Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-02-19
NY FRIGHTS.

ny FREGHISs
THERE are some people who aver that
they have never been frightened. As [
am far from being a strOng-minded
woman, / cannot say as much Perhaps
/ am too easily alarmed l am, 1or in
stance, afraid of a cow. It may be very
silly; but | cannot help it, All the pleas
ure ola country walk through a fine land
scape has often been spoiIt for me because
Of cattle in the field If pass through
them without being tossed or gored, the
recollection that / have got to come back
again remains with me for the rest of the
day. As for D bull, would rather never
see the country than run the chance Of
meeting with such a creature. A dog is
thought to he a very harmless ANIMAL
domestic animal-aud the " friend of
man" He is not, however, the friend of
woman-Or at least Of a nervous woman
like me. | should be afraid to write
down how often ! have been prevented
from calling al friends house by the
presence of o lutte poodle or terrier upon
their doorstep. l should as soon have
thought Of disturbing an adder. The RO-
mans "a people quite remarkable for their
courage) used, | am told, to paint Gaze
cnaenp, Beware of the dog" at their front
been unnecessary in my case. | am al
ways fuzzy beware" Of it. Every farm
yard in the country has Il dog, and that is
why | don't like farm yards.
My widowed sister-ln-law (the fat One)
and myself once lived in such place q
whole summer, during which time L lost
more flesh than if | had been all the time
in Turkish bath. From sunset to sun
rise was in q perpetual fright, from fear
of robbers; and when the DAYS
grew shorter, and the nights long
er, the place became insuppOrtabie,
and | fled from 1t. The usual nightly
programme was as follows: My sister-in-
law, who occupied the same apartment as
myself, would fall asleep as soon as her
head touched the pillow, and leave me,
as it were, alone, a prey to my terrors.
She always reminded me of the irritating
bedIellOw described in ghost stories, who
will not wake while the apparition is
peepmg through the bed curtains at g0u,
and who, when all the dreadful things are
over, cannot be persuaded that they actu-
ally occurred Next to ghosts themselves
dislike people of this cast, and would
almost as soon have no companion at all.
If the wind was up ! at once began to
picture to myself a band of ruffianS effect
ing forcible entry into all the rooms
below stairs, and giving shouts Of tri-
umph AT the ease with which they accom-
plished their purpose. We could not af-
ford to keep a man servant, and even if
If we had done so l should have always
imagined him the accomplice of the bur
glars, or coming up stairs upon his own
account with q carving-knife concealed in
q scuttle of Goals, as | had once read of
in book. Our house pretended to no
means ri lSfappP and 7 a ToIoaaH
the plate basket and its contents upon the
landing of the stairs, in hopes that the
gang might take what they came tor, and
60 away without asking for my money or
my life On particular occasion, being
unable to sleep, | fancied l heard the APP
proach of robbers up the stairs Being
no longer able to contain myself, | with
an effort reused Charlotte, who, however,
pooh-poohed the whole affair and
dropped to sleep again, leaving me to my
fears.
However, one verv wet and dark night
she get a pretty fright herself It was a
little past midnight The drip, drip,
drip, OF the RAIN was ceaseless, but for all
that, as lay awake, | could hear mems
steps without splashing in the pools it
made, as the wretches walked round the
house looking for the most convenient
Dack
door got burst open with a sort of
mut1ied violence, like the sudden outpour
OF waste-p ipe-and then that "pit-a.pat"
| knew SO well, of feet coming up the
stairs. Then pause of frightful signifi-
canoe
charlotte Z" cried /, in an agony,
"They are really here. They really are,
this time. Wake, wallel"
Rubbish" cried she. 81 am wide
awake, and | hear nothing"
They are just outside the door," whis-
pered |; they are listening at the key
hole. HaIkr"
Il certainly hear caves dropping" was
her heartless "lswer (she was a woman
who enjoyed q joke, and her fat sides
wobbled with mirth at this one); "but
it's only the rain from the roof
Il tell YOU" said [, solemnly, there's
robbers in the' -
Here something fell in the drawing
room beneath US with a hideous crash.
In an instant, and before could recover
from the sort Of collapse into which this
shock had thrown me, Charlotte had flop
ped out of bed, seized the lamp, and was
about to hurry from the room. NO"
said she, pausing in the doorway: cit is
better that they should not see me. but
that | should see them"
1t was certainly much better, consider
ing Charlotte's very slight attire, that the
robbers should not see her; bur why she
should want to see the robbers was quite
unintelligible to me.
"Stopm cried L; but the fatal deed was
done, and | was left in the darkness.
Dreadful as it was to accompany her
upon such an expedition, it seemed a
thousand times worse TO remain in the
room alone; and, trembling in every limb,
| hurried after her
To reach the drawing-room, il was
necessary TO pass through the dining
room. 1t was pitch dark, but I could
hear her breathing hard Qor her stoutness
made her very short of breath) as she
made her way round the table that occu-
pied the center of the ROOM Fear lent
me wings, and | hurried round the other
wav to meet her, and rushed into her arms
lust as she was feeling for the drawing
room doorway. Directly | did so, she
uttered a shrill scream, and fell on the
floor in dead faint. | had forgotten that
the moor dear did not know / was pursuing
her, and she very naturally took Ime for
the robbers. I suppose tainted, too; for
the first thing I remembered was hearing
loud purr close to my ear, which pro
ceeded from ,lr favorite cat who, having