The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-07-04

The robber set his lantern on the Ia
bic and commenced unaoing the straps
of our yalise. placing it on the floor be-
s.SrH sh;a deer ~ which he had entered.
Where was the guard outside that his
light did not shine through our window ?
He might have rescued us; but he did
not come.
"Efie, " said Nab, in a whisper to me
she need not have whispered, for the
robber could not understand our Ian
guage-"I am not going to give up my
ring without a struggle. This man evil
IDENTIFY thinks the other door locked on
the outside and safe against our opening
it; Otherwise he would not let us stand
so close to it. l have my hand on the
bolt now; there-I have slipped it! |
am going to dash the robbers lantern
from the table with this bundle OF
shawis; in the darkness we can rush out
upon the platform and call the guard.
Don't lose your head or try to detain
me, for l am quite resolved. Be ready
to fly when I give the signal"
Before 1 could recover from my as
constituent at this bold plan, there was
a crash of glass upon the floor, dark
ness, a vollev Of Italian oaths and my
sister and / were tearing madly down
the deserted platform.
Guard! guardw we shrieked, with
all the energy of despair, but from some
inexplicable cause he could not or would
not hear us, though we saw his form
quite plainly in the distance.
Steps were heard in pursuit of us and
the angry curses of the burglar reached
our error-stricken ears, when an inspi-
ration seized Mabel. She put her little
silver whistle to her lips and blew till its
peculiar note rang out like a clarion on
the still air.
The sound of hasty footsteps approach
ing from another direction became audi
BILE; whether they were for good or i'll
we could not tell. Nab had lost her
courage and was leaning on me, half
fainting, when a voice callingin English
Halo! What is the matter? What are
you rascals doing?" seemed to put new
life into her.
Two men ran towards us, one of
whom, to our amazement and delight,
we recognized as Sidney Weir, our
travelling companion. ...
We chung to him, and lowered over
him, with tears, historical laughter and
incoherent thanks, and did not notice
that during our explanations both rob
Der and guard disappeared. Mr.. Weir
said that he had felt uneasy at leaving
us alone in the little station, and, find
ing another belateG traveller, they had
whiled away the night smoking and
walking up and down the road near at
hand. He had not told us ofhis change
of plans, thinking it might annoy us,
When he saw the rough lot of men who
collected about the coffee room, he was
very glad he had waited, for he thought
we might be subjected to annoyance, if
nothing worse. The sound of Mabel's
whistle had reached his ears as a signal
of distress, and he would never feel
sufficiently thankful that he had given
her the little toy.
"What / fail to understand is this
rascally guard deserving his post so
shamefully," said our rescuer, ringing a
huge bell which hung near.
Presently an anstonished group of
NaiCefs anu pOfJefS ROUND us
with lights and began asking a thousand
questions. One of the new Corners
stumbled over something lying in a dark
corner.
What is this" he cried; "Moser,
the gaurd, in a drunken sleep! He
will lose his place for this, and deserves
it, tool"
1t was afterwards discovered that An.
ton Moser, the real guard, had been
drugged by two ruffians, one of whom
had stolen his lantern and cap, while the
other made his daring attempt upon Ma
bic and me.
We had lost all interest in the fete at
San Vito, and, like frightened, DISC
bedient children, our only wish was to
return home, il the little hotel that we
had left could be called home. Sidney
Weir accompanied us, and, when I'm
Gle Wallace returned, he found q sutton
for Mable's hand awaiting his approval.
The approval was not withhelA. as Mab's
face betrayed that her heart had found
its idol.