The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1882-11-10
MYSTERIOUS RAPPINGS.
The Romance of a Hammer.

Yes, am, believe, quite disinter-
ested person, and fairly well known for
both my courage and my modesuy. /
was boarding in retired neEhborhood
in New York, and next door to me
lived. in Il private house. IN old lady,
with her granddaughter. Need l say
that that young person was unusually
attractivep l regret to say, however.
that any advances on my part in that
direction were met ut first with much
indifference. Of course an acquaintance
with the old lady had to be made, and
a very queer old lady was she. With q
great many eccentricities, she had one
in particular which overshadowed the
rest. Once her house had been robbed
forty years before, and she had never
forgotten it. Though she was as deaf
as post, she assured me that the least
noise disturbed her of nights, Us the
dread of robbers was always on her
mind. Whether the young lady shared
her grandmother's fears or not, did
not know. rather hoped she did.
If, as l thought to myself, l could
only take advantage of this old wo-
mans fancies, that might give me an
introduction TO the house. The old
lady was garrulous, and very soon
scraped up IN acquaintance with her. l
had not been talking with her more
than five minutes, shouting my words
into herears, before i preached the sub.
iect of robberies.
From my pocket drew a newspaper,
and read therefrom in loud tones a
long account of q house-breaking ad-
venture. | must confess that in order
TO add some point to the story intro
duccd some quite new facts into the de-
scription. For instance. the street in
which the robbery took place was in an
entirely different part of the town from
ours, and for it | substituted our own
immediate neighborhood. In the orig
NAL version, however, it was an old
woman who had actually been at the
mercy of the bandits. ] howled it all
out, and had the satisfaction of seeing
that it had an instantaneous effect on
the old lady.
..Deary mer' said the old lady. Ter
rible! And we are so entirely unpro-
tected-two lone womenn'
"Awfulr' l replied; land when rob-
bers once get into neighborhood they
never let up until they clear up every
thing. l don't like to tell you, but 1
have seen some very strange and mys-
terious-looking fellows-tramps, APP
parently-lounging around here lately"
"Bless me! and am so deaf and SO
nervous. 1 am sure sha'n't be able
to sleep for weeks. What can dor
II have an idea," said l. "In what
story of your house do you sleepp"
Second story" Then the old lady
described the position of her bedcham-
ber-second story back. Her grand
daughter slept in the same room.
l had known that before from q care
full reconnaissance l had made. My
own modest chamber in the boarding.
house was on the same floor, and our
rooms were contiguous, only separated
by the thin partition wall.
Nov my dear madam" said /, 81
am going to propose a plan of action
for you, quite simple of its kind, which
ought to relieve you of all anxieties. l
might recommend burglar-proof ap-
paratus with Geographic attachments,
but those are very expensive things to
set up. can manage it all with q
hammer"
"a hammer!' exclaimed the old
lady, opening wide her mouth and
eyes.
"Yes; single hammer"
"But should be so terrified that If a
robber were to break in never could
use it. Icouldr't knock him down with
it." The old lady was terribly flus-
tered.
81 didn't mean hammer to be used
as weapon. o, dear, no; quite differ
ent from that. Your room in your
house and mine in my house are ada
| cent. and the head of your bed is just
near mine. Now will buy you small
hammer, and all you have to do is to
take it to led with you. At the least
noise. take your hammer.@d give three
raps on the wall. will at once under
stand that by that is meant precau-
tionary signal. It's quite as good as
any telegraphic apparatus. l hear the
three raps. good. wake up at once,
and. springing out OF bed, put on my
clothes. am prepared for action, as il
were. Then, should your fears con.
tinue, you keep ON rapping. l under.
stand at once that the danger is immi.
nent. Then ! seize my revolver, cock
it, rush down stairs, bound over the
fence, and my presence at once discon
certs the robbers. They endeavor te
escape; shoot two or three of them
and you and your charming grand
daughter are saved"
"it's very dreadful but quite kline
and thoughtful of you, and soingenious
l do believe that u ] knew that som'