The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-06-11

the reach OF the advancing light, though
she could still command u view Of the
cave, and witness the movements Of her
mysterious companions.
OF one thing she soon felt satisfied
namely that her presence was entirely
unsupported in the place, and though
! trembling from cold and excitement she
realized that the possibility ofescape lay
entirely on her own self-command and
discretion.
I Four or five young men, the foremost
of whom carried lantern, emerged out
of the gloom, lighting for moment as
they passed the swarthy faces Of the
rocks.
"Ho! me gentle RomeoI" cried one of
them, tacetiously, approaching the old
man, who had risen to receive them;
"why hast thou not prepared the festive
board? where be the viands? and where
the duce be the torches, me loves young
dreamer
The old man shutfled away to one Of
the many sombre inches that diversified
the surrounding walls, and produced
thence three more torches which he light
ed and planted in different parts OF the
cave. By their unsteady glare the place
ooked even stranger than, it did before; but
anything was better than darkness, and
Edith, huddled in her corner, was very
grateful for the change To her great
establishment, she now discovered that
every one of the faces before her was
more or less familiar; not one of them
but she could remember having seen in
the course Of her shopping at Llttictown.
One, the leader Of the gang, was gem
| tlemanly clerk i'll the principal dry goods
store and another she was sure she
had seen in the same establishment. The
others she was not long in placing, and
though she felt instinctively that their
presence tended to enhance the dangers
of her position. it also relieved the stu
ton of it. supernatural character, and
filled her with the hope that her home
was not so very far away
', "Swcet boy, pr'thee bring the wine,
said he who had spoken first, AS he and
his companions seated themselves on Il
large flat boulder that rose nearly i'll the
center of the cave. "And now he
added. after the order hard been duly ex-
ccuted, what about biz? We poor
but honest ones, whose brows do sweat
for bread, must sink the poetry OF this
tender reunion in biz
"Wel captain" said one of the men,
~ guess | can show something that will
do your heat good. I've had bother
enough to get them, too and he opeI Q |
| Il package of curious looking tools.
I L . 4, ion, 20 h.
naughty house of Wentworth eXclaim-
ed the captain, delightedly. "Good!' rs
! he passed them over one by one. 81
think these will do the job. was in
the house once, and it has more bolts and
keys than prison. Wen practice Oh
1t, me innocent lambs, against the time
when the minions of the law shall bear
us to the dungeon-leepl' and the cap
tain sank his voice and struck his breast
in exaggerated mOck-tragcdy, to the
extravagant delight Of MS companions,
who seemed to consider nothing SO I'M
likely us that they should some day be
held TO answer for their deeds.
"You havn't looked at the furnace,
captain" said the old man Mt this point,
"and I've got it fixed beautiful; it's
quite late enough TO light up now, if
we're going to do anything tonight"
Right. me noble youth, u replied the
captain, patronizingly pntting the old
mans bald head. Let us behold thy
handlcrutt!' And with this they all
gathered around aclumsy brick structure
that Edith had already noticed, and
which was nothing else than an impro-
vised revcrbcratory furnace for the pur-
pose of melting the various pieces of
sllverware that still lay on the floor in
the heap where she had first seen them
The old man lighted the fire, from
which the smoke was conducted by
pipe which ran along the top of the
cave and finally entered the aperture by
which Edith had descended; here the
strong draft carried tiff she had but
| known it-almost to the feet of those she
| loved.
Up to this time she sat shivcring, and
| fearful lest the Chsttering OF her teeth
should call attention to her hiding place
and lead to her discovery; now, however,
the warmth of the fire, combined with
| that OF the four torches, took off the
/ earthly chill and rendered her rocky
nook tar more toerable; the heat, too,
made ncr drowsy, and it took all the en-
ergy she could command to guard her
sellfrom being overcome by WEAKNESS
and fl ling asleep. 49,
For many hours she sat there listen
ing t. these men, whom she soon felt
sure were no others than the daring rob-
bers whose depredationS had SO excited
her father in the morning.
They drank, and tended the fire, and
told stories each OF his own narrow es-
capes from death or detection. Then as
the wine rose in their heads, they bul-
lied the old man and threw the bottles
at him, and finally, to Edith's horror
they toasted one after another, all the
ladies in Littletown, herself among the
number, and she had the exquisite salts
faction of hearing herself thus alluded TO
by the noble captain:
Gentlemen, I will now propose the
little Wen-Wcn-worth-me dainty
Edie-the most de-vineFy sassy of her
x?' after which, the captain, being by
this time thoroughly drunk, fell
over on the floor asleep, and it was not
long ere all the others followed his ex-
ample.
The old man alone held his vigil
and tended the fire, and at last when
the night had worn away awoke the
others. No signs OF daylight had pene-
trnted into the cave, but he consulted
ole of the watches that was kept wound
for the benefit of its unlawful posseSsors,
and then announcing that the sun had
risen, sent the whole of the gang crum-
bling and swearing Oh their way.
Edith had waited for this time having
already made her plan for escape.
She knew that flight of irregular
stone steps led from her niche to the
floor of the cave, and she was resolved,
should they rs she expected leave her
in total darkness, to nevertheless grope
her way to the narrow passage by which
they had entered, and thence to the en-
I trance itself