Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1876-09-28
The Burglar Caught by a Girl.


/ was fifteen years old, very shy and
rather sentimental / had been brought
up in the strictest seclusiOn in my
fathers country parsonage, and all my
mothers time and care had been be-
slowed upon me, her only child.
/ need hardly say / had never been
from home, and had never even con-
templated the horrors of such a posi-
bility. My dismay, therefore, may be
better imagined than described, when
one morning after breakfast, just as i
was running off to my poultry-yard, my
mother called me back, saying that she
and my father wished to speak to me.
/ couldn't help feeling very guilty, and
very conscious of the fact that Lalla
Rookh was at that moment hidden
under my mattress. Was it possible
that mamma had seen its circulating
library cover peeping out? My heart
beat fast, and my face was very red,
while stood to hear what she had to
say.
my dear Clara" (of course my name
was Clara, and wore curls), "my dear
Clara, your father and | have thought
it best to accept for you an invitation
to spend a day and a night q. your
godfather's, Sir Thomas Bullyon, at
Golding Park. How shall you like it?"
/ felt that this was out of the fry
ing-pan into the fire." l had much
rather they should have found Italia
Rookh." I had horror of strange
faces, even when papa and mamma were
present to give me the support of their
countenance But the idea of being
among strangers, alone in a great grand
house, and for whole day and night,
was insupportable. l wept, and be-
walled, and entreated, in what l consid-
cred the most moving terms, such as
ought to have melted heart of stone.
But in vain! My parents were for once,
memorable, and | was to go.
/ need not detail all | suffered on nv
all Lady Bullyon's kindness, the day
dragged YEARLY on, but / managed to
amuse myself tolerably till bedtime,
when, after a goodnight, went up to
my room, and found, to my horror, that
the lady's maid was waiting there to un-
dress me.
"Am / never to be let alone?"
thought.
But had to submit to her fingers and
her tongue, which latter never stopped, to
make up for the silence of mine, sup
pose. Amongst other things she partic-
ularly cautioned me not to mistake a
rope, that hung beside closet door, for
a bell-pull. / inquired why?
"Oh, miss, don't you know?" she said,
evidently delighted at the notion that
she was about to astonish me by what
she had to tell "Why, miss, the people
that lived here before had a raving mad
old uncle with great deal of money,
and this was his room, miss, where he
lived with his keeper. That closet, miss,
is shower-bath, with a great, big els
tern over it, big enough to drown you
and me; and when he was more than
common fractions, his keeper used to
lock him in there (you see the key is on
the outside) and pull that rope, which
let all the water down on his poor old
head till he was half dead. One day
when they went to take him out he was
quite dead, and his family got all the
money. Which 'ill-gotten. gains never
prosper as doubtless you've heard, miss
and it didn't do them much good, seeing
they haven't a penny now, owing to
spending it all, and was obliged to let
this house to Sir Thomas, and hide their
heads in foreign parts. They do say,
miss, that the poor old gentleman may
be seen at night in the shower-bath, be
weeping and bewailing the cruelty of
those that killed him, which they did for
certain. Goodnight, miss, and / hope
you may sleep comfortable"
She had certainly not taken the best
means to insure that happy result; but
though l was so shy. / was not in the
least nervous about those sort of things,
and consequently did not trouble myself
much about her parting words. / had
to turn my whole thoughts and energies
to the consideration of an important
question, viz: how was to get into bed !
1t was piled up 80 high, that any ordin-
airy means would have been wholly in
adequate. The chairs were all so large
and heavy U suppose to prevent the
mad old gentleman throwing them at
his keepers), that 1 found it quite i'm
possible to lift one to the bedside and
help myself up that way. The only plan
was to take a run and jump, and after
many failures, l at length alighted on
the top of this mountain of feather-beds.
There / lay for some time, watching the
Pickering of the fire on the ceiling,
thinking of home, and of my different
misadventures since had left it so short
a time ago.
The house had become quiet, every
one must have been i'm bed, when all at
once an odd fancy seized me to look into
the shower-bath and see what sort of a
place it was. / fought against the idea
for some time, but finding it kept me
awake, thought it best to indulge it,
and after much hesitation, and not a
little laughing at myself for being so in-
quisitive, descended carefully from the
bed, and advanced on tiptoe toward the
mysterious door,
j had already placed my hand on the
handle, when | suddenly heard slight
noise within. My heart stood still /
thought for moment, What if it should
be the old gentleman's ghost?