The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-07-06
MIR. Posonby,s Adventure.

Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Posonby,
while busy in his Office, was surprised by
the entrance of Mrs. Posonby, who came
in to say that she was going 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 so CHANGED that while Mrs. Po-
sonby 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 neigh
borhood, to get a rat he had seen run un-
der the front porch. Master Posonby
punched with a long pole, and scraped
and dug with hoe, and the nine dogs
deployed at regular intervals around the
porch and along the verbena bed,
scratched with might and main, yelping
Historically as they scratched, and paus-
ing in their labors now and then to fight
over the question which had dug the
deepest hole, to the immeasurable delight
of Master Posonby. But as the sun went
down and the soft light of the sunlight
faded into the misty cleaning, he re.
membered that he had been told to lock
up and Join his ma at her friends. He
put the key under the door mat, and then
with his head still set on capturing that
rat he brought around an old steel trap,
wicked az dynamite, and having baited
it literally, set it and placed it on the
porch for the benefit of the rat when it
should come out. Then he carefully dis
missed his allies, and stoued them in
different directions lest they should 60
back to resume the siege and fall into his
torpedo pit.
Mr.. Posonby did not come home until
quite late, not until his wife and son had
returned and retired, tired of waiting for
him. As the house was quite dark and
quiet, when he approached it, he natu-
rally supposed his spouse had been de-
tanned later than she expected. He felt
under the doormat for the key, but as
that useful little "open sesame" was in
the lock, on the inside of the door, he
couldn't find il. He felt further under
the mat, and then thinking he might
have pushed it away, began to feel
around the porch for it, sweeping his
hands out in circling swoops, accompa-
nying these erratic movements with sun
dry e1clamations and mutterings. In
one of those vigorous sweeps he thrust
his hand into something that lifted him
to his feet-a terrible, cold, vicious some
thing that shut down on his hand like a
wild beast, and Just RAISED him up until
only his tiptoes touched the porch floor.
The wall that broke from his pallid lips
silenced all the dogs in the Sixth Ward,
and woke up a private night-watchman
who was pacing his vigilant beat on the
top of a salt barrel, just around the cor.
ner, with his eyes shut. 1t awakened
his son, who thrust his head out of the
window and shouted "fre r' in the most
stentorian tones that a youth of eleven
years can command. 1t reused his wife
from her peaceful slumbers, who thrust
her head out of another window and
screamed "thievesw with all the full
piercing vigor of her womanly voice. 1t
awakened his neighbors in both direc-
tions, who leaned out of their windows
and shot at the suffering Mr.. Posonby,
who stood on the porch, dancing about
in an ecstacy of agony, bowling at every
Jump. In a moment he became calm
enough to investigate; he removed the
trap, explained, and was admitted to the
house. He explained to Mrs. Posonby,
as she bandaged his wounded hands, that
he thought sure it was Snakes" and
when that good lady ridiculed the idea,
and said there was no snakes about here,
he shook his head YEARLY, and looked at
her out of the corner of his eyes with a
sweet, sad smile.