Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1877-10-24
Written for the AGE
AN ADVENTURE.
Concluded from last week. J
BY CHARLES s. MARTIN.

| gathered the weapons for thu
purpose of conveying them to ou
room, determined that they SHOULD
not be used against us, so long as
could prevent it, and was about tc
leave the apartment when, giving ont
more glance around it, | made anoth
er discovery, more startling than any
l had previously made. In one cor
ner of the floor was small trap door
| got down to examine it, and founC
what appeared to be blood upon the
borders. Similar stains appeared al
SO upon the floor. | selzed hold o.
the ring and attempted to raise the
trap, but failed to stir 1t from its pres
ent position.
1t here occurred TO my mind tha,
the time allotted us for the use of the
light had nearly expired; so 1 return
ed to the bedroom, adjusted the
book case. My wife and our little
girl had thrown themselves upon the
bed without removing their apparel,
We discussed the situation few mo-
men,s. l determined not to be
caught mapping. Seating myself by
the bed, | talked as bravely as l could
under the circumstances, with view
to quieting my wife, who had become
xtremely nervous. l assured her
that | was now absolutely master OF
the situation, and declared my ability
to deal destruction to any person Or
persons who should have the hardi-
hood to attempt 10 molest us. then
proceeded mentally TO consider tie
situation.
Now, the fact that the landlord, the
woman and the peddler were banded
together as robbers and murderers,
and that hey intended to rob and,
quite likely, to murder us, | could not
doubt. l had, upon our arrival, un.
Willingly displayed a large roll OF
greenbacks. This was sufficient to
ensure the effort, on their part, to vic
timize US What, then, should we
do7 Should we quietly await events
where we were, or seek to escape un.
observed ? While thus pondered
the matter / heard noise from the
kitchen. 1t sounded like violent
struggle. 1t soon ceased, however,
and was followed by some conversa.
tion, carried on in low and excited
tones. turned to my wife and child.
They were asleep. Arousing the for.
mer, l briefly informed her of my de-
termination to 90 into the kitchen for
the purpose of seeing what might be
seeh." l then opened the door, pass
ed through and closed it, and then
surveyed the ROOM There were only
two persons present-the landlord and
the peddler. The lamp stood upon
the table, beside which the peddler
sat examining some papers while
''mine host" lay upon the floor, his
head bolstered by pillow. The ped
dler seemed surprised at my appear
ance, and asked "what had called me
up" at that hour. | made the excuse
that l wished for some water; where
upon the peddler took the lamp and
conducted me 10 the room containing
the water. l held in my right hand,
concealed in my pocket, a large jack
knife, with the intention of doing
what | could by way of self defence,
in case l should be assaulted. As the
man was in the act of handing me a
glass Of water, l noticed some stains,
as of fresh blood, upon his sleeve. l
trembled violently as what seemed
the terrible truth flashed through my
brain. The young man who had
sought shelter there late in the even
ing Had he not been murdered? i?
Would this not account for the strug
gle / had heard from the kitchen in
the earlier hours =? soon managed,
however, to conceal my nervous ex-
citement, and after exchanging a few
words on general topics, l returned
to my family. had concluded to re.
main until an early hour in the morn
Ing, and then make an effort to get
away unobserved by the occupants OF
this den Of outlaws for now seemed
to have proof sufficiently strong to
convince me that it was no less than
this. seated myselfby the bed, and
began to cogitate the matter. l in
tended to keep awake and vigilent
but in spite Of my efforts to do so l
soon found myself nodding. l DO
not know exactly what time in the
night it was, when l heard some per-