Litchfield enquirer., 1876-10-26

the bell loudly, more vigorously than ] should for in moment came Mir. Thor.
 .sWen. what is the.matter, Miss Brown? he asked.
 ssTwo or three messages which I have eopled, "and l handed him the lady's message.
 He scowled fearfully. eff am to be rung up for trash of this kind, Ishall nev. CT have time to attend to my work at the depot. he said rather snappishly. ''Is that all"
 ..No, sir. MT. Watkins sends a mes. sage; here it is.' ....
 He read it and commenced stamping up and down the office, like an infuriated mastodon ''The idiots, the dunces, the asses That confounded Smoilersville Sentinel! Did you read the stuff ?"
 1T did"
 Pack of lies" ssEs not all of them. What they said .abont me was fearfnlly false.''
 I beg your pardon. 5
 Pardon me, sir, but 1t was."-.
 You are the heroine of a dime novel YOn shall receive the deputation.
 Now was my chance, and determined to make. the most of it "Mr. Thor" ] said very demurely, ''I wanted to say tc you, this morning, how we'll you behaved on Tuesday, and how much l respect au action "-
 Was that what you rang the bell for ?' He looked at me grossly. but there was so much earnestness about my manner that he now took on an aggreved mein, and said. "Miss Brown, I should hardly have thought It, from the limited ac. quaintance I have had with you, that you would have joined with Smoilersville in doing what, you certainly must be aware, can be nothing else than an annoyance to me-" }a.s4 af gH4r
 T will never mention the circumstance again drop 1t entirely out of my mind. you desire it, I said. ''At least. I will try to, was my mental reservation.
 s.But, Miss Brown, though you are per. haps unaware of it, If you had not opened the door precisely when you did, he might have shot me. saw he had an ugly knife, but I had no idea he had revolv- CT until heard the explosion. I did not notice how you managed, but it seems to me you must have knocked the pistol out of his hand, or turned his arm. Of course he was no match for me this knew all the time. His drunkenness gave me every possible advantage. So you see, Miss Brown, nolens votens, you are heroine. Here is where the ball went through the ceiling. With all these proofs of prowess, Miss Brown must certainly receive the deputation in my stead"
 'Mr. Thor" I said, getting incensed now, in my turn as he seemed to be quite in earnest, eff you mix up my name in any way whatsoever with this disgusting business, or put me in position of false notoriety. which I should despise, I will quit Thorsdale instantly.''
 And pray where will you go to ?' he asked, quite demurely.
 '"That is none of your business answereds, tartly.
 The conversation was becoming acri- monious, so I went in high dudgeon to my little room. There I pulled rose from the bunch of flowers, and put it ill my bosom. I would keep that, at least
 Miss Mary Brown" said MT. Thor, in 3 rather sing-song voice, aftera pause of at least ten ,mln1tes. s.I5 covenant and agree to do, at least for the present, that is, for the next twenty-four hours, exact ly as it shall suit your august aud some- what exacting pleasure. Being justice of thepeace of Thorsdale, likewise notary public'and constable. will. if you please, write it all down officially, and swear to it and sign it in my triple function" I did not answer.
 ''You cannot leave you see," he contin- ued "without great detriment to the State you will be wanted to give your testimony in this business"
 ''Is Kettridge dead gasped out.
 Not quite Of course there will have to be an official examination and conse- quent whitewashing, and as executive officer of Thorsdale I am quite capable of issuing warrant for your arrest. There, what do you say to that Look up at the-left hand corner of the map, and tell me what you read there, under the plan of building like gridiron.'
 "A prison I said, reading it off
 ''That is where you will have to lan- gu1sh.''
 "A prison p exclaimed, as I exam ined the map. "How queer for next to it is public garden and park. What a strange fancy, to put prison there.'
 "Not at all. The locality for that pris- on it took me long time to decide upon. Alas that there should be 8 squalor and misery in every town"
 I accept the agreement, said, as I came out from the closet "you are to do my bidding: that is understood. Then, firstly, you must reply to Mir. Watkins and inform him that you will be prepared o meet the deputation.
 ''The humiliation of being but in an om- nibus, with a band of music on top!' Here he groaned aloud, and seemed in- clined to be contumacious. I felt that I must get his mind away from the subject of the deputation, if but for moment
 What has become of Kettridge I am SO thankful you did not have to hurt him."
 "Kettridge? He is at the depot, as quiet as lamb now. Poor devil, I must have choked him very hard he was so nearly dead that they were afraid to move him."
 , Have you been nursing him ?"
 Pretty rough nursing. If you call hold ing him down by main force, off and on for the last twenty-four hours, nursing ! The doctor came here this morning from Smollersville. and ehloral and morphine have at last quieted him.. How to man. age the sale of alcoholic stimulants in Thor,I must confess, nas at times caused me seepless nights
 Attention, now. if you please, Mir. Thor. You will allow me to telegraph to Mir. Watkins that you will receive the dep- utation, and you will let me ask him to send some one to take my place here for today. The lady at SmoilersvilIe would, I have no doubt, do the work willingly" 7 ''She shalldo no such thing" he cried now, rising in towering rage. off you really are in earnest, l can get some one from 8 station below to take your place Are you not we'll 2" he inquired.
 Rather an inclination to a headache : am not used to having them. They took the best care of me, however, at my house. -3 =
 .1f you had remained quietly at home yesterday afternoon, and not gone stroll ing over the country, and scaling Thor's Rock. and getting yourself chilled in the evening air, you would. have been quite well to-day.''s,
 Does the authority of the office, Mir. Thor, extend so far as to place limits on what amount of recreation I may choose to indulge in ?'' said. quite angrily. lie opened his evas very wide hnt said