The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-07-27
MY FRIG9TS

There are some people who aver tina
they have never been frightened; AS
am far from being q strong-minded NO
man. I cannot say as much. Perhaps
am too easily alarmed. / am, for In
stance, afraid of a cow. II may beyery
silly, but l cannot help IL. All the pleas
ure of q country walk through a nne
landscape has been often spoilt for me
because Of cattle in Held. III Pase
through them without fear or peing Joss
ed or gored, the recollection that 4 nave
got TO come back again remains Win me
for the rest of the day. AS Tor q puii, !
would rather never see the country tnan
ram the chance of meeting with such a
creature A dog is thought to be a very
harmless animal "a domestic animal
and the "friend of man" He is not,
however, the friend of woman--or, at
least of nervous woman like me.
should be afraid 10 write down how of.
ten | have been prevented from calling
at friends house by the presence of a
little poodle or terrier upon their door
step. | should us soon have thought oil
disturbing an adder. The Romans ca
people quite remarkable for their cou-
rage) used, am told, to paint Gaze ca
mem, Beware of the Dog" at their
front doors; but such warning would
have been unnecessary in my case. | am
always fully Beware" of it. Every
farmyard in the country has u dog, and
that is why don't like farmyards.
Ny widowed sister-in-law (the fat One)
and myself once lived in such place a
whole summer, during which / lost more
flesh than if had been all the time in a
Turkish bath. From sunset TO sunrise |
was in a perpetual fright, from fear of
robbers; and when the days grew short
er, and the nights longer, the place be-
came insupportable, and l fled from it,
The usual nightly programme was as fol
lows: My sister-in-law, who occupied
The same apartment as myself, would
fall asleep soon as her head touched
the pillow, and leave me, as it were,
alone, prey to my terrors. She always
reminded me of the irritating bedfellow
described in ghost stories, who will not
wake while the apparition is peeping
through the bed-curtains at you, and who,
when all the dreadful things are over,
cannot be persuaded that they actually
occurred. Next to ghosts themselves, l
dislike people of this cast, and would al
most as soon have no companion at ALL
IL the wind was up, / at once began to
picture to myself band of ruffians ef-
fecting forcible entry into all the rooms
below stairs, and giving shouts of tri-
umph at the ease with which they ac-
complished their purpose. We could
not Afford to keep q man-servant, and
even if we had done so, / should have al
ways imagined him the accomplice of
the burglars, or coming up stairs upon
his own account with carving-knife
concealed in scuttle of Goals, as l had
once read of in a book. Our house pre-
tended to no means of resistance, and |
always placed the plate-basket and its
contents upon the landing of the stairs,
in hopes that the gang might take what
they came for, and go away without ask
ing for my money or my life. On par
ticuclar OCCASION, being unable to sleep,
| fancied that / heard the approach OF
robbers up the stairs. Being no longer
able 10 contain myself, with an effort
reused Charlotte, who, however, pooh
poohed the whole affair and dropped 10
sleep again, leaving me to my fears.
However, one very wet and dark night
she got q pretty bad fright herself 1t was
a little past midnight The drip, drip,
drip of the rain was ceaseless, but for all
that. as l lay awake, L could hear mems
steps, without, splashing in the pools it
made. as the wretches walked round the
house looking for the most convenient
point of entry. Then l heard the back.
door ego" Ut burst open with sort OF
mufiled violence, like the sudden out
pour of waste-pipe - and then that
"pit-a-pat knew so well, of feet com
ing up the stairs. Then pause of fright
full significance.
Charlotte :" cried l, in an agony,
"they are really here. They really. are
this time. Wake, wake - " Rubbish,
cried she. q am wide awake, and
hear nothing"
"They are just outside the door,
whispered l they are listening at thu
key-hole Hank p
az certainly hear caves dropping, wa
her heartlcss answer, (she was woman
who enjoyed a joke, and her fat side
wobbled with mirth at this one y "bu
its only the rain from the roof"
81 tell you," said | solemnly, O. there
are robbers in the"
Here something fell in the drawing
room beneath us with hideous crash
In an instant, and before / could recovc
from the sort of collapse into which thi
shock had thrown me, Charlotte haC
Topped out of bed, seized the lamp, anC
was about to hurry from the room
mo" said she, pausing in the doorway
cit is better that they should not see me
but that should see them"
1t was certainly much better, consider
ing Charlotte's very slight attire, tha
the robbers should not see her; but why
she should want TO see the robbers wa
quite unintelligible to me.
"Stopp cried l but the fatal deet
was done, and was left in darkness.
Dreadful as il was to accompany hel
upon such an expedition, it seemed ;
thousand times worse TO remain in tht
room alone, and trembling in every limb
/ hurried after her.
To reach the drawing7room, 1t wa
necessary to pass through the dining
room. 1twas pitch dark, but | could hea
her breathing hard (for her stoutnes
made her very short of breath) as she
made her way round the table that occu
pied the centre of the room. Fear lem
me wings, and l hurried round the othel
way to meet her, and rushed into hel
arms Just as she was feeling for the draw
ing-room doorway. Directly l did so
she uttered a shrill scream, and fell OF
the floor in a dead faint. l had forgotten
that the poor dear did not know wa
pursuing her, and she very naturally tool
s., q. L Il fai M M