The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-03-22
THE TIMES, NEW BLOOMFIELD, PA, MARCH 22, 1881.

ma'am as he have no one to wait upon
him, Il holds as I, ma'am, as his moth
er, must do my dooty--yes, ma'am."
All this she said without once stop
ping to take breath and l could not
help observing that she was slightly
flurried In my presence, and seemed to
keep talking as much to hide her
uneaslness as to enllghten me regarding
her errand. l said was very sorry to
hear that her son was i'll, and that II
was very proper she should in the cir.
cumstances, attend to him. But"
L asked, has he no servant in the
house Y"
"Not presently, maam," she answer
ed; "leastways, the 'ouse- maid have
gone away over to Brookford for few
days to see her mother, who stays there,
ma'am-yes, ma'am ~ and she courte-
sled again In the excess of her civlllty.
After had dismissed her / did not
reference with my plans on which l
had not counted. / had no one TO
advise with ne, and felt much perplex-
ed. AS evening approached, and the
gloom of twilight, L had strange,
nervous feeling, such as l had only once
before experienced, and that was in
India during the terrible days when the
mutiny was at its height, and every
football made us start as If next moment
were to be our last. AS the dusk deep
ened, my anxiety increased; and when
at length the ayah conduted the joiner,
as had before instructed her, to my
room, | was almost too overpowered to
speak. Andrew and the blacksmith
were for the time detained in the kitch-
en-, as L wished to talk the matter over
with the joiner, az the most intelligent
of the three.
AS he entered my room, 1 was sur
prised to find second person behind
him, whom he introduced to me as Mr..
Burrows, the district Inspector of Police,
who had been on an official visit to the
village that day, and who, when he
heard the story, volunteered his services
in place of the constable. His presence
Nb OlOO 6uNO ilC AClCl anu thio Wdo
enhanced when found he had had long
experience in the London detective force
and was entering with the enthusiasm
of his profession into our plans. He
had heard already from the joiner what
had passed that day complimented me
highly on the presence of mind L had
displayed on the previous evening and
expressed acquiescence in everything
that we had since done.
When, however, mentioned to him
my unexpected interview that afternoon
with Mrs. Weevil, and that she had left
the house, he was good deal taken
back. He questioned me closely as to
her manner and appearance when she
was in my room, and as to whether she
seemed much affected by her sons ILL
ness. answered his several questions
to the best of my ability; and he, after
thinking awhile, paced up and down
the room, turned to me and said
Let everything be carried out as you
formerly proposed. See that your fam
lily retire to rest at their usual time, and
with a little appearance as possible OF
anything unusual going on. If the
woman has taken alarm, nothing will
be lost by waiting till to. morrow, when
her rooms can be more carefully exam
ined by daylight. In the first place,
will you show me the bedroom in which
you were disturbed last nightr"
1 conducted him thither, the joiner
following; and after he had ascertained
where, to use his own expression, / had
first seen the "party," and where and
how the party had disappeared, he at
| once intimated his plans. He said /
was to retire to my room as usual, seat
myself in my chair by the fire as on the
previous evening, and either sleep or
appear to sleep, as was most agreeable to
| myself. Beyond the window stood a
large wardrobe, in which, after the
house was all quiet, he and the joiner
would conceal themselves, the black
smith and the gardener being set as a
| guard upon the door of the housekeep-
er's room below. The village constable,
he had arranged, would keep watch on
the outside of the house, but so as not to
be readily discovered.
The duties of the household, in the
absence of my servants, fell somewhat
heavily on the ayah and myself, and the
time passed quickly for me as l hustled
about, seeing the children put to bed,
after which the ayah also retired. Dur
ing all this time, everything had Deen
carried on in our customary way. Mr..