The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-10-02

rooms looked into the garden, which
ran in 8 wide strip along that side of
the house, and was shut in by q wall
some seven or eight feet high, beyond
which there were three or four mead
ows, and then the boundary wall of
Darlington Park.
1t was close on one O'Clock as I
found out afterward-when I awoke
suddenly from a sound sleep. The in
slant I opened my eyes the room was
illumined by a vivid flash of lightning,
and it was in all probability q peal Of
thunder that had broken my slumbers.
Another flash followed after q brief in
terval. succeeded again by the deafen-
ing accompaniment. Ny sleep wss
e~ffectually broken. I arose, flung .
shawl over my shoulders, and crossing
to the window, drew back the blind and
peered out. As long ago as I can re-
member, lightning has always had a
singular fascination for me. As q child
l loved to gaze upon its vivid splendors,
and in this respect at least years have
left me unchanged. A board creaked
as / crossed the floor.
sis that you, Barbaraa" asked my
sister from the other room.
Eyes, dear. 1 am going to look out
for a few minutes. Is not the lightning
beautifulpn
every beautiful; only I wish it were
anywhere rather than here" answered
Bessie, who at such times was just as
nervous as I was the reverse.
The flashes followed each other at in
tervals of about a minute. / had wit
messed three or four when suddenly I
gave a start, and an exclamation broke
involuntarily from my lips. The last
flash had revealed to me the figures of
two men in the act of climbing overthe
| garden wall. One of the men was q
stranger to me; but in the other, instan-
taneous as was the revelation, l recog-
nized the somewhat peculiar face and
1 figure of a man named Bethel, whom
my brother had employed temporarily
during the last week or two in the gar
den, our regular man being laid up at
| the time with rheumatism. There was
something in the looks of the man in
question which had set me against him
from the, first; but if we were all to be
judged by our looks alone, what would
become of usp For aught I knew to
the contrary Bethel mightbe an honest,
hard-working fellow, with a vito and
children dependent on him; but for all
that, on the days he was working for
us / carefully refrained from going into
the garden.
And now, here was this man, and an
other with him, effecting q surreptitious
entry of the premises at one o'clock in
the morning! Such a proceeding could
have but one end in view. Two ques-
tons at once put themselves to me.
Firstly, were these men aware that my
brother was from home for the night,
and that only three helpless women and
q girl were left in the housep Secondly,
had they by some means become cogni-
zant of the fact that a few hours previ-
ously Mr.. Shillito had paid my brother
o considerable sum of money, which
must necessarily still be somewhere on
the premises? In my mind there was
little doubt that both these facts were
fully known to the men. My brothers.
movements were as open as the day,
and Bethel had doubtless ascertained
from Reuben the groom that his master
would be from home on this particular
night; while as for Mr.. Shillito, every
body knew how he talked ia his loud
voiced way about his most private af-
fairs when he had taken more to drink
than was good for him. At the bar of
more than n tavern that evening,
every n who might chance to be with
in hearing would not fail to be informed
that Nh. Shillito had just paid John
Waldron his hall years rent.
These thoughts flashed through my
mind almost as quickly as that flash
which revealed so much. Breathlessly
I waited for the next flash. It came,
SCATTERING the darkness for an instant,
and then it, too, was swallowed up.
The mon were nc longer visible. Be
tween the two flashes they had had time
to drop on the inner side of the wall,
where the thick clumps of evergreens
which clothed that part of the grounds
would efectually screen them from
view. At that very moment they were
doubtless making their way stealthily
toward the house. What was to be
donep Never had Irealized so fully as
at that moment how helpless q creature
a woman is. Drawing my shawl more
closely around me and putting on q
pair of list slippers which 1 wore about
the house in cold weather, I crept noise.
lessly out of the room. At the top OF
the stairs 1 halted and listened; but all
was silence the most profound. The
corridor out of which the bedroom
opened was lighted at the opposite end
by q high narrow window which looked
into the garden. To this window now
made my way, and there, with one ear
pressed to the cold glass, 7 stood and
listened. Presently / heard the faint
sound of footsteps, and then the sub
dued voices of two people talking to
each other. Directly under the place
where I was standing was the back
drawing-room, which opened on the
garden by means of q French window;
and although this window was secured
at night by shutters, I had an idea that
the security in question was more
fancied than real, and was of q kind
that would be laughed to scorn by any
burglar who was acquainted with his
business. If the men had made up
their minds to break into the house
be therep-the probability was that
they would make the attempt by wal
of the French window. Even while
this thought was passing through my
mind the voices of the men sank t o 9
"nisPOis ouu INV, PoCuiidE SIdtiuS
sound made itself heard. Evidently
they had already begun to force the
fastenings of the window. I crept bach
to my room, feeling utterly dazed and
helpless.
SIS that you. BarbaraP Where have
you beenp" asked my sister.
Going into her room, I sat down or
the side of the bed and told her every
thing in as few words as possible. She
was of a somewhat timid and nervous
disposition, and my news visibly at
fected her. She sat up in bed, tremb.
ling and clinging to my arm.
Perhaps" she whispered, .'if We
lock our bedroom doors and keep very
quiet. they will go away without com
ing near us"
"Why, you goose, it's not US they