The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1874-12-10

the closet bedroom, which l had over
looked / ran to the place, and sure
enough the skylight was open, and the i'll
omened face of Morris peering in. Luck
lily the room was quite dark, and the
man .hesitated to lower himself down
into the seeming abyss. He turned to call
his man, and seized the opportunity to
spring at the fastening of the skylight,
and pull it down, hanging upon it with
all my weight. After several ineffective
attempts to raise it, the men desisted,
| supposing ii securely fastened This was
! their last enterprise for the night. Soon
| after the men drew of, and | was free to
| open the doors.
All was still going on we'll with mother
| and child; but the former had been a
| great deal disturbed by noise on the
roof; her face was quite feyered and
| flushed as she eagerly asked what the
/ noises meant.
| a man come to look after the roof;
/ sent him away, of course"
Presently the doctor came. He was not
| altogether satisfied with his patient.
| There is feverishness." he SAID to me
| after he had left the room, which
| don't like. She must be kept quiet, at
! all hazards"
But that was easier said than done, for
now that the immediate peril was over
| she began to worry and fret about me.
| Was | made comfortable. and did the
| servants look after me? Had | had a
/ proper dinner? She should like to see
| cook to give her some directions
The doctor expressly forbids anyone
| to see you"
II don't care what he says
| Then | forbid you" | said, making a
| prudent retreat, to avoid further re-
! joinder.
| had long walk in the darkness
! thinking over what ! should do | had
written to several friends, on the spur of
| the moment the night before, asking for
a temporary loan to meet this sudden
| call; but | had little hope of any favor
| able reply and ! almost regretted having
| subjected myself to the humiliation of
refusal. Ny father was in India, and
| had troubles enough of his own, for his
! fortunes, too, were embarked in this
| bank. OF course couldn't hold out very
| long; the men would find way in at
| last and all my goods would be seized
! Fairly sold, there was enough to satisfy
! all my liabilities here and give hand
| some surplus; but in the hands of these
| harpies everything would go for an old
| song. Still, Il | could keep them out for
| a week till Jane got strength enough to
| rally from the shock that was all could
expect or hope for.
| reached home weak and hungry, for
had not had enterprise enough to cook
anything for myself and had eaten moth
| ing but bread all the day. To my sur
| prise ! was greeted by fragrant smell
| of cooking from the kitchen, and, enter
/ ing, found David standing over a capital
! fire, his face glowing in the blaze.
Caught some trout for your supper,
| Captain quoth David. Delicious they
were, those crisp, brown trout, to a hun
| cry, weary man. David waited upon
me with gratitied pride and urged me on
| to eat still more and more hot from the
| pan. He had come to the conclusion he
| told me after supper, to which he had
| been prompted by his wife, that he must
| come and look after me and assist in the
| defense of the house and he would en-
| ploy his leisure moments in looking after
my fishing-tackle and trying some par
| ticularly killing flies for our next fishing
| expedition | was very glad of Dayid's
| company, for ! had felt the strain of
| Loneliness and isolation very much that
| day.
| After supper David produced truss
of straw and spread it over the oven and
| about the kitchen fire to dry
What's that for, David?" ] asked.
VERY likely | sleep in it" he replied
winking knowingly.
There were plenty of beds upstairs,
told him; but he went on in his opera
tons with the straw.
We had quiet night, but the patient
got very little sleep at first, being nervous
and frightened when | was out of her
| sight, so that took my rest in an arm
| chair by her bedside, and after that she
had some refreshing slumber. Daybreak
brought our besiegcrs back again but
this time there were three of them, and
they carried among them something that
| took to be ladder
| woke David and set him on the alert,
and went over the house once more to
see that all was safe David took up his
! position upon table in the little closet
chamber, with his head out of the sky
| light accommodating the 'neighborhOod.
| Suddenly | heard him close the skylight
and hurry down stairs. Come along,
! Captain" he cried; "Ill show you some
| fun" | followed him into the back
kitchen, where there was wide open
| chimney of the old-fashioncd sort. Upon
| its hearth was now piled "A great heap of
the straw that David had dried last night
n scrambling sound was heard in the
! chimney and the bottom of light lad
der appeared, gently lowered down.
Come you then, boys" shouted David
| up the chimney; and with that he
| put a match to the straw,
which blazed up tiercely. We heard a
| loud cry OF rage and pain, and a quick
scrambling up the chimney. David
laughed detiantly. PLENTY more fire
down here" he cried and dragged the
captured ladder into the kitchen. The
enemy slightly retaliated by throwing
some water down the chimney But
David did not care for that; he had re-
serve Of dry straw to set fire to, if any
further attempt were made. They pres
| emily abandoned any active means to
gain an entrance, and contented them
selves with a strict blockade; but it was
very narrow thing that attempt on the
chimney, and if David had not been
warned over night by the man they Dor
rowed the ladder from it would have as
suredly succeeded.
1t was necessary now for David to
make a sortie. We had not sent to the
Postotfice during two days, and it was
just possible that there might be lying
there an answer to one or other of the
letters l had written. The Postoffice
was five miles away, and David could
not be back in much less than three
hours. The fear was, that, seeing the
garrison so much weakened, the besieg-
ers might make an attack on all sides at
once.
But the time of his absence passed
quietly enough, and David's honest face
appeared on the lawn in front of the
house long before l expected to see it.
81 can't come in, Captain" he cried;
" for they mean to make a rush upon me;
but let down a bit of cord with hook
al the end quietly out of the window"
This line of communication, which was
invisible to those on the watch, was
quickly established, and David fixed the
hook into the little bundle of letters.
which quickly hoisted up. Two were
excuses from friends" Awfullv sorry,
so very short themselves" and so on
The third, no doubt, was to the s1me pur-
port; but whose handwriting was it? |
tore IL hastily open, and read: Dear
Harry, Just come home ON furlough
about the affairs of this blessed bank.
Things are not So bad as they said Tom
Brown has just shown me your letter
Here are fifty pounds in notes to pay the
rascals off; and | will be down myself
tomorrow" Sure enough, inside the let
ter were ten nice crisp Bank of England
fve-pound notes
ran down and threw wide open the
hall door, letting in the air and blessed
sunshine.
" re Won mad Cantaing" criedDavid