Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-01-25

4FaNss shsssaesS@s
roundelay as she worked, when there
was a creaking on the floor, and, turn
ing her head, she started to behold twoe
tall, grutf-lOoking men In the room.
"Who are your" demanded Dora,
with ieignet gyalesxzss and what dosyou
ADenit worry yourself, mylass.sa
said the taller of the twain, grufiy,
I" and don't make any noise, if YOU
don't want your neck twisted round
Ikea chicken's.i .,i# 4se' aR
While the other, busying himselfain
recommending the cupboards, and
shelves, turned suddenly round with q
volley of oaths.
"Nothing but tin, and pewter" he
snarled. "Where is the silver, grip"
"We have no silver" said Dora, fall
teringly, What should poor people.
like US do with silverP"
"The money, thenp l know there,is
money; for / saw him come out of the
bank yesterday morning with a wallet
full. Quick, we haven't any time to
lOse."
"It's-it's up stairs, sewed into the
bottom of the feather bed, in the spare
room," -hesitated Dora. "But you
won't hurt me?"
"What should we hurt you forp"
~scornfully demanded the rufian. ssGo
up stairs, Jack,s and see, while . L stay
here to keep this girl from raising the
neighborhood 'sEy 4..z..yr a.
81 shall not scream" said Dora,
elevating her head a'little contemptu-
ously. "Who il there TO hear me, if I
didP I'VE are twosmiles from a house,"
Sand that's true enough said the
man called Jack. "Give us your
knife, Casey, and We'll stir up the live
goose feathers to some purpose. The
gal won't trouble u.s." ..,Iy-
But the heavy footsteps of the men
had hardly sounded at the head of the
stairs when Dora Klein's languid as
sumptiona off, indifference vanished.
Like a winged sprite she flew across
the room, and noiselessly prying up the
loose boards with a knife, she caught
upthe japanned box and the stocking,
and, hiding them in her apron, she
jumped from the low window to avoid
the noise of the rusty door-hinge, and
struck into the wood at the back of the
house. = - 90
No hare eve darted more swiftly
through the tangled paths of the forest
than did Dora Klein, until at last safe
in the deepest reeesses, where nc one
who was not nimble as a deer, and
slender as herself could follow. And
then, %crouching low among the under
growth, she watched and waited. AS
the night approached, and a friendly
dusk crept over hill and dale, she ven
tured by degrees to approach the side
of the woods, where the north star
ibeamed overhead, assuring her of her
whereabouts. And when at length the
hoarse voices of the two men, hurrying
down a secluded by-road, struck mo-
mentary terror to her heart, the after
thought followed with blessed relief
the certainty that they were gone and
she was safe.
MIR. Myers and jamie were sitting
sadly by the fire that they had just re-
kindled, neither of them with any
heart to set about the preparation of
the frugal evening meal, when the door
creaked on it's hinges, and something
glided in pale and silent.
The next moment the japanned silver
box and the stocking lay in Mrs. Myers's
lap, and Dora Klein was sobbing on her
shoulder. ..a. .~s.l,s.-., .I.au
"Why, Dora" exclaimed the father,
"what does this meanpn
And Dora told her story incoherently
and full of sobbing padses; and when
it wa concluded Mrs. Myers threw her
arms round the girls neck and kissed
her again and again.
"James, James," she cried, almost
Historically, "you will never mistrust
Dora Klein again"
And James Myers, wiping a stray
dewdrop or SO from his eyes, confessed
that little Dora Klein had been as true
a heroine as Joan of Arc herself. ,