The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-10-26

Margaret read a little, and dreamed a
great deal. as girls of her age are prone
to dc: when; left to themselves. She made
a very pretty picture, if only there had
been some one to see her. Her soft
brown hair was unbound, and fell rip.
pling to her waist; her fair round face
was tinted as deilcateiy pink o the In
side of sea.shell her trnwn eyes we're
dreamy and full of languof; and her red
lips we're sweet and womanly enough for
any true lover to find his rarest happi-
ness in kissing. ,a -
Slowly, az length, the old cofin-shaped
clock ia the corner struck ten. Margaret
started up. She had not thought It was
so late. The evening had gone OF much
quicker than she expected it would. 1t
was not so dreadful to stay alone, after
all, she said to herself.
She opened the shutter and peered out
into the night. It was dark as Erebus,
and the wind and rain beat against the
pane in a perfect torrent. The judge
would not think of returning on snch
night; g;., ro.-, =. .,;a = -. 80.
wen, 1Ommy, Sne salu W tue Cdt,
1T guess you and I and kitty will 60 to
bed. We must be mp sbetimes in the
morning, you know, since theresis none
but Us to do the chores"
As she spoke, she stopped to stroke
Tommy but to her infinite surprise, she
saw that the animals back and tail were
erect-his eyes had changed to a glossy
green, and with panther-like tread, he
was making his way toward the door
which opened upon the cellar stairway.
And while she gazed, Margaret saw
with horror, that the latch was slowly
rising, the next moment the door swung
open with an ominous creak, and;a man
stepped into the room. He was short,
thick set fellow, with sandy hair and
whiskers, pale. ferocious:looking blue
eye set far back in his head.
"So-ho, my dear" said he, "yon are
sole proprietor, it appearsS"
For moment Margaret's heart stood
still, but she was naturally brave, and
she was proud as we'll, and would not let
this man see that she feared him.
II have that honor" she said, coolly |;
"who are you, and what do you want7"
~ trust you will excuse me if neglect
to introduce myself" said the man, with
much courtesy. "As for business, am
quite happy to inform you about that. 1
want the eight thousand dollars that the
judge brought from Ridgeby last night,
and I depend on you to point it out to
me-"
The indignant blood rushed.to .Marga-
=ret's face, asshe answered, him sharply {:
II will die before will do as you
ask!"
"You shall have your choice p
He produced pistol, which he cooked
deliberately, and pointed itat her head.
"Show me where the tin. is, .or I will
blow your brains out" oTc ~
Like lightning varied train Of
thought passed through the head of the
girl. In that one instant of time she
thought of score of plans to evade the
rascal, and, as soon as entertained, dis
carded them as impracticable.
There she was, alone and helpless, a
weak girl almost mile from any other
human habitation, aud in such a storm
it was by no means likely that any one
would be passing by from whom she
could claim assistance.
For a moment she thought of riskiDg
everything to escape by the outer door,
and, trusting to the darkness and her
knowledge Of the way, to attempt to
reach Mr.. Turner's protection.
But the man seemed to divine her
thought, for he stepped between her and
the door.
"No, my beauty, You can't play that
game on meP' he said, with a sardonic
smile. "And now I'll give you just three
minutes to decide what you'll do. If
you show me where the money is, Iswear
not to harm you 3 if you refuse, I swear
10 kill you, and trust to luck for finding
it without your help" rc 80 4,.yl,c
He took out his watch, and stood re-
garding it and Margaret. alternately.
As she stood there, faint and >giddy with
fear, new idea penetrated her brain,
and she was Just in that stateiof despera.
ton which stops at no sacrifice, however
great. Come life or deatb. she must save
the money for which her friends had
toiled so long and earnestly, and: the loss
of which would involve them in ruin.
And she thought she saw way to it,
though it would compass her destruction.
"You may put up your pistol" she
said, calmly. II will show you where
the money is Concealed
"That's sensible, my dear. It's not
often that sense and q pretty face go to-
gether. But you are an exception.
Come, be lively"
I. She took candle from the table,
selected one of 8 bunch of keys from a
basket hanging on the WALL and bade
him follow her. She led him up stairs
to the dppr of the closet, applied the key,
and opening the door, pointed to black
box in the corner of the closet. She
stepped back for him to enter, but he
seized her by the wrist and pulled her
along with him.
"I know your game" said he; "you
would get me into that close hole, and
then lock the door on me. Take out that
key and fling it down stairs, and then
come in with me. shan't eat you"
She obeyed him literally, and as they
stood together in the sitting place,
which was scarcely large enough to con-
tain them, Margaret, with hand which
the man had left free, seized on the door
and pulled it to. It shut with sharp
click-shut and locked at the same time.
A fierce oath burst from the lips Of the
burglar. "What do you mean?" cried
he. S"Hell and furies Ishsll suffocatel !
Open the door, or I will shoot youP
"Do as you please" said Margaret, de-
family. "The door has spring.lock,
and can only be opened on the outside,
and unless some one comes to release us,
we shall remain here until we die, which
will be only few hours at the most"
"You she-devil, why did you do this ?"
he demanded, hoarse with rage. "Don't
you know that you will die, too3"
Certainly; but I prefer death " the
ruin of my best friends. If we die here
and we shall without doubt-the
money will be saved"