Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1880-10-20


I and we threw ourselves, dressed az We
, were, on the outside OF the bed, and
} he was soon fast asleep,
lay awake tor some llme' ] could
hear them moving about In the next
room, rs they prepared for bed' ana
|, then ! heard the woman order the
children TO make has an TO 30 ter
sleep,
They eyarnt sleep 10 hyar tonight
said the man, speaking for tho first
time, 4 want all han on yer ter clar
ou,. | want this hyar room t'night''
What for, Dan 7 asked the woman
Cause | do, that's all fair folks
Is comm
She did not ask any further qucs-
tons, and presently ! heard her aud
the children scramblins up the rough
ladder leading to the loft above
They speedily took possession Of
their beds, and the house became per-
fec,ly quiet. | heard my husbands
deep drawn, regular breathing /
heard the dog in the next room as he
stirred now and then IN his sleep. l
heard the man move slightly, once or
twice. ! knew from the fumes which
pervadcd my room that he was smok-
ing some very bad tobacco, when o
haze fell upon my senses and | fell
asleep.
awoke with start some time
afterwarl. Had some one been NOV
ing about my roomf No.
Everything was as usual, the night
taper burned dimly on the table, and
my husband lay sleeping quietly he
side me-.
telt under my pillow tor my watch,
found il, rose, aud moved quietly
toward the light, that ] might see the
time. The table stood on the par.
titioned side of the room--,hc side
ferherest from the bed Just as |
approached the light, ] was arrested
by a voice speaking low and distinct
y from the other side OF the partition.
'Shure, ther' all tas' ter sleep !
'Shure, sound as logs, bote on en-
Come hyar then lenme tell yer,
Cooney ! summonng some one,
Yes, sir
Did yer say ther want nobody nigh
tn lookup room ?
Nobody but jim Manson; he
sleeps down lher to night
And yer know tn way in Ivy tn
winder 2
Il LET hit soze could git right in
easy.
AN right we'll fix hit for 'em,
certain, an reckon ther'll be moin
one dollar gone to morreo mawnln'.
when yer gwine ter start, Dan 7
Not tore n hour, though want
ter git some sleep fur
Suppressed laughter was followed
by some whispered conversation which
escaped me but I now knew they
were planning to rob the lock-room
at Mr.. Rlce's, while and my husband
were to be let alone because they had
ascertained we had nothing with US
to tempt their cupidty.
Presently they seemed to betake
themselves to repose, throwing them
selves op the floor there must have
been four of them, at least. l listened.
with bated breath not even q whis-
per. Then all at once l heard some
one say:
Hadn't I better look in agin mex
door 2 a suggestion which caused me
to speed across to my bed, in an in
stant. lay there IN an agony of
terror, which eliminated IS l heard
Dan Turner reply:
Let me 60, and his stealthy step
advancing to my bedside; he paused
moment to listen, and then crept
out again.
'Fas' ter sleep. Leave um lone,
an ther good tell morein'.' He flung
himself heavily on the floor, and the
room became perfectly quiet. They
were all apparently sleaping 'soundly
uow, but in an hour or two at the
fartaerest they would be on their way
to rob- perhaps TO murder. Could l
do nothing 10 prevent it ! Nothing.
II were to attempt to ronse my hus-
band, might endanger his life. His
safety lay in our supposed unconsci-
business. 1 sat up in bed, breathing
a voiceless prayer in my extremity
It was windy night (; gust then
shook the house, causing the windows
to rattle loudly. heard drowsy
murmur from the next room, which