Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-02-19
MY FRIGHTS.

woman, cannot say as much. Perhaps
am too easily alarmed I am, for in
stance, afraid of cow 1t may be very
silly; but cannot help it. All the pleas
ure of "a country walk through fine land
scape has often been spoilt 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 bull, would rather never
see the country than run the chance OF
meeting with such creature. A dog is
thought to be very harmless animal-a
domestic animal--and 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 at a friends house by the
presence of little poodle or terrier upon
their doorstep. l should as soon have
thought of disturbing an adder. The Ro.
mans Ia people quite remarkable for their
courage) used, | am told, to paint Gaze
canena, Beware of the dog" at their front
doors; but such warning would have
been unnecessary in my case. l am al
ways fully "beware" Of it. Every farm
yard in the country has dog, and that is
why l don't like farm yards.
NV widowed sister -in-law (the fat one)
and myself once lived in such place a
whole summer, during which time i lost
more flesh than if had been all the time
in Turkish bath. From sunset TO sun.
rise was in perpetual fright, from fear
of robbers; and when the days
grew shorter, and the nights long
err, the place became insupportable,
and l fed from it. 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 il were, alone, prey TO my terrors
She always reminded me of the irritating
bed described in ghost stories, who
will not wake while the apparition is
peeping through the bed curtains at you,
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.
II the wind was up / at once began to
picture TO myself 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 ] should have always
imagined him the accomplice of the bur
glars, or coming up stairs upon his own
account with carving.knife concealed in
a scuttle of Goals, as / had once read Of
in book. Our house pretended to no
means of resistance, and l always placed
the plate basket and its contents upon the
landing of the stairs, in hopes that the
gang might take what they came for, and
go away without asking for my money or
my life. On particular occasion, being
unable TO sleep, fancied heard the ap'
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 very wet and dark night
she get pretty fright herself. II 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 il
| made, as the wretches walked round the
house looking for the most convenient
point Of entry. Then | heard the back
| door "go"-it burst open with sort OF
| muffied violence, like the sudden outpour
| of a waste-pipe-and then that "pita-pat'
| knew so well, of feet coming up the
stairs. Then a pause of frightful signif-
| canoe.
"CharLotte t' cried /, in an agony,
''They are really here They really are,
this time. Wake, wakep
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. Hark!"
~ certainly hear caves dropping" was
her heartless answer (she was q woman
who enjoyed joke, and her fat sides
wobbled with mirth at this one); but
it's only the rain from the roof"
~ tell YOU" said /, solemnly, "there's
robbers in the' 49,
Here something fell in the drawing
room beneath us with 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 10 hurry from the room. "No,"
said she, pausiDg In the doorway; cit Is
better that they should not see me, but
that should see them"
1t was certainly much better, consider
ing Charlotle's very slight attire, that the
robbers should not see her; but why she
should want 10 see the robbers was quite
unintelligible To me.
"Stopl" cried 1 /: but the fatal deed was
| done, and / was left in the darkness.
Dreadful as il was TO accompany her
upon such an expedition, 1t seemed a
thousand times worse TO remain in the
room alone; and, trembling in every limb,
| hurried after her.
To reach the drawingroom, II was
necessary to pass through the dining.
room. II was pitch dark, but l could
hear her breathing hard 0or 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
way to meet her, and rushed into her arms
| just as she was feeling for the drawing
room doorway. Directly did so, she
| uttered shrill scream, and fell on the
| floor in dead faint had forgotten that
the poor dear did not know was pursuing
her, and she very naturally took lmc for
the robbers. suppose tainted, too; for
the first thing i remembered was hearing
| loud purr close to my ear, which pro
| ceeded from our fayOrite cat who, having