Connecticut western news., 1875-03-19
A LOvers' Ruse.

Some years sincetwo wealthy bachelors lived in the vicinity of, Paris. They had ,a young lnailtof f-all-work4 named Marie de La Font. Marie was Q sNeets pretty girl, and lively and lieuantin her mnn- ,ners," although modest in the extreme, and this was the reason that the two brothers kept her in'their employ. They knew that she was frugal ecof4omica1, and dressed in the most moderate man. ner imaginable. One day Marie. surL prised her employers by informing them that a young artisan, residing in. Paris, had, asked her. hand. They stroyo to dissuade her from. accepting the. offer of marriage, but she told them that she could not be happy unless she became the' wife ofs hen dear Henri. So it was arranged that. she should quit the service of the two brothers at the end of the coming month. .! "a -ss.... e. -..,-.. One day during the interval the two brothers sold some valuable real estate, which they owned jointlyy and the sum realized amounted to 106, 6,O00 francs. It was all in bills on the Bank of France, and was paid too late for deposit the same afternoon.
 Night caine, and as the old bachelors oSASlOA1A A2N softS4I 1 4sdS5O ullhouAlV III GAS house, they were, considerably concerned lest robbers should attempt s to rob them. Their fears were strengthened by the numerous ,bmglaries that had recently taken place in thatAvicinity. .,.u. .
 The residence of the old men was some distance from the main road, and stood near the river Seine It was lonely, gloomy location, and! on the night in question, the winds swept through the tall, lirches surrounding the mansion with dolef,tl and moaning cadence.
 About midnight the old~nie1r retired; j; but scarcely had they fallen asleep when Marie rapped at thefr door and informed ! them that robbers were at work below. . Both the bachelors were terribly frightened, andwhen one commenced to bar the door the other began removing Q tile from the hearth to hide the bills.
 "You have a gun, said Marie; take 1t and shoot thesvillains." I < 'c h. -2t !
 But the two ;trembling men paid no heed to her advice. ,s,r;.....i, 1a5a,, ;.,..,,. .""iCowards !' said the brave girl, scorn- fully, "I wish that l were a man lr for five minutes. ''' ''''''" "'" '' Fr
 Just then there came heavy crash from the apartments below. r.i' =. -.. ,.
 ,,The brothers crept beneath the bed, where they shiYered, and crinnged unable to speak from terror; ".-......... beds,'' said the girl. 't' Wewill be found by the police in the morning with our throats cuts from, ear, to ear. f, Peste l fools, give me the gun" ,.,.,.,; ,.-.,,.t
 She seized the double -barreled gun that laid upon the shelf, and started down stairs, while the two frightened men watched her without saying aword. Presently bang went the gun, and T a groan was. heard. 7, !, Bang! went the second barrel, and 8 screech of pain re- sounded through the house that caused the blood of the brothers to run cold. 70
 "A brief pause e1tsued, and then Marie came tripping up stairs, but her face wore determined, sdissatisfied look. She asked for powder and ball to reload, which were furnished; but before she finished loading, footsteps were heard re- treating from the house. "" '.5t l No one slept in the house that night, nor were they again molested. But at early dawn, on going down stairs, pool of blood on the, hall fooy showed that one robber, at least, had been seriously, if not mortally, wounded; and it wns plain to see by the bloody path in the earth that the victin had been dragged to the river :. a, Gore marked the whole distance, and, the police were at once put on, the alert for the arrest of the living thieves, and the recovery of the body of the de,1d one. x "N' '"' "' vi But all efforts proved vain? and the bravery of the young girl was discussed far and near.
 The grateful bachelors were so over whelmed that they offered to give Marie n dover '" '' '' '-''
 '@F' All! messieurs," replied she affec- tionateiy, how oanI leaveyoua You may ag,ln be attacked by robbers." ..,.
 But we will not: nevertheless, stand between you and happiness, they re- piled. " Here are thirty thousand francs-you have saved our lives, and richly deserve the money. If you choose to livein. this house with your husband, we will repair the lower part, for that purpose, and you can also be hired to keep our room neat as at present.
 ' Henri married Marie, and they ac- cepted the dover and the house. .'. d1 Years passed, and recently the real facts of this, midnight robbery came to light ,I Both of. the, old bachelors were dead, and had willed Marie another thirty thousand francs. The brave girl did not refuse it. ''' It turned out, how ever, that the robbers were not plural. Henri acted as the burglar, the blood was from lamb killed for the purpose, and the whole was but ruse of the two lovers to open the hearts and purses of tAe11tWo old mlsersi u sa3 J ,..rr,,