The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1873-03-20

such short notlce. w nat cOuio 10
could only rush to the door, and set my
back against it. Did | tell you this was
or house-warming party? [ think not
Did tell you our landlord had altered
the house for US. making onr bed-room
larger by adding slip that had formed
a separate room ? | think not. And
yet ought to have told you all these
circumstances. to enable you to under
stand the catastrphe that followed. In
word, the door opened outwards. I'd /
forgotten that acknowledgements having
had a room SO constituted beforehand /
never will again. The door went open
with crash, and | bounded back wards |
into Mrs. Markby's arms Smelling
salts and sal volatile, was there ever such |
an un.oward affair.
The music struck up for the dances as
| hoped back into my room. | hid my
head among the holsters and muffs. and
almost cried for I'm such a delicate
minded man. Yes, it hurt me a good
deal more than it did Mrs Markby for,
would you believe it ?-she told the story
down below 10 the whole company, With
pantomimic action-and when | showed
myself at the door of the drawing-room,
was received with shouts of inextinguish
able laughter
[ think | called the Yorkshire reople
dense just now, didn't 1? Well IL add
another epitaph -coarse-dense and
coarse I told EN- so; but they only
| laughed the more.
| The guests were gone the lights were
out, slumber had just visited my eyes,
when right into my brain, starting me up
as if I'd been shot, came a noise. sort
! of dull bursting noise. | wasn't really
certain at first whether | had heard
noise or only dreamed of it. / sat up in
bed and listened intently. Was it only
my pulse humping into my ears, or were
those regular beats, the tramp of some
body's muff1ed feet? Then I heard an
unn,is.akable sound-cresi, creak, cIeak
tiously. All IN moment the idea flashed
into my heaa-tuentV-tlco thousand
| pounds! You see, all this dancing and
iunketing, and laughing and chatting,
had completely driven out of my mind
all thought Of the large sum 1 had in
my possession | had left it in great
coat pocket, which vas hanging up in
the hall. down stairs.
Puff gust of wind came through
the house. rafting the doors and win
dows; and then l heard a door slam,
and a foot step outside of some one
stealing cautiously away.
Away down stairs | went like a mad
man, my one thought to put my band on
that great coat. 1t was a brown great
coat, with long tails, and two pockets be-
hind, and a little cash pocket on the left
hand side in front, and this breast pock-
ct in which | had put the bag of money.
This pocket WASH t, as is usual, on the
left hand side, but on the right. There
was no other coat hanging on those
rails, only my w;fc's waterproof. What
swoop | made to get hold of tina. coat!
Great heavens it was gone
| had carefully barred and chained the
| front door before | went to bed-now it
! was unTasteneu. L ran out into the
/ street. and looked up and down, hope
less and 5ewlldered. 1t vas q dark.
damp night the lamp at the corner
threw long sick y ray down the stream
ing pavement, but there wssn't soul to
be seen Everything was still and cold
and dark
The money was clean gone-yes. it
was gone. l repeated these words me-
chanlcaliy to myself as [ erawled up
tpred themselves clearly before me-dis-
mSsal IRON the bank, ruin of all my
prospects, utter ruin, in fact What
could [ do? To what turn? The blow
that had fallen uron me was so heavy
and sudden that it had benumbed my
faculties. My chief desire was to crawl
into led and fall asleep, hoping never to
wake. But morning would come surely
mountaineering and its attendant mis-
cries.
Then the thought came to me: Should
| 60 to bed and say nothing at ali about
it? No one knew of my having received
that money, not soul but Black, the
man who had deposited it. had given
no receipt for it. no acknowledgement.
Black had gone to America hundred |
things mishs happen-he might never |
return; at al. events, here was respite, |
immediate relief | could go to the |
bank next morning, hang up my hat as
usual, everything would go on as before |
If Black returned, my word was as good |
as his The notes and checks could |
never be traced home But | don't
think | retained this thought long Do
you ever consider how much resolution
and force of will it takes to initiate a
course of crime and deception? I'd
neither the one nor the other; l should
have broken down at once. | couldn't
have met that fellow eye aud told him
| had never bad his money
woke my wiie-she'd slept through
all the trouble. Mary | said. were
been robbery"
"A robbery T. cried she, clasping her
hands and are the men gomez
Yes" | said.
"Oh, thank Heaven" she said then
we re safe Never mind the rest, Jack,
as long as our lives are safe. But there's
my waterproof. Jack-oh do run and
see II they've taken that.
Then told her the story of the twen-
~ two thousand ponnis She wouldn't
believe me at first; but when she heard