The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-01-27

no more what to "double-iocl, " r,oo,.
than you do, but my favorite novelist
a sensational one-aIways uses II and !
conclude he ought to know.
1t was the beginning of misty Octo.
Der, when the leaves had fallen off early
and our friends had followed their ay'
ample, and had been sitting up alone
INTO the small hours resolute to hear nv
! favorite author to the bitter end-bis
third volume. wherein all the chief
characters Except the comic ones) are
sam, save one who is left sound in
wind and limb, but with an hereditary
disposition to commit suicide. Some
WHAT WHAT depressed by its perusal anI y
L,ssSe peffunc6oll ~1Ialfrzr
All was IlSht apparently IN the dinino
room, ali night IN the drawing room. afj
right certainly In the study where 7
had myself been sitting) and all right
no, not quite all right in our little black
hall or vestibule, where, upon the round
table the very largest and thickest pair
OF navvy's boots L ever saw were stand
ing between my wife's neat little UNI
brella anda pair of her gardening gloves.
Even IN that awful moment Iremember
! the sense of contrast and inconoruitv
| struck me almost as forcibly as the pres
ence OF the boots themselves. and they
astonlshed me as much as the sight of
| the famous footprints did Robinson
Crusoe, and for precisely the same rea-
| son. The boot and the print were moth
ing IN themselves, but my intelligence,
now fully awakened, at once flew to the
! conclusion that somebody must have
oeen there TO leave them, and was proba-
bly, IN the neighborhood, and. indeed
under my roof at that very moment. If
you give Prof. Owen a foot of any crea-
ture Gust as of less scientific. persons we
say &: Give them an inch, they viii take
an elD, he viii build up the whole ami
nal out of his own mind; and something
Of the Professors marvellous instinct
was on this occasion mine. l pictured
to myself (and as it turned out, cor
recuy) a monster more than six feet
high, broad in the shoulders, heavy in
the lowl, with legs like stone balus-
trades, and hands, but too often
clenched, of the size of pumpkins. The
yestibule led into the pantry, where, no
doubt, this giant, with his one idea, or
half a one, would conclude the chief part
of our plate to be, whereas it was lying
unless he had already taken it-a terri
bic thought that flashed through. my
mind, followed by cluster of others,
like a comet with It's tail-under our
bed
OF course I could have gone into the
pantry at once, but l felt averse to be
precipitate perhaps upon finding moth
ing TO steal) this poor wretch would feel
remorse for what he had done and go
away. 1t would be a wicked thing to
deprive him of the opportunity of re-
pentance. Moreover, 1t struck me that
he might not be n thief after all, but
only cousin considerably removed y
.0f one or the u1saIei-ss.E ants It would
have been very wrong of her to have let
him INTO the house at such an hour, but
it was Just possible that she had done so,
and that he was at that moment supping
in the kitchen upon certain cold grouse
which knew we're in the larder. Such
a state of things, l repeat, would have
been reprehensible. but / most sincerely
hoped that it had occurred. A clandes-
tine attachment, however misplaced, IS
better than burglary with possible vio-
lence. Coughing rather loudly, to give
the gentleman notice that l was about,
and to suggest that he had better take
himself off in my temporary absence, l
went up to the attic to make inquiries.
And here I am tempted to a digres-
sion concerning the excessive somno-
lency of female domestics. AS regards
our own, at least, they reminded me,
except in number, of the Seven Sleep
ers. l knocked at their door about a
quarter of an hour before attracting
their attention, and it took me another
quarter to convince them Through the
keyhole) that it was not fire. If it had
been, they must all have been burnt In
their beds. Relieved upon this point,
they were scarcely less excited and "put
out !" by the communication l was com
PEELED to make to them, though con-
veyed with the utmost delicacy and re-
fnement of which language is capable.
L asked them whether by any accident
one of them chanced to have a male rel
ative who wore exceptionally thick high
lows and if he was likely to have called
recently-thatvery evening, for example.
They all replied in indignant chorus
that they had never heard of such
thing-by which they meant the sug-
gestion and that no cousin of theirs
ever did wear highlows, being all te-
| males without exception.
Satisfied as to this (and greatly disap-
pointed), I felt that it was now incum-
bent upon me to pursue my researches.
Candle in hand and pistol in pocket,
therefore explored the pantry. To my
sible that the thief had departed If
so. he had gone without his highlows,
for they stood on the vestibule table as
| large as life, and, from the necessity of
| the case, a size or two larger. Their
| build and bulk, indeed, impressed me
more than ever. Was it possible that
one burglar had come in those boots?
L entered the kitchen not a mouse
was stirring on the other hand, there
was a legion of black beetles, which
scuttled away in all directions except
one. They avoided the dresser-beneath
which lay the gentleman was looking
| for, curled up in space much too
small for him, but affecting to be
asleep. Indeed, though previously I
| had not heard him breathe, no sooner
did the light from my candle fall upon
| him than he began to snOre stertorous-
| ly. / felt at once that this was to give
| me the idea of the slumber that follows
| honest toll. knew before he spoke
| that he was going to tell me how, tired
| and exhausted, he had taken shelter un-
| der my roof, with no other object (bow-
ever suspicious might be the circum-
stances of his position) than nights
rest, of which he stood in urgent need.
"Don't shoot, sir, he said, for took
care to let the handle of Edward Johns
pistol protrude from my dressing-gown.
s'I am poor, but honest; only came
IN here for the warmth and to have
snooze."
"How did you get p L inquired,
sternly.
81 Just priced up the washus win
DER was his plaintiye reply, "and land
| down ere.
| "Then, you put out your boots in the
| back hall to be cleaned in the morning,
1 suppose?"
At this he grinned a dreadful grin. 1t
| seemed to say, Gas you have the whip