Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1874-05-28

tOi at my mead
please to get up. Mr.. Powers" said one
OF them, In cool, civil way, please 70
put on that dressing-gown and those slip
pers. You shall not be harmed in the least
If you will only be quiet and obey direc-
tons With three pistols aimed square
IN my eyes, any man will be docile, sup
pose; at least got up, and put on dress
ng-gown and slippers. Then one Of the
men caught my arms, drew them behind,
and manacled them; another gagged me
with one of my own silk handkerchiefs :;
and thus rendered harmless, was led
down stairs, where my household, in
various stages of night attire, gagged and
tied back to back, were awaiting me in the
dining-room. l was put into an arm chair,
and fastened to it by feet and hand, then
was left alone TO stare about me. Mad
dened, desperate though l was, when
discovered that the sixth of the robbers was
johnson, the detective; | recognized him
with keen sense of the ridiculous, and
only wished that Betts-whom | was men-
tally matchmaking with curses not loud
but deep-were In his place, and tasting
some of our humiliation.
Besides the three masked men who had
mastered me and brought me down, there
were i've others in the dining room. Two
were left as sentinals over US, and the rest
at once fell to work in a way that meant
business. A small active man (was it our
Marie?) motioned toward the sideboard d.
IL was wheeled aside, and stepping for.
ward he pressed the sliding panel and dis
closed the closet where the silver In daily
use was kept, and the shelves were at once
\ stripped, and the contents piled on the ta-
\ BILE.
The bedrooms up stairs we're next yis-
/ tied, the locks of drawers and wardrobes
wrenched apart, and the contents thrown
| pell-mell on the floor for the chief expert
to decide on what should be carried off.
/ The upper rooms being gutted, they came
down with their spoils, which they piled
high before our eyes on the table and then.
leaving rs again alone with our sentnels,
they went through the entry into my libra
ry.
IL was dark hour | leaned back nv
head and closed my eyes, and felt that fate
was cruel TO me. Only one consolation
illumined the blackness of MY despair
my wife had carried her jewels to town
with her, aud was spared the humiliation
OF telling her | had lost them for her
through my idiotic faith in Belts. There
was long silence now, which | under
stood but too well; it was followed BY
three Inutled explosions that shook the
house like an earthquake. and almost 81
simultaneously was heard the noise OF a
scuif'c and | opened my eyes to see the
room filled with policemen, and hear ps-
tol shots exchanged, while our two sentin-
els were thrown down, disarmed and pin
Toned before my eyes.
| looked and listened, mentally stun.
ned, without clear comprehension of the
meaning of the uproar, for with the
noise of the firearms, the clans of mana
cles, and the beat OF heavy feet, the tu-
mutt was somewhat terrifying.
In less time than it takes me to describe
il, the situation had been reversed. an d
now Belts, the detective, appeared in
the door at the head of his posse of men,
who brought in ten Of the captured
burglars, two OF them wounde Il and
bleeding profusely, while the rest
showed signs of having maintained
stout resistance all had lost theic masks
in the melee, and disclosed sullen aud
brutal visages.
How are you, Mr.. Powers!' inquired
Belts, coming forward and releasing
me: 4 hope you're not burt. beg your
pardon for taking possession of your
house i'll this way.
why did you make me think | was
safe for tonight. Bett.,'
Because he replied, with sh"rg,
Il discovered yon were just little upset
at the prospect, and felt afraid oi YOU.
lie ran his eye over the group beside /.
me, and when he saw johnson, he grim
ned and, going up to him, knocked his
manacles off. You're pretty detective
you are, said he, 'to be caught and tied
up by the very fellows you were in wait
ing for
Still, Belts was in too high good hu-
NOR to be angry even with the humilia-
ted Johnson. Meanwhile [ was peeping
into the faces of the thieves, fearing to
find Marie among them.
Belts, l gasped suddenly, You
haven't got the little one.'
He gave a tigerish cry, and glared
from one to another of his prisoners.
You are sure there was anotherY
No doubt Of it, returned; ANY one
OF these fellows are four inches tall er
than the leader of the gang
In another moment he had set picked |
men at work searching both house and |
grounds: bnt he never succeeded in find
ing even trace of the eleventh of the |
party of burglars. Nor even after the |
conviction and heavy sentence of the
other ten, would any one Of them confess
the secret of their leadership. l had
easily identified NJ. and Madame De
Sturges both swarthy and robust
Frenchme n-among them, but in spite
of all my efforts, neither one could be in
duced even to acknowledge they had
ever heard of such q person as Marie, /
or that they had ever masqueraded un-
der the respectable disguise of her en-
ployers.
But when the snow melted off in the
spring one little silent witness came to |
light and told his pitiful story against
her; it was the dog Jingle, found dead
in the shrubbery, his throat cut. and his
frozen eye still upturned in reproachful
agony.-Harper's Bazar.
An economist, or man who can por-