Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1872-08-08

down their houses, just to make o SEN
sation in the newspapers2 could not
tell but as gave up all hopes of coax.
ing him out of the house, + wildly
thought of batting him with cake and
wine while stole up stairs, rolled up
my silk dresses, and escaped by the back
door, to intercept the children and
Norah, and alarm the neighbors up on
Decatur street. But there was my
husbands precious goblet, on which
my agonized gaze rested whenever I
turned away from the horrible fas-
cinotion~ Of the gentleman from Reno.
He was plainly cunning man, aud
was playing with me- as 4 cat plays
with q mouse. He talked long aud
loud of the wonders Of. Reno, Of its
growth, it's glories, its brilliant future
malsnl, - said he, 'sfour months ago
there wasn't stick nor stake to show
where even the railroad was going to
run; notsa plank was set up, nor q lot
vun out-but to-day there's big town
doing nigh on to Ave thousand dollars
worth Of trade, and lots are going of
like hot; cakes = you can't get round
for the teams there is in the streets {;
goods sell for eighty-five per cent.
profit, and last1 week we had a right
peart race, ball at the Ell Dorado,
four rupaways, tolerable lively shoot.
ing scrape,~ . new paper started, and
four funerals ~ To this catalogue of
attractions I listened mechanically,
). knowing full we'll that the dreadful man
was making up everything he said,
amusing me with the fabricatioDs and
playing on my Ignorance. I had heard
Of such a place a. Reno, but I had not
been able to keep track of the new
towns that spring up along the line of
the Pacific railroad, and really could
not say if Reno was in California or
Utah. But here was a red-faced man,
sunburnt and with sticking plaster on
his lips, who said he was a citizen of
Reno! Where was Reno2 Was there
any such place2 Was he not base
impostor, pretending to know my hus-
band in order to gratiate himself into
my esteem, before he set fire to the
house and carried of my Bismarck silk
dress and our best China2 Oh, would
Norah never Gomez And when would
Harry be at home2
No sister Ann, of Blue Beard story,
ever gazed more anxiously from top OF
tower for the coming of the avenging
brothers, than watched for the return
of that Norah. She came at length,
and seemed an angel of light as she
toiled through the sand, dragging one
child by either hand, while third
clung fast to her skirts in the rear. At
last I had companionship in my ter
rors but found Norah of no assist
ance, for as soon as I communicated to
her the dreadful intelligence, and she
had gained through the crack of the
door one peep at the monster sitting
on my ruby plush sofa, she
threw her apron over head, and,
rocking herself to and fro. ex-
claimed, " Wirrah, wirrah, now, what
will become of the poor children p I
had great difficulty in keeping her still
and restraining her from departing by
the back door with her prayer-book,
Sunday bonnet, best boots, and five
hundred dollar United States bond,
which she had sewed MP in her mat
tress. She finally quieted somewhat
menting that she had not dose of
poison to put in q buisciut for the
gentleman from Reno. Norah
was more skeptical than I, even, in re-
gard to the town from which our un-
welcome visitor professed to have
come. ''RaynoI Rayno I" she ex-
claimed indignantly, "Does he think
to play the like of us for Josh o.
There's osuch place as Rayno in all
Californy, shure, unless it's some dirty
hole that's lived in by the haythin
Chinee." .
When I returned to the parlor I found
little Minnie perched upon the mon
ster's knee, telling I don't know what
ahontthe wealth ofsJewelstnd silver her
mamma had; while the others, older
and wiser, stood off at a discreet dis
tance, and eyed tho mysterious stran-
ger isuspiciously.: He pressed his
patched lips Oh 'the peachy checks Of Of
my darling child in a. way that made
me quiver with honest indignation
knew he was only playing on my ma
ternal weakness, and when he hypo-
critically forced q little drop of moist
ure into the corner of his eye, he prob
ably thought he had, as Norah phras-
ed it, "played me for a JOSH" But
was not to be deceived, and sweeping
the children away from him, waited
and watched for my husbands return.
The gentleman from Reno was not to
be kept;from the children, and actual
~ succeeded in seducing Harry to his
side by displaying an enormous
y heavy gold watch, which I no
ticed he carried in his trousers pocket
with only strap Of buckskin attached
to II Harry, he declared, s..favored
his father nightly; had just such 4
pug nose as Hank had, and his eyes
had the same queer kind of a squint
tLat Hank's did.p Scared though
was at the stranger, I could not help
denying that my husbands eyes had q
cast in them,z or that his nose was q
pug. But my visitor. coolly told me
that he couldn't see it.
| Presently, I discovered a small boy
toiling over the wastes ofsands in front
Of the house; the door bell rang, and
Norah brought me in q note, the mes.
senger departing in rapid somersaults
by way of diversion, before 7 could
stop him and send out for help to the
city. He had brought me evil tidlngs;
my husband wrote in q hurry to say
; that he had been called across the bay
J to attend an old patient, and would moi
be at home until the next morning
, This was dreadful news, indeed. Alone
inthe house with this strangely acting
man, with no one near, night shutting
down, and my hope Of my husbands
return suddenly cnt off: was ever wo.
} man 80 horribly situated9 But in the
darkness of despair caught ono 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 h<
would be sure to meet him ut the 6