The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-08-20
Old Maggie and the Bur-
glars.
BY AN OLD CONTRIBUTOR.


..Aaerll IA Pet is.fra ;1iIoassr-. u no
fear born with me. AS for the house,
it's tie strongest fastened ever / was
in. You say yourself there's no lock
a burglar can force, and Pm not the
one to let tramps or the like in of my
own free will. God knows the place
will be safe enough when you come
back-as safe as though there were a
regiment of soldiers in it; and I'll
have all bright for your new wife, Mr..
Archibald"
She called her master Mr.. Archi-
bald, still, this old woman but she
was the only one who still used his
Christian name. He was an elderly
man himself, and had few intimate
friends, hospitality not being one Of
his virtues. He was rich, and there
was much that was valuable in the
house; more ready money, too, than
most men keep about them; but then
it was as secure as q bank-Vault-pat-
ent locks and burglar alarms that
first sent bullet into any one who
sought to enter by stealth, and then
rang q bell to wake the household,
were attached to every door, and a
furious Watchdog that lived on raw
meat, was in the back garden. The
Van Mott mansion could have with
stood siege at a moments notice.
Mr.. Van Mott was a money-dealer.
He had ways and means of aceumu-
lating property which were myster-
les to his neighbors, and there were
suspicious that the little back parlOr,
sacred to business, had even seen
much lesser dealings as the loan OF
money on gold watches, cashmere
shawls and diamonds of genteel dis
tress. Two or three mortgages that
he had bought up had been rather
cruelty fOreclOsed; and he was a hard
landlord, and a bad person to owe
money to altogether. On the whole,
he was disliked in the place, ard rich
as he was, would have found it hard
to get wife to his liking among his
neighbors at Oakham. However,
having resolved to marry again
there had been Mrs. Van Mott who
had died years before-he had sought
out wealthy widow of saving dis
position, who lived on a farm some
miles out of town, and having al
ready disinherited her daughter for
espousing an estimable man of small
means, and turning her only son out
of doors for equally prudent reasons,
was not likely to bring any trouble
some generosity into his household
and had offered himself to her, and
had been accepted. And now, though
both their economical souls revolted
against it, custom decreed a wedding
of some sort, and q honeymoon trip
somewhere, and they had decided tC
do it as cheaply as possible. For thi:
brief time Mr.. Van Mott must leave
his business and his house, and it wa:
on the eve of his departure that hC
held the above conversation with hi:
old servant, standing with his port
manteau in his hand, and regarding
her gravely.
"Yes, yes," she said, 81 presum,
it's all safe enough. And rH speal
to the night-watchman, and give MIN
dollar to take particular look a
this house. Well, good-by, Maggie
make things as neat as possible, for
they look dirty my wife may thinl
the furniture old, and want some
thing new for the parlor." And MIR
Van Mott departed.
"Yes, yes" said old Maggie; "nt
doubt she'll have fine, eXtravaganl
ways. Poor master! What a pity b.
should marry, after all-but old fool
are the worst fools A young thinE
of eight and forty, too, when he has ;
sensible servant sixty last January
that knows what belongs to goOt
housekeeping. II he wanted to mar
~, why didn't he marry me? III
not have gone gallivanting and spen,
ding. Ah, well, he'll suffer, not L.
And Maggie trotted away to begiI
her sweeping and dusting.
She had said truly that there wa
no fear born with her, but as tn
night drew on she began 10 feel some
what lonely. Her masters presenc
was strangely missed out of the grea
house, and there was somethinJ
ghostly in the look of his empt,
chair when she peeped into the littl
back Office.
"If was superstitious," she said t
herself, 'I should think something
dreadful was going to happen. l fee
y chilly up and down my back, and
keep thinking of funerals. Ill ge
myself cup of tea, and see if cam
get over il"
And accordingly Maggie shut her
self into the snug kitchen, and light
ing two candles, drew q pot of tn
strongest Young Hyson, and putin
her feet close to the cooking.stove, be
gan to feel much more comfortable
the old clock ticked away on th
mantel, the hands pointing to hal
@ past eight.
"I'm going to bed at nine" sal
e Maggie. "Ive worked well to-day
Much thanks I'll get for it, I doub
Harkl what's that ?p