The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-09-18
had in bis house a safe Of great
strength, and sbe determined to take

HA'eA 0oosuIt " Iue
other officers Of the bazaar, she sent to
the different tables and collected the
greater part of the various sums Which
had been taken, and then began to
look about her for trusty messenger.
me amount Of money was very con.
siderable; and IN her eyes it naturally
had an extraordinary value. She
found no one who impressed her as
having the usual honesty and o.fcon-
sPection required by tho oircunstsoee.,
and so she resolved to perform tn. e,-
rand with her own hands.
1t was little after nina o'clecs,
and there was q moon, but it vas pa,-
TALLY obscured. The room was filled
with throngs of people, and the back
OF the evening was nos yet broken.
Purchasers and sellers wero sliko in
tent upon their pursuits, and Maria
selected the present time es the ra2.t
favorable one for her little journey.
She carefully secr.ted her tIess1.e
in the bosom Of her dress, and, after
whispering her intent in tie ears Of
two or three of the mos. proni2els Of.
ficiaIs, she withdrew to the dress..1y
room, where she enveloped herself in
her outer clothing.
She quilted the hall with its bril-.
liant lights and noisy multitude, aoa
quietly descended the stairs and
emerged into the chilling outside air
The street in front was Illuminated
for little way by two lamps Oh either
side Of the door of the building. Near
the sidewalk were two or thres ca2.
riages with their drivers and blsnEeted
horses, and there were several louog-
ers walking here and there With no
other object than to scrutinize tae
more fortunate people who entered the
hall.
Martha crossed the Lighted space
with moderate pace, and quickly be-
came lost to view in the utter dark.
ness beyond.
The presidents house was nearly a
mile of. The wayfarer looked upon
the obscurity as shield and pro.ee.
ton rather than danger, and she orept
through it as one would have crept
through an army OF guards.
In five minutes she passed the last
house ia the village. Beyond the
village was bit of marsh land, and
beyond the marsh lsud was a strip Of
spruce woods, some Of the trees Of
which hung upon the edges Of the
banks above the road. The path wss
somewhat muddy in consequence Of
recent rains, and there was q penetra:.
ing night wind. Now and then the
place was partially illuminated with e
whitish dawn of the moon, and ir these
moments Martha would pause in tho
dense shadow of some tree until the
scene became dark sgaie. She vas iu.
stinctively on guard against something,
and she kept her hand upon the roll in
her bosom. She said to herself:
"Wbat is there to be afraid of l am
in little country town, and thers sIs
no robbers. I'll hurry along and gss
it over with" But it seemed to her
that her feet sank too deep ia shs md !;
that her steps were slow and shoxs !;
that she was long time passing tust
rock, and long time in coming up
With this bush. A night.haHk o. Ter
right hand petrifed her With scream,
and on her left hand, a falling o7such,
dropping from limb to limb, trozo Ter
blood: Over her head was vast ex.
panse of broken clouds flying s#;:;|v
over the yelled moon, and covering the
earth with tremendous shadows ; On e:-
ther side Was tangled wood {: lc1y
trees, eternally producing fristtiul
moans and echoes, and beneath bcr
feet was morass ankle deep with so;t
earth and gloomy pools Of freezing
water ; overpowering volumes OF uied
poured upon her and blew ber garments
hither and thither, and confused her.
Now and then she had to stop, IS if
confronted by a wall, and her breath
was hard to catch. In tho midss Of
this tumult of sounds and thia ffovhiag
scene Martha was pigmy-ebe Wa
bafled, overridden, and frightened.
l Midway in tbs wood she vas ssissd
} in whirlwind. 1t left her staggering
and blinded. Her hair had fallen cye1
her eyes, her limbs had become inhrn,
and she commenced to weep.
! Suddenly the moon burst ou. with
all its radiance. She looked ue,
Something was in motion close to her
A man was approaching her raesols,
ae was running. Whom he perceived
her, he stopped abruptly, snd STOOD
erect. Martha joyfully recognized h51
brother.
+ go Jared, Jared p she cried.
i He approached her, bs, 10 said
nothing.
u ~ am going to Mr.--'s house.
pursued she, eagerly; ri an Carrying
some money to put"
! She stopped. She v.s Instantly
stifea by three things; sense o2 ia
prudence, an instructive dread c; the
man, and by the darkness, ehiea re-
turned again. She did not mcTo sway
but she trembled. She st7atust. b.
eyes to penetrate the obsousits, OF; she
saw nothing. The wind re.arue:
| pust huyst thronch tha kraes arE a.?