The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-07-15

ing down the road l spied . man CON
ing along. l flew to the house, and,
satisfied that he was coming in. l ran to
Sarah. Selling her dress with both
hands, 1 exclaimed:
40 Sarah, there is a dreadful looking
man coming into the house !!
Sarah picked up the poker and walked
to the door, while J, initiating her ex-
ample, picked up a stick of wood. Sud
denly Sarah cried,
"You little goose 1t is Bill Nc
Carly |"
Sure enough, it was Sarah's beau.
Her mother was very sick, and McCarty
was sent to bring Sarah home immedi-
ately.
Here was a dilemma. Sarah didn't
want to leave me, and unless she started
home then, she might not see her mother
alive. 1t was nearly time for the rest
of the folks to come home, so l managed
to raise courage enough to say that 1
was willing to remain alone.
In a few minutes Sarah was off, and 1
was left in possession of our great house
which never seemed so large to me be-
fore. l tried to read but it was impos-
sible: all the murder stories l had ever
heard came to my mind. remembered
that none of our doors could be locked.
Papa, who had a few strange ideas, de-
clared locks were a nuisance. l felt
that l was doomed.
I went out to the yard, and, to my
disnlay, discovered hat the sky was
overcast and a storm near at hand. l
could see the rain coming; faster and
faster it came: it was soon at the house.
Oh, how it did rain
On each side Of our yar1 was a
brook, pretty and peaceable in pleasant
weather, but a very little rain trans
formed them both into raging torrents.
As l stood at the window l saw first
one bridge and then the other swept of.
l knew now that l must stay alone all
night it would be impossible for my
brothers and sisters to get home.
Travellers. or as Sarah called them,
"trampers," often stopped at our house
over night, as there was no public house
near. To my horror, l saw one of them
coming across the field. Should | hide
No, that was not to be thought of.
Without stopping to knock, the great
rough man walked in.
Can l stay here all night?'
l dared not refuse him, so as firmly
as | could, answered.
eyes"
He seemed surprised at seeing no one
but myself and questioned me much. l
told him my brother was upstairs writ
| ing that we two were alone. This was
the first thing that entered my head to
| tell him. Such a villainous countenance
as that man had
His hair was cut close to his head.
leaving his huge ears in bold relief.
Wicked-looking eyes, and a brutal
mouth, completed his general expression
of ferocity.
Bedtime came, and I directed the
man to a room upstairs in the servants
department not the "up-stairs" where
l had said my brother was. Now that
there was real danger, l was calm and
reasonable. l fastened the door that
led up stains with my embroidery scis-
sors, which happened to be in my pocket,
so as to guard against surprise, and hur-
riedly collecting our silverware, carried
it to mammals room and hid it IN the
bed. No one would have supposed the
bed had been disturbed. l was elated
at nay ingenuity.
l then hunted up what few jewels the
girls possessed. and placing them, with
what money | could find, in a box, l
tied them il my pocket. After doing
this l stole down stairs, and removed
my scissors from the door. These scis-
sors were counted among my most val
liable treasures. l had had them many
years, and was not disposed to lose them
now.
| expected the man would only wait
till he thought l and my fictitious
brother were asleep, and would then
search the house for valuables, and
finish by killing me. Only plan for
escape that l originated seemed feasible.
l determined to wait till l heard my
lodger in the room below, and then wrap
myself in papa's shawl and jump out of
the window. l was not kept in sus-
pense long; the peculiar squeak of the