Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1872-08-15


toiling over the wastes of sandsi in front
of the house; the door bell rang, and
Norah brought me in a note, the mes
senger departing in rapid somersaults
by way OF diversion, before I could
stop him and send out for help to the
city. He had brought me evil tidlngs;
my husband wrote in hurry to say
that he had been called across the bay
to attend an old patient, and would not
be at home until the next morning
This was dreadful news, indeed Alone
IN the house with this strangely acting
man, with no one near, night shifting
down, and my hope of my husbands
return suddenly cut off; was ever wo-
man so horribly situated But III the
darkness OF despair ] caught one CLEAN
Of hope. There was no excuse for the
gentleman from Reno to tarry any lon
ger. ] told him, with ill-concealed
/ triumph, that my husband would not be
at home until the next day, and he
would be sure to meet him at the 9
O'Clock boat. So | rose and, looking
significantly at his huge soft hat hang
ing on my bust of Clytie, stood ready
to show him the door. He said, oh,
well, 1t don't make any difference to me,
| can jest wait here for him. I reckon
/ you can bunk me in somewhere, and it
won't be lonesome for you if you have
n man about the house, seeing as your
old mans not round Ia vain | plo-
! tested that L was used to being alone
| (Which was a fib) and then L did not
mind 1t (Which was another), and that it
would not be convenient tor me to have
| him stop. He declared, with horrible
irony, that / should be half scared to
! death if | was left alone, and that he
could ''lop down" on the floor any,
where, if | had no spare bed for him
| He had Jared much worse before now
| in Rene.
SO he stayed. l can never forget nor
can depict the horrors of that night
He sat after supper chattering with
rascally noncbalance of all sorts of i'm
! probable things which "Me and Hank"
had done when they camped together
IN Brandy Canon IN 1850, just as though
my refined and precious husband ever
knew this rough creature before me, or
had shared in the adventures which he
now spun out in his wild talk of the
days of 80 at Hog Bar and Brandy
Canon. He took up one of my fragile
| hyaclnths blooming in the window,
! (the wind blows SO we cannot raise
flowers out doors in Jinkins street,, and
nursing it with his plastered lips, said:
Now, that's purity; we don't have no
flowers up in Reno" | delnded NY
self into the notion that he gave lit
! tie sigh, but he added, disdainfuliy, as if
rallying himself, 1--WE don't have no
time to fool away on posles, You bet.
/ Every once in Il while he got up and
walked the room, and then | thought
my time had come, but he only strobe
| across the little parlor with two or three
| long steps. making the house rattle in
every JOINT, SO that l thought it would
! come down about my ears again. Once
| he extended his walk into the door
yard, but soon came back, smelling
! dreadfully of tobacco smoke, which
the wind, now lulled to "A zephyr, was
not strong enough te blow away. The
children having been put to bed, and
Norah, shivering with apprehension,
being permitted to curl herself up In
corner of my own chamber, ! had moth
ing to do but sit up with fearful sort
of fascination and listen vacantly to
the discursive talk of the gentleman
from Reno. | sat and looked at him
as he half nodded in his chair, wildly
wondering if he could not go to sleep,
and if | could not seize him and PIN
ion him before he could awake. |
| thought how terribly he would struggle,
and how Norah would hear him and
come bowling down stairs, or vanity
scream for help from the windows.
Sometimes | thought | would rise up
and tierceIy ask him why he did not
begin his bloody work, and put me ont
of misery But as ] anu o timld and
nervous little woman, did no such
thing but let him run on with his talk,
and wonder Mt his voice, which actually,
now that the wind was down, made the
house shake
Led by some awful spell upon me, |
showed him shudderingly, to the cham
Der, and after his gray suit had dropped
in detached parts all over the floor, /
heard him throw himself, with sort
of snort, upon the pretty little spare
bed in the best room, with a crash that
threatened to bring the frail thing in
fragments through the thin floor. |
did not dare to take off my clothes,
but softly placing chair before the
door of the gentleman from Reno,
slipped into my own room, locked the
door, and lay quaking through the
night, waiting for the signal when the
violence would begin. Confused
dreams of a great many gentlemen
from Reno carrying of my children
and best china in small lnstallments,
made my night long and troubled.
started mp at every sound, rigid with
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