Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1882-07-26
The Old, Old Story.

house. There have been ever so MANY
robberies in town, and everybody has
been almost afraid to go to bed.
The robbers broke into old DR.. Smiths
house one night. DR.. Smith is one of those
doctors that don't give any medicine ex-
cept cold water; and he heard the robbers
and came down stairs in his nightgown,
with big umbrella in his hand, and said,
"If you don't leave this minute, I'll shoot
you" And the robbers they said, "Oho!
that umbrella isn't loaded;" and they took
him and tied his hands and feet, and put
mustard plaster ever his mouth so that
he couldn't yell, and then they filed the
wash tub with water and made him sit
down in it, and told him that now he
know how it was himself, and went away
and left him, and he nearly froze to death
before morning.
Father wasn't bit afraid of the robbers,
but he said he'd fix something so that he
would wake up if they got in the house.
So he put coal scuttle full of coal about
half way up the stairs, and tied string
across the upper hall just at the head OF
the stairs. He said that if robber tried
to come up stairs, he would upset the coal
scuttle and make a tremendous noise, and
that if he did not happen TO upset it he
would certainly fall over the string at the
top of the stairs. He told us that if we
heard the coal scuttle go off in the night,
Sue and mother and | were to open the
windows and scream, while he got up and
shot the robber.
The first night, after father had fixed
everything nicely for the robbers, he went
to bed, and then mother told him that she
hal forgotten to lock the back door. Sc
father he said, "Why can't women some-
times remember something" and he got
up and started to 60 down stairs in the
dark. lie forgot all about the string and
fell over ii with an awful crash, and then
b gan to fall down stairs. When he rot
half way down he met the coal scuttle
and that went down the rest of the way
with him, and you never in your life heard
anything like the noise the two of them
made We opened our windows and cried
murder and fire and thieves, and some
men that were going by rushed in and
picked father up and would have taken
him off to Jail, he was that dreadfully
black, if hadu't told them who he was.
But this was not the awful time that
mentioned when l began TO write. and il
don't oegin to tell you about it shan'l
have any room left on my paper. Mother
gave dinner party last Thursday. There
were ten ladies and twelve gentlemen,
and one of them was that dreadful Mr.
Mardin with cork leg, snd other i'm
provements, as Mr.. Travers calls them
Mother told me not to let her see me ir
the dining room or she'd let me know
and meant to mind, only I forgot, ant
went into the dining room Just to look al
the table, few minutes before dinner.
was looking at the raw oysters, wher
Jane that's the girl that waits on the
table-said, run, Master Jimmy; here s
your mother coming" Now | hadn'
time enough to run, so I Just dived under
the table, aud thought I'd stay thero for ;
minute or two, until mother went out o
the room again.
1t wasn't only mother that camo in, bu
tho whole company, and thoy sat down tC
dinner without giving mc any chance tt
got out. I tell you, it was n dreadful sit
uation. had only room enough to si
still, and nearly every time moved hi
somebody's foot. Once tried to turr
around, and while was doing it l hit my
head against tho table so hard that
thought had upset something. and wal
sure that people would know l was there
But fortunately everybody thought tina
somebody else had ioggled, SO l escaped
for that time.
1t was awfuily tiresomo waiting fo
those people to get through dinner. l
seemed as if they could never cat enough
and VIXEN they were not eating they were
all talking al once. 1t taught me lessor
against gluttony, and nobody will eve
find me sitting for hours and hours at th,
dinner table, Finally I made up m,
mind that must have some amusement
and as Mr.. Martins cork leg was close b,
me, | thought | would have some ful
with that.
There was big darning needle in m,
pocket that kept there in case | shoult
want to use it for anything. happene'
10 think that Mr.. Martin couldn't feel any
thing that was done to his cork leg ant
that it would be great fun to drive tn
darning needle into II, so that people whit
didn't know that his leg was cork woul
see it, and think he was suffering dread
fully, only no didn't know it. SO l GO
out the needle, and jammed 1t into hi
leg with both hands, so that it would g
in good and deep.
Mr.. Martin gave a yell that made M
hair run cold, and sprang up, and nearl
UPSET the table, and fell over his chai
backward, and wasn't there circus il
that dining-room! had made mistak
about the leg, and run tho needle into hi
real one