Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-06-03

Hush! said the other in low tone.
"What if we should be discovered be-
fore the job is done?"
"No danger Of that" the first re-
turned. "There is no one within hear
ing distance, Knight. l came in here in
the role of book agent the other day
and took the position of the rooms"
The sound of the second voice had
struck with a painful suspicion of famil-
iarity on Jessie's ear, and now that name!
What did it mean? Could it be possible
that he was her lover? Was she not
mistaken in the voice ?"
He spoke again:
After all, t. ere are worse robberies
committed every day under the guise of
business transactions, than we are medi-
tating Old Jacobs has been miser all
his life, and cheated people out of thou
sands. It's no more than fair to take
some of his ill-gotten gains.
No, she was not mistaken. There was
no doubt of that voice. 1t had charac-
teristic ring that could not be mistaken.
Something darker than night shadows
settled upon her mind. She remained in
her position as if bound hand and foot.
But they passed along, and she heard
them working with the lock of the door,
which had closed upon her so untimely.
For a few moments there was a dull,
rasping sound, and she knew that they
had succeeded in opening it, and were
passing down stairs. There were two
more doors to open before they could
gain an entrance into the store below.
She rose to her feet, and listening in
tently, she could hear the first one be-
low yield to their hands.
She felt as if she must follow them.
She did not care whether or not she was
discovered. When they had opened the
last door and were within the front store,
she followed noiselessly-she had re-
moved her shoes and stood in the shadow
watching their movements, as by the
light of a dark lantern they proceeded to
open a safe which, they Judged, con-
tanned the most valuable jewels.
AS Jessie stood there, motionless and
pale, there was no feeling of scorn for
him. The wound was too deep for that.
But there was pathetic despair in the
depths of the eyes which only a few
hours before had been full of tender
love-hght for him, and dreadful pain
at her heart, and an infi,ite sadness, to
find that her idol, whom she had set up
for worship SO much higher than his fell
lows, was made of baser clay than or
binary men.
BY the light which he held she could
discover his face dimly. Hardly con-
scious of what she was doing, she went
forward to him as he bent over the safe
he had opened. Both had their backs
toward her. Without word she laid
her hand upon his arm. At the touch,
so quick and unexpected, he started as if
quickly in her face. With a low cry of
surprise he met the pathetic sadness of
Jessie's eyes. His companion rose hast
lily from his kneeling position, exclaim-
ing: "What does this mean?" as he saw
the strange, dazed look upon Knights
face, and saw, too, that the girl was no
stranger to him.
go, Gilbert, Gilbert Can this be
possibler Jessie said, with pitiiul wall
in her voice that would have moved a
heart of adamant.
He stood dumb before her. Had she
reproached him, he could have retorted
sngrily; but he had no words to meet
the look in the fair, sad face, upturned
to his, which he had kissed so often,
just to see it flush and brighten under
the powerful magnetism which had been
the ruin of more than one woman before
he had seen Jessie.
1t was scene for a painter. The
bolted and barred windows showing in
the dim light: the confused, shamed ex-
preston on knights face; the panied,
grieved expression on Jessie's and the
angry disappointment on the other. At
length, without even aword, knight took
the jewels he had secreted about his per-
son and flung them down
"You can do ms you like, Kris" he
said. 81 wash my hands of the affair.
1t is the last time l shall undertake such
thing, Jessie, you will despise me, of
course, and deserve it. But l shall re-
member you always as the best and dear
est girl | ever knew. Come, Kris, let rs
oct out of this scrape as soon as we can. .
They left empty handed, rs they had
come, and made their escape as they had
effected their entrance, by an ingenious
communication with a tall building that
rose only few feet from the work-room.
Jessie CROPPED her way back up stairs
to the little dressing-room, and, sitting
down again upon the lounge, burst into
n passion of tears. 1t had been sad
awakening from her sweet love-dream,
for Jessie's ideal had been good, and
manly, and honorable, and the rest had
fallen so far, far below it.
She began to realize that she must
conceal the fact that she had been there
all night, for. of course. she would be