Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-07-31

cice uersa; and then Thaddeus kissed the
baby, Strengthened his neck-tie, observed
in half congratulatory, half envious
way, that women certainly had an easy
time of it-"nothing to do but order what
they wish, and have it sent to them with
out taking any trouble about it''-and so
took his departure.
l surveyed my once tidy drawers and
sighed unused upon Thaddeus's valedic-
tory and laughed heard him 60 whistling
down stairs and close the street door with
slight slam, and wondered whether he
had been careful to see that it locked, or
had left it unfastened as he did about half
the time. strongly suspected this last
to be the state of affairs; but notwith-
standing the ''easy time you women have
of it, my dear" l experienced singular
feeling of exhaustion and disinclination
to look after anything just then, and so
sat still with Blossom in my arms.
By and by the blue-veined lids began to
droop over the baby eyes, and that was a
reason for sitting still longer The wind
famed my cheek softly, played with the
sunny rings of Blossoms hair, and awak-
ened pleasant far-away thoughts in which
street doors were forgotten. l do not
know how long time had passed; the
house must have been very quiet, for
nothing disturbed my reverie. l had
just laid the little sleeper in her crib be-
side me, and bent over it for a moment to
mark the beauty of one tiny dimpled
hand, when something startled me. 1t
was no sound, only the sudden instructive
consciousness that some one was near me.
For an instant l remained motionless !;
then there was slight rustic in the room
adjoining that in which l sat, careful
step, and as turned my head toward the
half open door connecting the two apart
ments, pair of sharp grey eyes met
mine.
do not think l started, but the effect
of that glance was like breath from the
North pole; l shivered and my hands
grew cold as ice on that bright June
morning. Mechanically, almost uncon-
sciously, surveyed the intruder stout
form coarsely clad, a rough, bearded face,
an old cap pulled closely down over the
shaggy hair, and the brown knotted hand
on the door, fearfully suggestive of
strength. Oh! that neglected lock in the
hall below. Why had been so careless !!
What had become of cook and Bridget?
How could those heavy boots have
assembled the stairs without my hearing
them! What should dor 1t seemed to
me that had ample time for thinking of
hundred things in that brief minute.
"What do you want?" asked, trying
to steady my voice, but it did not sound
natural, even to myself.
Don't trouble yourself, maam. see
what came for, and can get at it with
out much bother" was the cool reply.
Little bother, indeed! The accom-
Let us see:
When he last represented Marion
county, or rather misrepresented it
in the Legislature, he charged the
State for only sic hundred and eighty
miles travel in going to and return1o
ing from Iowa City. How Is that !?
Three hundred and forty miles front
Pella to Iowa City! 1t is only sew
enty-fve miles now. At that time,
il he travelled in his own conveyance
he could have reached Iowa City by
travelling less than one hundred
miles, allowing twenty-five mites
-, $500 - ~
thinking of that"
1t seemed useless to be thinking of any
thing; but I could not help my thoughts,
and remembered with unavailing chagrin,
my watch and chain left thoughtlessly ex-
posed upon toilettable; roll of bills
sent me the day before, as treasurer of a
benevolent society, dropped loosely into
q bureau drawer and various valuable
possessions of Thaddeus' and my own
lying in temptingly convenient places.
There was little doubt that our burglari-
Gus visitor would "make clean job of
it." as he had said. heard him moving
cautiously about, rolling a chair out OF
his way, and an occasional rattle of some
steel or iron implements knocking against
each other. l was sure, from the sounds,
that he had commenced in one corner
where small secretary of Thaddeus'
was standing. 1t was locked, but that
would make no difference. A slight noise
as of hammering and boring reached me,
and wondered grimly that he had not
demanded the keys, since he had been so
kind as to assure me that he would "leave
no tracks"
Just then sudden thought made my
heart stand still in terror. What had that
vague threat meant? mo tracks" no
clue by which he could be discovered
and brought to punishment Was it
probable, then, that he would depart with
his booty, leaving me unframed and free
to give information when had seen his
face SO fully, and had so fair an opportu-
nifty to note dress and features For the
first time my vague dread and alarm took
definite form as / cOmprehended that
something worse than robbery might be-
fall; my very life was in danger.
glanced about the room with the ca
gerness of desperation during these slow
moving minutes. No weapon, nothing
that could be made available as one was
in sight. Even Thaddeus' revolver had
been banishcd from the apartment, lest
the fearful thing should fire itself off in
some unlooked-for way. All the ground
less fears of our hours of security, into
what real peril do they sometimes lead
us was defenseless, helpless. The
open window near me overlooked only
back yards; the front room, with all the
busy life of the city just below 1t, held the
keen eyes and murderous hands from
which sought to escape.
If l could but reach the street! Only
few yards from me there was door lead.