to pass her hand over it's pol.
lshed surface, nurmuring some half.
articu|ate worda In her broken voice
then passed to her chamber.
"a Half m hear later, when Samuel
D.le returned from the post Office, be
had AZ exciting story to tell. The de-
pot At Testers! Corners was robbed the
night before, and, that the thief had
been tracked halfway to Barclay Farm.
80 look out for your silver spoons,
SUSIE" SAID her husband, afor tho
light: fingered gentry are among u.s.
Then she told Of N.poy's fright, and
in her sagerness to see that every door
WAS fastened aud the house made se.
cure for the night, quite forgot her
pro"ise to the poor women up stairs.
Nancy lay waiting long time, and
when ehe slept at last it was d,sturbe5
and broken sleep, from which shs Was
suddenl, :wakened by the sound Of .
stealthy step on the stairs. She felt
rather than heard it approaching SLOW
ly,. cautiously, wellnigb noiseleasly.
She rose in her bed, holding her breath
to listen. Was it Mr.. Dale coming to
fulfill his wite's promiser Wac ;t-pb
horror! could it be-.-the man whose
face had frightened her at the window ?
And if he came to rob the house, what
did it contain half so valuable as the
precious charge to which she had that
night for the first time proved faithless ?
Itmust have been some such train
Of thought that passed through Nancy
T7ler's mind, and that caused the timid
weak. headed woman, who under ordi-
nary circumstances would hardly have
ventured to face mouse, to rush to the
rescue of her treasure. She sprang from
her bed and crossed the room ut q
bound, and, throwing open her door,
stood face to face with man holding a
dark lantern in his hand. In surprise
at her sudden appearance he made a
backward step, lost his footing and
caug gbt at the nearest support. It was
the tombstone. It shook-it tottered-
it fell, and man and marble crashed
down the stairs together with sound
to wake the dead. A moments still.
ness succeeded the upro.r, followed by
the sound of voices and footsteps, and
. group of frightened faces appeared in
the doorway. >
The stairs were strewn with fragments
Of the broken stone, and at the bottom
lay the mptionlsss body of a man. He
grasped IN one hand Farmer Barclays
we'll filed wallet, and Susie's wedding
spoons -protruded. from his pocket
There was blood everywhere. The
stairs, the walls aud pieces Of marble
wers sprinkIed with it, aud where the
mans head lay was . pool that every ID
slant increased in s,ze. He was quite
dead, and they saw by : ghastly wound
upon his head that = sharp corner Of
the stone had ;cloven his skull.
When Samuel Dale turned the dead
mans face to the light, he uttered an
exclamation Of horor, for Thema, Ty-
le,'s black eyes stared blindly in his
own, and !.!Eli his lips, p.ftine, showed the
white teeth eripning in = shastly smile.
They bore ,.vas the body, and left
: veman on the. blood stained stair
grouping With feeble, moaning cries for
!l.ss .he' ,1r.guents Of Thoma, Tylera
tombstone.
+ Last Sunday Henry Ward Beecher
lost bis text. With the utmost sang.
jroid ho turned over leaf after leaf,