Woodstown register. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 187?-1892, 1871-03-07
me. Stealing softly into the parlor, ]
parted the curtains. and looked out.

pdfteQ Ine CURTAINS, anu looked out.
1t was a bright. moonlight evening,
and there, crouched in the corner of the
piazza, right blythe door, could plainly
see q man, evidently expecting some one
to come to the door. l recognized him
as of the men who had annoyed me
so in the village, and my heart stood
still as J. thought of. the open door.
Might not the other one have entered
the house by it? / trembled from head
to foot at the thought. 49, !
l glanced into the library. Madge
was humming q song, and looking 80
happy that had not the heart to dis
turb her, but went quietly down to the
kitchen alone, bent on arousing Watch
to the emergencies Of the occasion. I
never knew before that the house had SO
many doors and 70 many dark hooks.
At every one I expected that wretch to
step out and seize me. 1 was sure some
one was close behind me going down
stairs. My heart leaped into my mouth.
But, no;it was only the r~ustling of my
dress. Watch was always my most ODE
dent servant, and he seemed to under
stand what was wanted of him. The
moment I opened the door out he darted,
with such q savage growl, that I was
half afraid of him myself. A series of
yelps, then a scream and an oath, told
me that Watch had found his game. I
could hear them rushing through the
shrubbery. Presently there was q great
noise, more oaths, and I knew the man
had fallen over the wall an the back
yard, which raised it several feet from
the garden.
Frightened as I was. I could not help
laughing. I knew Watch would be
faithful 50 I no longer feared the out
slider. -
My chief desire now was to reach my
room, that had a strong lock- fse. N,
3 "What on earth is the matter Z" asked
Madge. i~ssisggs sdt % le .tj4a Daa sasi set
With a laugh I babe her wait until
we were in our room before she made me
tell a long story.
The door was open, and as I reached
the head Of the stairs the moonlight
showed me distinctly in the large mir
o the reflection of a man hurriedly Sc
creting himself in the wardrobe.
Frightened nearly to death, l stood a
moment undecided what to do. There
wasn't q room where we would be
safe. I thought of the three revolvers
hidden in the bureau, and decided to
"beard the lion in his den." sss
1t happened that Madge and myself
were expert in the use of the deaf-and-
dumb alphabet; it had served us many
q good turn, and I resolved it should
now. ~
Madge was in an unusually talkative
mood-talked necessarily as she unfast-
ened her long hair. / never saw her
look more lovely. I managed to at
tract her attention, while with my fin
gers I said: t...lr. ..-
Man in the wardrobe. Saw him.
Keep quiet. Three revolvers in the
bureau. Guess we can take care of him."
Every particle of color left her face,
but her voice did not tremble as she
continued the conversation, talking
brightly, just as she always did. Then,
with her fingers: "What shall we do 2"
Aloud: "Sue, don't let us go to bed yet
this moonlight is too b%ewitching not to
be enjoyed"
"Can you use a revolver"
A shake of the head for answer.
81 ought to write half dozen letters.
If you are not sleepy, I will write; you
can read, you know"
"But you did not tell me what that
fearful hubbub was
l told her the whole story, laughing
as l told it, and making her laugh.
81 81 tell you what it is, Sue, I saw two
men in the village"
why, Madge, did you notice them,
too ?"
"Yes, but, provoking thing, you never
let on that you saw them, so I didn't
dare say a word about them. / was
sure, though, that they were going to
give US a call"
"Well, Watch will teach them to con-
slider their ways and be wise; they
won't dare come again tonight"
All the time I was racking my brain
for a plan whereby we might escape the
danger. Finally, l settled upon this
we must have Ann with us-she was a
host in herself.
At three o'clock the stage passed along
with passengers from NJ for the
early train. We must manage until
then, and get assistance from the stage.
This I impaired to Madge /; she vol
unteered at once to call Ann. Kissing
me quietly, she glided away.
All me such long minutes as those
were, while I was alone with that ward
robe. Once the door opened a wee bit,
then closed again. Would they never
come? Maybe they had deserted me.
Just then Madge appeared, and, holding
her watch before me, showed nae she had
been gone only five minutes.
Ann came soon, making q great
racket, as she always did. ~. arl
"Deed and she wasn't going to stay
down there! What with the beast of a
dog and Jenny's snoring, she couldn't
sleep a wink"
We leased her, and had as much fun
to all appearances as we would have had
under the most favorable circumstances.
Only twelve o'clock!
IL shall be gray as a rat, if this mo-.
notony continues much longer !" tele.
graphed Sue.
AS for me, | had a perverse desire to
drop to sleep.
Madge commenced reading aloud. I
yawned SO ominously, that, frowning
savagely upon me, she tossed the book
across the
As minute after minute passed, with
no sign of life within the wardrobe,
AIMS face settled into incredulity, and
l fully expected she would investigate
matters for herself.
One o'clock
Out stepped our man with a gallant
bow. sel
Excuse me, ladies but your ward