Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-03-15

| window closed, the shutters bOlted, and
an alarm bell hung upon them, and the
man reascended the stair, half scolding,
half laughing at the girls superstition.
He took care, notwithstanding, to eX
anime the fastenings of the street door,
and even to lock It and put the key in
| his pocket. He then retired into q room,
and all was silence.
began to feel decidedly queer. The
governor kept no male servant that |
knew of, and had never done so. IL
was impossible that he could have in
troduced this change into his house
hold without my being informed of 1t
by Sister Laura, whose letters were an
exact chronicle of everything, down to
the health of the cat. This was puz-
zling. And now that | had time TO
think, the house was much too large
for family only requiring three sleep
ing rooms even when | was at home. |
1t was what is called double house,
with rooms on both sides of the hall;
and the apartment on the threshold of
which | was still lingering appeared,
from the dim light of the windows, to
be of very considerable size. / now
recollected that the quantity of plate |
had seen--a portion of which at this |
moment felt preternaturally heavy in |
my pockets-must have been three |
times greater than any the governor |
ever possessed, and that various pieces |
were of size and massiveness | had |
never before seen in that establishment. |
In vain | bethought myself that | had
seen and recognized the door-plate, and
that the area from which | entered was
Immediately under; in vain | argued
that since Laura was about to be mar
ried the extra amount of plate might be
intended to form part of her trous- |
seau. l could not convince myself. |
But the course of my thoughts sug-
gested an idea, and pulling hastily from
my pocket tablespoon l felt, for |
could not see, the legend which con-
tained my fate. But my fingers were
tremulous; they seemed to have lost !
sensation-only l fancied l did feel
something more than the governors
plain initials. There was still light
in the hall. If | could but bring that
spoon within its illumination! All was
silent, and / ventured to descend step
after step-not as l had bounded up,
but with the stealthy pace of q thief,
and the plate growing heavier and
heavier in my pocket. At length was
near enough to see, in spite of dim
ness that had gathered over my eyes,
and, with sensation of absolute faint
ness, | beheld upon the spoon an en-
graved crest-the red hand of bar
onet!
| crept back again, holding by the
banisters, fancying every now and then
that | heard door open behind me,
and yet my feet no more consented to
quicken their motion than if | had been
pursued by murderer in the night
mare. / at length got into a room,
CROPPED for chair, and sat down. No
more hurry now. o no! There was
plenty of time, and plenty to do it in,
for / had to wipe away the perspira-
ton that ran down my face in streams.
What was to be done? What had l
doueP Oh, a trifle, mere tritle.
had only sneaked into Il gentleman
house by the area window, and pock-
eted his tablespoons; and here | was
locked and barred and belled in, sitting
very comfortably in the dark and alone,
in his drawing-room. Very particular
ly comfortable! What capital fellow,
to be sure! What an amusing person.
age! Wouldn't the baronet laugh in the
morningp Wouldn't he ask me to stay
to breakfast And wouldn't | eat
hearty out of the spoons l had stolen?
But what name is that? Who calls me
housebreaker? Who gives me in
charge? Who lugs me off by the neck?
| will not stand it. | am innocent eX-
cept of breaking into a baronet's house.
| am gentleman, with another gentle
mans spoons in my pockets. | claim
the protection of the law. Police! police!
My brain was wandering. l pressed
my hand upon my wet forehead to
keep down She thick-coming fancies,
and determined, for the first time in
my life, to hold deliberate consulta-
ton with myself | was in an awkward
predicament-it was impossible to deny
the fact; but was there anything really
serious in the case? had unquestion-
ably descended into the wrong area, the
right-hand one instead of the left-hand
one; but was | not unquestionably the
relation-the distant relation-of the
neXt-door neighbour? l had been four
years absent from his house, and was
there anything more natural than that
l should desire to pay my next visit
through q subterranean Window |
had appropriated, it is true, quantity
of silver plate | had found; but with no
other intention could | have done this
than to present it to my distant rela-
tion's daughter, to reproach her with
her carelessness in leaving itneXt door.
Finally, l was shared, Gagged, trapped
door and window had been bOlted
upon me without any remonstrance on
my part-and | was now some con-
siderable time in the house, unsus-
pected, yet prisoner. The position
was serious; but come, suppose the
worst: that | was actually laid hold of
as malefactor, and commanded to
give an account of myself; well, | was,
as aforesaid, distant relation of the
individual next door. l belonged to
nobody in the world if not to him
bore but an Indifferent reputation in re-
gard to steadiness, and after four years
absence in foreign country had re-
turned-idle, penniless, and objectless
just in time to find an area window
open in the dusk of the evening, and
heap of plate lying behind it, within
view of the street.
This self-eXamination was not en-
eouraging; the case was decidedly
queer, and as | sat thus pondering in
the dark, with the spoon in my hand,
| am quite sure that no malefactor in
dungeon could have envied my refec-
tions. In fact. the evidence was so
dead against me that began to doubt
my own innocence. What was here
for if my intentions were really honestp
and how came it that all this silver
plate had found its way into my
pocketsP was angry as well as terri
fed. was judge and criminal in one,
but the instincts of nature got the bet
ter of my sense of justice, and Irose
suddenly up to ascertain whether it was
not possible to get from the window in
to the street.
As l moved, however, the horrible
booty | had in my pockets moved like
wise, appearing to me to shrek, like
Of fianHG Pnlinat no1ioar' anl