The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-02-07

| likely C03C 03O C0OS0 desperate men
been disturbed in their midnight plum
der, they would not have hesitated at
any deed which would enable them to
carry out their wicked plans.
/ slept little that night, and next
morning tried to appear calm and COM
posed, though I was frightened and
really i'll. twas longing for my hus-
band to come that might tell him all,
and consult what was best to be done,
to prevent robbery and perhaps blood
shed. At last, to my great relief. I saw
him coming. ran to the gate to meet
him, and told him what had seen and
heard the night before. "Now," l
said. "will you ever laugh at my fan
cies' again?'
"No, my dear little wife," said he;
81 never will"
We then arranged that we should
tell his mother and sister everything;
and he was to 60 to the nearest Police
Station and arrange with the chief
officer to have u number of men ready
in the wood near the house at twelve
o'clock that night; that after dinner
we were to say "good-bye' to Mrs.
Benson and drive home; but would re-
turn and join the police in the wood,
and wait there until we saw Martha
leave the house to meet her husband.
We were then to go in and wait until the
thieves cana in, when they were to be
surrounded and taken prisoners. My
husband wanted me to remain ut our
own house; but would not do SO, as l
would only be imagining all sorts of
dreadful things; beside, l knew his
mother and Mary would like to have
me with them.
1t all turned out as well as could be.
The night was very tine; ana just AZ
twelve o'clock Martha stole down to
the place where I had seen her the
night before; then we all, about doz-
en- policemen and ourselves, went to
the house. The men were stationed
out of sight in different rooms, waiting
for the robbers entrance. Henry came
up to Mrs. Benson's room, where all
of us women were, including the two
servants. With breathless anxiety we
watched and waited. From where l
stood could see the way they would
come.
1t was about two o'clock when saw
Martha coming up the walk and four
men with her. "Lookr' said; ''there
they are" They went around to the
back door, and we heard them stealing
along the passage in the direction of
the plate-closet. Then u sudden rush
"a scream from the wretched Martha
-imprecations loud and bitter--a shot!
another scream!
MAY God grant no lives will be
lost.' we prayed.
Poor Mary nearly tainted. At last
we heard the officer call Henry to come
down. The four men were well Sc
cured and taken to the police station.
Martha was taken there, too. She con-
fessed she had let them in for the pur-
pose of stealing the silver. One of the
robbers was slightly wounded in the
arm, but no one else was hurt. Very
thankful was when I found next day
that none was the worse for having
gone through such terrible scene.
The house where Martha's husband
lodged was searched, and the case of
diamonds and many other valuable
articles found there. This immensely
respectable gardener had been a dis
grace to his family and his profession.
indulgence of his employer, he had con-
tracted habits of tipping with low asso-
ciates at the neighboring village, and
became so completely demoralized as
at length to assume the degraded char
acter of a burglar. Now came the re-
tribution which attends on wrong-do-
ing. The thieves were all tried at tine
next Assizes, and sentenced to various
terms of Imprisonment.
1t is now many years since all this
happened; but l can never forget what
l went through those two dreadful
nights; though remember with thank
fulness, that through my dream and
the warning voice I heard, was the
means of averting great wrong, and
perhaps murder. do not impute any
thing supernatural to my dream. 1t
may have merely been the result Of
tension of feelings, supported by some
condolences. At all events, the results
were such as have described-Gtam
bers' Journal.