The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1875-11-11

,.. 4 :.aa NO. Is
.saa.i AWt asl!.I =
e1amined one Or two chests, in which
man could have lain concealed,
Through The greater part Of the night;
she lay awake but as one Of the
town clocks struck four, she dismiss.
ca her anxieties, and fell asleep. The
next day, wearied with this unusual
watching, she proposed to her sister
that they should go to bed earlier
than usual. This they did ; and, on
their way up stairs, Louisa happened
to think suddenly of a heavy cloak,
which would improve the coverings
Of her bed against the severity Of the
night. The cloak was hanging up in
a closet within closet, both leading
off from large room used as the
young ladies' dancing-school. These
closets she had examined on the pre-,
yious day, and therefore she felt no
particular alarm at this moment.
The cloak was the first article which
met her sight; it was suspended from
a hook in the wall, and close to the
door, She took it down, but, in do
ing SO, exposed part of the wall and
Of the floor, which its folds had pre-
viously concealed. Turning away
hastily, the chances were that she had
gone without making any discovery.
In the act Of turning, however, her
light fell brightly on a mans foot
and leg. Matchless was her pres
ence Of mind; having previously
been humming an air, she continued
to do so: But now came the trial;
her sister was bending her steps to
the same closet. If she suffered her
to do SO, Lottchen would stumble on
the same discovery, and expire OF
fright: On the other hand, if she
gave her ahint, Lottchen would either
fhaiiif to understand her, Of. gaining but
!" glimpse Of her meaning, would
shrek aloud, or by some equally de-
cisive expression, convey the fatal
news to the assassin that he had been
discovered. In this torturing dilem-
ma fear prompted an expedient,
which to Lottchen appeared madness,
and to Louisa herself the act of
sibyl instinct with blind inspiration
Here" said she ''is our dancing
room. When shall we all meet and
dance again together?" Saying
which, she begin a wild dance,
whirling her candle round her head
until the motion extinguished it; then
eddying round her sister in narrow
ing circle, she seized Lottchen's can
die also, blew it out, and then inter-
rupted her own singing to attempt a
laugh. But the laugh was hysterical.
The darkness, however, favored her !;
and, seizing her sisters arm, she fore
ed her along, whispering, Come, &c
come, comet" Lottchen could not be
80 duh as IS, entirely to misunderstood
her. She suffered herself to be led
up the first fight of stairs, at the
head of which was room looking in
to the street. In this they would
have gained an asylum, for the door
had a strong bolt. But, as they were
on the last steps of the landing, they
could hear the hard breathing and
long strides of the murderer ascend
ing behind them. He had watched
them through crevice, and had been
satisfied by the hysterical laugh OF
Louisa that she had seen him. Iu
the darkness he could not follow fast,
from ignorance of the localities, until
he found himself upon the stairs.
Louisa, dragging her sister along,
felt strong as with the strength Of
lunacy, but Lottchen hung like a
| weightof lead upon her. She rushed in
| to the room, but at the very entrance
Lottchen fell. At that moment the
| assassin exchanged his stealthy pace
for loud Gathering ascent. Already
he was on the topmost stair; already
he was throwing himself at a bound
against the door, when Louisa, hav-
ing dragged her sister into the room,
closed the door, and sent the bolt
home in the very instant that the
| murderer's hand came in contact with
the handle. Then, from the violence
Of her emotions, she fell down in q
fit, with her arm around the sister
whom she had saved.
Flow long they lay in this state nei-
'theAr tever knew. The two old ladies
| had rushed up stairs on hearing the
stumult. Other persons had been con-
cealed in other parts of the house.
The servants found themselves sud-
denly locked in, and were not sorry
to be saved from collision which in
volved so awful a danger. The old
ladies had rushed, side by side, into
the very centre of those who were
seeking them. Retreat was impossi-
BILE; two persons at least were heard
following them up stairs. Something
like q shrieking expostulation and
counter-expostulation went on be-
tween the ladies and the murderers
then came louder voices,-then one
heart-piercing shrek, and then anoth.
er,-and then slow moaning and q
dead silence. Shortly afterwards was