The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-11-08
A Burglar in the Coffin,
siIJou ae not afraid, Maggie ="


one to let tramps or the Ike In OF my
own free will. God knows the place
will be safe enough when you come
back--as safe rs though there were
regiment of soldiers In It; and I'll have
all bright for your new wife, Mr.. Archi-
bald.n
She called her master Mr.. Archibald
still, this old woman but she was the
only one who still used his Christian
name. He was an elderly man himself,
and had few intimate friends, hospitall-
~ not being one of his virtues.
He was rich, and there was much
that was valuable In the house, more
ready money, too, than most men keep
about them but then 1t was as secure as
a bank vault--patent locks and burglar
alarms that first sent n bullet into any
one who sought to enter by stealth, and
then rang bell to wake the household,
were attached to every door, aud furl-
Gus watch dog, that lived on raw meat,
was In the back garden. The Van Mott
mansion could have withstood siege at
moments notice.
Mr.. Van Mott was money dealer
He had ways and means of accumula-
ting property which were mysteries to
his neighbors, aud they were suspicious
that the little back parlor, sacred to bus
iness, had even seen such lesser dealings
as the loan of money on the gold watch
es, cashmere shawls, and diamonds of
genteel distress.
Two or three mortgages that he had
bought up had been rather cruelty fore
closed and he was hard landlord and
n bad person to owe money to altogether.
On the whole, he was dsliked in the
place, and, rich as he was, would have
found 1t hard to get wife to his liking
among his neighbors at Oakham.
However having resolved to marry
,again-there had been Mr.. Van Mott,
who died years before-he sought out
wealthy widow of saving disposition,
who lived on small farm some miles
out of town, and having already disin-
herited her daughter for espousing an
estimable man of small means, and had
turned her only son out of doors for
equally prudent reasons, was not likely
to bring any troublesome generosity
into his household, and had offered him.
self to her and had been accepted
And now, though both their economi-
cal souls revolted against 1t, custom de-
creed wedding of some sort, and
honeymoon trip somewhere, and they
had decided to do 1t as cheaply as pos
sible. For this brief time Mr. Van
Mott must leave his business and his
houses, and it was on the eve of depart
ure, that he held the above conversation
with his old servant, standing with his
portmanteau in his hand, and regarding
aer gravely.
g Yes, yes,', he said, I" 1 presume it is
all safe enough. And I'll speak to the
night watchman, and give him dollar
to take particular look at this house.
Well, goodbye, Maggie; make things
as neat as possible. If they look dirty
my wife may think the furniture old
and want something new for the parlor.', +,
And Mr.. Van Mott departed.
"Yes, yes" said old Maggie, mo
doubt she'll have fine, ,extravagant ways.
Poor master What pity he should
marry, after all-but old fools are the
worse fools. A young thing of eight
and forty, too, when he has sensible
servant, sixty last January, and knows
what belongs to good housekeeping. If
he wanted to marry why didn't he ask
naeY I'd not have gone galivanting and
spending. h,well, he'll suffer; not /. I"
And Maggie trotted away to begin her
sweeping and dusting.
She had truly said that there was no
fear born with her but as the night
drew on she began to feel somewhat
lonely. Her masters presence was
strangely missed out of the great house,
and there was something ghostly in the
look of his empty chair when she peep
ed into his little back office.
'If 1 was superstitious, she said to
herself II should think something g
dreadful was going to happen. / fee
chilly up and down my back and 1 keer
thinking of funerals. I'll make myself
a cup of tea and see if can't get ovei
it,.
And accordingly old Maggie shut her
self in to the snug kitchen, and lighting
two candles, drew out a pot of the
strongest young hyson, and putting hel
feet close to the cooking stove began t
feel much more comfortable.
The old clock licked away on tn,
10