Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-09-22
mr.. .PosOnbr,s Adventurs.

Mr. Posonby, while busy in his s-ofhce was
surprised by the entrance of Mrs. Posonby,
who came in to say that she was gong TO
take tea with Mrs. -Bilderback and would
not be home until 9 O'Clock, but she would
leave the key under the mat at the 'front.'
door so that he could let himself in when
he went home, and he had better get his
supper down town. Their son, Herbert,
would accompany her. :
Now, it CHANGED that while Mrs. Poson-
by was thus explaining matters to her
husband her hopeful son was making des-
perate efforts, assisted by all the dogs he
could whistle up from the entire neighbor-
hood, to get at rat he had seen run under
the porch. Master Posonby punched with
long pole and scraped and dug with
hoe, and the nine dogs deployed at lrregu-
lar intervals around the porch and along
the verbena bed, scratched with might ana
main, yelping hysterically as they scratch
ed, and pausing from their laoorS now ah9 q
| Shen TO fight over the question which had
dino the deepest hole, to the immeasureahle
| deiicht of Master Posonby. But as the
snn went down and the soft light Of sun
| light faded into the misty cleaning, he re-
membered that he had been told to lock
IN and ioin his ma at her friends. He Eut
I the kew under the door mat, and then with
his head still bent on capturing that rat,
he BROUGHT around an old steel trap, wick
| ed as dynamite. and having baited it iber-
aIly. SET If and placed it on the porch for
| the beneft of the rat when it should come
ont. Then he carefully dismissed his al
| lies. and stoned them in different directions
least thew should go back to resume the
j siege and fall into his torpedo pit.
Mr. Posonby did not come home until
onite late. not until his wife and son had
returned and retired, tired of waiting for
him As the house was dark and quiet
| when he approached it, he naturally sup
posed that his spouse had been detained
later than she expected. He felt under
the door mat for the key, but as that little
/ useful "open sesame" was IN the JOCK on
the inside of the door, he could mt nnd II.
He felt further under the mat, and tnen
thinking he might have pushed 1t away, De-
gan feeling around the porch for 1t sweep
ing his hand out in clrcllng sWoops, accom-
nSnving these erratic movements with sun
dry exclamations and mutterings. In one
of those vigorous sweeps he thrust his hand
into something that lifted him to his feet
A terrible. cold, vicious something that
shut down on his hand like wild beast
and Just raised him up until only his tiI
toes touched the porch floor. The wal
that broke from his paid lips silenced al
the dogs in the Sixth ward, and woke UP
private night watchman who was pacing
his vigilant beat on top of salt barrel JUS
round the corner with his eyes shut; y y
wakened his son, who thrust his head op u
Of the window and shouted "tire! IN th'
most stentorian tones that youth. o1 eleY
en- can command 1t reused, his VIE iron !
her peaceful sumbers, who thrust ,l''lS ner neaS
out of another window ana screaHle' 'g
''thievesp with all the 1ulI piercing pgsd We ~
UaiabborS in both directions, who leanet
nut nUs of their windows and shot at the suf
I fering Mr.. Posonby, who stood on tn
nore6. dancing about in an eestaey OF ag
: onv, bowling at every jump: In momen
-, he became calm enough to- investigate; h