Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1883-04-21
train somewhere; nobody'll think of

-. V P"SN my NOhoSO SiFCo Vuup
Tinker Pete said, uncertainty. AZ
don't knows l can do it after all. It's
easy enough to get in, but what if
somebody should see me? 1t might
end in what's worse"
"Man aliver' said Whettles, impa-
tiently. Afraid at your time of life?
Well, here's what I'll do. They go to
bed early; you can have it over by
midnight. Now, III come back that
way, and if you're there and afraid to
stir, I'll go in and do it myself. But
mind, 1 don't expect you to back out.
And if l amt there by IL you'll know
somethin's happened and 1 can't come;
so you'll have to go On your own hook.
But be sure you're at the big tree
by l."
Wtettles, like many another skillful
tactician, did not tell his catspaw all
his plans. He had no intention of
doing what might be done for him.
1t was only polite to assure Pete of
helping him out should his courage
fail, for fear, under too great dread.
that he might break away from the
plan altogether.
When Pete crept up to the house at
10, the women had been soundly
asleep for two hours. He tried the
kitchen window it had no fastenings.
and went up noiselessly. He stepped
in and stood trembling. The clock in
the next room licked with appalling
loudness. His knees smote together,
but it required as much courage now
to flee as to remain. Perhaps for ten
minutes-perhaps hours, judging by
his own exaggerated reckoning-he
stood in fear; and then, as the clock
ticked on steadily as if it had no refer
ence to him, his heart-beats grew
fainter and his courage crawled back
He crept toward the sitting room
door on his hands and knees. There
stood the old desk, with its high spindle
legs, half of IT exaggerated shadow and
half thrown into light by shaft from
the movu. Probably tho key was in
the lock. He hod seen it there him
self q dozen times-had seen Frank
bring in tat roll e bills after selling
his oxen. toss them in there and put
down tine cover without turning
the key. There had been no rob-
berries in Belburn, and so people
trusted more in human nature and
less in steel and wood. But the
sitting-room was so light! He should
never dare go in there the very
thought of having his shadow thrown
on the wall, distorted like those of the
tables and chairs, gave him another
sickening spasm of fear. What if
there were only women in the houseP
Suppose one appeared? where should
he hide himself? He was not thief
by nature or training. He would
crouch down in a corner and wait for
Whettles. He had been there ages,
when the clock gave warning; ages
longer, and with an alarming preiirl-
mary whir it struck twelve. He
started up with an after-impulse OF
gratitude that he had not shrieked.
Wher mad the hour before struck2 1t
seemed incredible that he could have
slept, but it must have been so, or,
what was more probable, he had been
too absorbed to he2r it. 1t was time
for Whettles. He crept back to the
kitchen window and waited in the cold
draught of air. Minutes passed, each
seeming ten. He began to grow
angry. Did the fellow mean to play
him false and not come at all? As
anger rose his courage to do the deed
ebbed. l do not believe conscience
asserted itself very strongly. Life was
harder than it had been even one day
before, and there was no flour in the
house now. He was still bitterly
at odds with life, but. the after
effects of the whisky Whettles
had given him were nervousness and
irresolution. The clock gave warning
for another hour. False, friendly old
clock, if he could have seen your face
he would have known it lacked ten
minutes of midnight then instead,
he believed it would strike one. Too
late for Whettles. Perhaps he was
now at the cd elm he would hurry
there and bring him back to do his
share of the work. He closed the win
dow behind him and hurried of to the
rendezvous. There was no one there.
At that moment the relief Of having
been prevented from sin overbalanced
every other feeling. Something must
have happened to Whett,es; perhaps
he had been caught; PERHAPS he would
say that his accomplice was waiting
for him under the elm! He started
on a swift run for home. to find his
wife watching for him in the moon
light.