Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-06-26

of IN hOui.
\ The clock struck II almost before |
Il lnew the time had passed. laid down
n my work and counted the strokes with
q ont looking at the clock itself
ii was sitting ut little comfortable,
near the lamp. At my left, little way
8 off against the wall, was fathers desk,
q with books and papers scattered upon
j n and the battery ut one end.
q Opposite me were two long windows
q that opened upon the side piazza. Over
Il these were thick curtains, closely
4 drawn, which did not shut on. the
y sound of the pelting storm outside. Di-
q rectly behind me was the hall door,
u standing, as usual. wide open.
q Inst then ! heard, or fancied heard.
q low SIGH or breath in the hall.
4 felt little uneasy, and smiled to my
q self at my nervousness, then took up
VI nav work again. ! had not finished
q what | had set myself TO do.
Il had not taken three stitches when |
u laid the work down again. There was
81 no use DENYING it or laughing at my
Il self For some reason there suddenly
came over me a strong feeling of ner-
81 vousness and dread. 1t seemed rs if
81 realized as | had not before that even
q inc the fact that / was sitting all alone
u downstairs in the house, at II o'clock
II nj nicht, with large sum of money in
Il my pocket,
/ glanced at the desk. Possibly Har-
n nv was still at work at the office. If he
4 was. q single sentence over the wire
d would call him.
n | was getting up to 90 to the desk to
signal and see if he was at the mill,
Il when something occurred to me that
y seemed to turn me cold and motionless
d as stone in an instant.
Behind me, so close that | knew it
a came from the threshold of the hall
4 door. low, hoarse voice, that l knew,
q without seeing the speaker, must be
a that of desperate and wicked man,
y broke the stiffness, and babe me Good
"a evening"
Il For q moment, as l say, | felt as
u though | had been turned to stone.
Then the voice, speaking again, seemed
q at least to restore the life in me, and to
n set my heart TO beating violently.
" The language that the man used was
a not even rs good English as, in at
tempting to reproduce, | find myself
y writing.
a Don't be frightened, miss. / beg
q of We not to be frightened. All we've
cot ter do is ter keep still, an not a
a hair Of yer pretty head shall be
"a harmed.
Then | turned my head, half-wheel-
" ing my chair ut the same time, and saw
~ standing in the doorway tall, brutal
a looking man, altogether as ugly and i'll
81 conditioned and fearful-looking 4 per-
n son rs | ever had seen
"a Naturally enough | opened my lips
to utter u little cry, but he stopped me
III by single threatening motion OF n club
u he carried in his hand
Il "S-h" he fiercely Kissed. "If We
raise a single scream I'll strike We as
senselcss rs yer mother is upstairs.
The last word changed for moment
the nature of my fear and gave me
strength to speak.
"What have you done to my moth
er?' | demanded cXcitedly. do you
mean-hayc YOU killed her?"
He uttered sort of low laugh.
mo, my dear; she was waking up,
so we had ter use chloroform. An
! you must keep still or you'll be served
the same way. lou see, IL Just here"
He drew step nearer and seemed
disposed to explain matters
'What we want is some money your
/ father brought down from Palmer yis-
/ terday. Maybe yer don't know about
n it; but we do, and we know he left il
4 in the house when he went off tonight.
4 Ny friend is up stairs lookin' for it this
4 4 t,f Il. tba
We don't mean harm to nobody Yc
shan be touched if ye behave yerselt
an keep quiet. "
y Somewhat assured by this. and hay
y inc had time while he was speaking
Z to collect myself. | was now able 10
4 assume an appearance Mt least of calm
n ness.
Il took up my en- broidery and went
\ on working, or pretending to work-at
the pattern / was cmbroidering; think
the acton helped me, too for | pres
emily found myself quite calm, and
with a GOODNESS and resolution that
can hardly believe in now, rs | recall
n it. turning over in my mind what !
= ought to do.
Il What would these two men do when
they found, as thcy would soon find.
that the money was not up stairsP
They would be disappointed and des-
perate-ca capable. perhaps, of deeds that
they had not at first intended.
Perhaps | had better give up the
money at once and so get rid of them.
And yet, father had coniided it to my
care; and it did not belong to him but
to the company. l ought not give it
to these men if ! could help il. Oh,
d why could not give an alarm in some
way? What if | could open my mouth
II and cry out at any risk? Could make
II Joseph hear away out in the wing of
the house as he was? Alas, | knew
that ! could not, even had not this man
been sitting there by the door-ne had
" taken chair now-oyeing me fiercely
IN d though lie read my thoughts. All,
Il | had only done rs father wished and
lelegraphed for Harry Randall to come
III up' And then with lhis last thought
another thought came to me. Why
III could | not summon Harry even now.
H. perchance he was still at the Officer