The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-03-19
ened by bright light shining full in my

ened by a bright light shining full in m!
face.
"Good God!" l cried out loud
:" they've come tonight" For three men
with black cambric masks concealing thei
faces, stood over me, each pointing pisto
at my head. - aaa
" Please to get up, Mr.. Powers" sait
one of them, in cool, civil way "pleas'
to put on that Ciressinggown and thos'
slippers. You shall not be harmed in th'
least if you will only be quiet and obey
directions" With three pistols alm0s
square in his eyes, any man will be docile
I Suppose: at least | got up and put OF
dressing-gown and slippers. Then one o
the men caught my arms, drew them be
hind and manacled them; another gagged
me with one of my own silk handkerchiefs
and thus rendered harmless, was lee
down stairs, where my household, in va
rious stages of night attire, gagged ant
tied back TO back, were awaiting me in tht
dining-rOom. was put in an armchair
and fastened to it by feet and hands, ther
was left alone to stare about me. Mad
| dened, desperate though L was, when
discovered that the sixth of the priscEer,
was johnson, the detective. I recognized
him with a keen sense of the ridiculous
and only wished thatlBetts-whom | was
mentally anathematiZing with curses no
loud but deep-were in his place, and tast
ing some of our humiliations.
Besides the three masked men who haC
mastered me and brought me down. there
were five others in thedining-room. Two
were left as sentinels over us, and the resi-
at once fell to work in a way that meant
! business. A small, active man twas it ou
Marie p motiOned toward the sideboard
1t was wheeled aside, and stepping forward
he pressed the sliding panel, and disclosed
the closet where the silver in daily usC
was kept, and the shelves were at once
stripped, and the contents piled upon the
| table,
| The bedrooms upstairs were next visit
ed, 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 gutted, they came down
with their spoils, which they piled high
before our eyes on the table, and then
| leaving us again alone with our SentinelS
they went through the entry into my Ii.
library.
| 1t was a dark hour. | leaned back my
| head and closed my eyes, and felt that fate
was cruel TO me. Only one consolation il.
| lumined tile blackness of my deSpair-my
wife had carried her Jewels to town with
| her, and | was spared the humiliation OF
telling her | had lost them for her through
my idiotic faith in Belts. There was a long
silence now, which | understood but toe
well: it was followed by three muflled eX
plosiOns that shook the house like al
earthquake, and almost simultaneously
was heard the noise of a scuffle, and open
| ed nv ewes to see the room filled with pO
| Iiccmen, and hear pistol-shOts exchanged
while our two sentinels were thrown down
disarmed, and piniOned before our eyes.
| L looked and listened, mentally stunned
without clear comprehension of the mean
| ing of the uprOar, for, with the noise o
| firearms, the Clang of manacles, and the
beat of heavy feet, the tumult was some
| what terrifying.
In less time than it takes me to describe
| it, the situation had been reversed, anC
now Belts, the detective, appeared in the
door at the head of his posse of men, who
| brought in eight of the captured burglars
| two of them wounded and bleeding pro
| fusely, while the rest showed signs of hav
ing maintained stout resistance: all hat
lost their masks in the melee, and disclosed
sullen and brutal visages.
''HOw are you, Mr.. PowerS?' inquired
Belts, coming forward and releasing me
Il hope you're not hurt. | beg your par
don for taking possession of your house il
this way.n
''Why.d did you make me think | was
safe for tonight, Betts?''
| Because" he replied. with a shrug. 81
| discovered you were just little upset al
the prospect, and felt afraid of you" He
ran his eye over the group beside me, ant
when he saw johnson, he grinned, and 90
| ing up to him. knocked his manacleS off
~ ou're pretty detective, you are" sait
he, "tO be caught and tied up by the very
| fellows you were in waiting for !"
Still, Belts was in too high good humOl
| to be angry even with the Inundated
johnson. Meanwhile | was peering into
| the faces of the thieves, fearing to find Ma,
rie among them.
''Betts, gasped, suddenly. ''you have.
MT got the little one"
He gave a tigerish cry. and glared from
one to the other of his prisoners.
" GU are sure there was anOther?"
| "No doubt of it,, returned: "any one
of these fellows is four inches taller than
| the leader of the gang"
In another moment he had six picked
men at work searching both house and
| SiOuhue, Dul Iic never suOCCCu0u III HIiO-
ing even a trace of the eleventh of the par
" of burglars. Nor even after the con-
victiOn and heavy sentence Of the other
ten. would any one of them confess the
secret of their leadership. | had easily
identified NJ. and Madame De Sturges-
both swarthy and robust Frenchmen-
among them, but in spite of all my efforts,
neither one could be induced even to ac-
knowledge they had ever heard of such a
person as Marie, or that they had ever
masqueraded under the respectable dis
guise of her employers.
| But when the SHOWS melted Oft 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
eyes still upturned in reprOachful agony.