Litchfield enquirer., 1880-04-22

! storm and the sharp claps of thunder! Not a click from the instrument now. Not sound slve the steady ticking of the clock. Still lay listening, watching, with faculties all alert and my eyes always on the oblong box.
 | A little past 2-perhaps ten minutes. The silence almost painful in it's profoundness Nothing but the tick-tick of the clock, which to my eager ear had taken on this sound, which 1t kept repeating over and over:
 | "Watch-the-bcx! Watch-the-box! What was that
 Not the clock, not the telegraphic instru- ment. No, it was the sound as of the grat- ing of iron. Faint, very faint, yet still audi ble to my ear! Breathing irregularly and deeply, as one breathes in sleep, l lay and listened. Another interval of silence. and then the grating sound came again, this time trif1e louder than before. The light of the stars shining through the window made the | objects in the freight-room just visible. AL most simultaneously with the second grating noise l saw the cover of the wooden box ris- | ing slowly from the end furthest removed from the bed. I could feel my heart thump- Ing away like sledge hammer, but contn l ued to breath heavily and to watch keenly Gently and noiselessly the cover was pressed 1 upward until it reached an angle which con- | pletely shut out from my view the window beyond. A moment later the figure of a man came out of the shadows, while the box cover was let down as noiselessly as it had l been raised.
 This, then, was the burden of the box. This was the meaning of the myster- ious warning which the sounder had ! spoken.
 With cat-llke tread the figure moved toward the door of my room. Still lay as in deep sleep. On the threshold the figure paused, and moment later single ray of light like a | silver thread pierced the darkness and fell upon the bed. Luckily it did not strike my face, and in an instant closed my eyes. As had anticipated, the ray of light was direct ed toward my pillow, and by the sense of l feeling knew it rested a moment on my face Satisfied that l was deep slumber, the figure | still with cat-like tread, glided through the bedroom and into the ticket-off1ce. My eyes were wide open again by this time. The light from the dark lantern had increased, but it's l rays were now turned toward the safe. Ob- l viousy the robber believed the treasure that he l sought was there. l waited until he had knet down to examine the lock, and then, with step as noiseless as his own, slipped from the | bed and toward the half-opened door. So intent was he in examining the safe that it was not until was within reach of him that he heard me. He sprang to his feet, bringing the glass of the lantern full into my face, and | upon the top of the safe. But he was too late. With the rusty old pistol, held by its long barrel, dealt him crushing blow on the l head just as his fingers grasped his own weap- | on. He fell heavily, without uttering groan. | The lantern was eXtinguished as it fell, and with trembling fingers l struck match and lighted the lamp in the office. As it's rays fell upon the upturned face of the robber, I saw that blood was flowing from the wound had inflicted, and 1 saw, too. that his face was | delicate in it's outlines and intelligent in ex- l pression. 1 had time to. notice no more, for felt, now that the danger was past, the need ! of aid. So, after binding the unconscious mans feet and arms and bathing his head in cold water pulled on my boots and overcoat and started in hot haste for the hotel.
 Halfway on the road 1 met covered car riage, drawn by one horse 1 took it to be the turnout of Mathews the hotel proprietor, and, wondering what he could be out for at that hour, shouted his name. 1 got no re- sponse. Then 1 cried out at the top of my | voice.
 'I've killed a burglar down at the station ' | Whoever was in the carriage must have heard me, but the horse only quickened his sharp trot, and disappeared in the dark | ness.
 They give me a great deal more credit the people of Red Ravine, for that nights adven- ture, than deserve. And 1 do not blame them for laughing at how things cathe out. For when party of us got back to the sta | tion my unconscious burglar had disappeared, and the tracks next morning showed that the covered carriage which had met on the road had drawn up at the platform. Who was in it? Well, couldn't swear, but I have a mo- tion that it contained the gentleman who had come on with the dead body. At all events, neither he nor the body was ever seen in the | town again. 1 had the satisfaction of de- livering the money package safely to Eld- l ridge & Rickeston, but the check they gave me was not really merited. For what would have happened had it not been for the mys- terious message which no man sent.
 Mir. Charles Dudley Warner, discussing the question of chlldren's reading in the Christian Union calls attention to the comparatively small number of persons even in thisc country, who Tead ''We boast, he says "about the circulation of our newspapers. The best of them are daily marvels of news, of informa- tion of miscellaneous reading, of entertain ment of all sorts. TheYas are the cheapest things manufactured Tn modern days. Con- sidering the capital in brains, industry and money put into every number, they are at their price the wonder of our civilization. And yet the most wonderful thing about them co me is the smalness of their circulation compared to the population. Take such a fcentre as New York, with a compact popula- tion of nearly two millions, and radiating lines of quick distribution that enable the newspa- pers within few hours to reach millions more and set against this the actual circulation ot the three or tour commanding journals. It is mere bagatelle.
 ''Still there are many newspapers, and a large proportion of the population sees one every day-that is of the city population '; but the number people who master the contents of daily newspaper is not large. Readers pick out of them the items of business or amusement or politics that interest them. And it is hardly fair to credit our people with the habit of reading because they glance at the daily newspapers, or because in the country they are in the habit of spreading the excel | lent weeklies over their faces to keep the flies from disturbing their Sunday nap. believe that the majority of buisiness men read a book very rarely the majoity of young men in bus- mess and in society 1 fancy read little-they do not give thelr evenings to reading, and are not apt to take up book unless it becomes the talk of society. People who spend 8 great deal of money on dress on dinners, on amuse. ments, would think it extravagant to buy g book, and ii one is commended to them they will wait till they can borrow it or get it from the library. They do not hesitate two min utes about an ordinary two dollar dinner, but they will wait months to borrow fifty -cent book" -...,.. ... ..t
 He concludes that Zone of the reasons why the young who read at all read nothing but trash as they are said to do is because theil parents, or older persons about them, either have not the habit of reading or they also read trash In such households as have de scribed, where the elders go about declaring that there is nothing to read the children catch the tone and think there is nothing, tc read-that is, except the latest story, book ol the picture-paper. In the lower strata of 80 ciety. where the mother has neither time nor inclination to read anything, and the father pores over the Police Gazette, it is quite nat ural that his son should take the Boys Owr story paper about rufians and burglars The short of it is that the children in this country follow their elders. And I suspect that the