The National tribune., 1885-11-12
A NIGHT IN NEBRASKA.
A Novel Adyer>Sre With A Robber.

an invitation from friend to spend month OF
two at his home in the wlds of Nebraska, and
as my physician had advised me to leave the
cares and confinement of my office for while
and seek a change of air, decided to accept
the invitation. So on the evening Of July
stepped from the train at l. Station and
looked among the small groups assembled on
the platform for the familiar face of my friend
The group was composed principally of herders
or cowboys, and a moment sufiiced to convince
me that the one l sought was not among the
number. Could it be that he had not received
my card? l had written nearly week before
and requested him to meet me at the station on
the evening of the Sd.
Probably he had thought best to leave his
horses little distance from the train, fearing
that they might take fright, so began to stroll
up and down the platform and inhale the invig-
Grating breezes from the prairie. The sun had
gone down in a bank of black clouds, and his
last rays were being rapidly displaced by the
shades of night After quarter of an hour had
elapsed and no one had called for me. was
compelled to come to the conclusion that my
friend had not received the card | had written,
or that he had met with some serious accident
while on his way to the depot
Immediately upon leaving the train my at
tention had been attracted by man who was
standing under a large tree which grew by the
side of the track / do not know why my at
tention was so strongly drawn to him, unless it
was by sinister expression in his eyes He
had q large scar on his left cheek, and was, on
the whole, to use a slang phrase, "a tough
looking customer" Only one passenger besides
myself had left the train here and / noticed
when we passed this man with the SCARED face
that he scrutinized us both in turn with his
small, deep-Set ewes.
Entering the poorly Lighted waiting room
seated myself upon a dilapidated bench (the
only piece of furniture the place afforded) and
tried to think what | had better do. [ cannot
tell how long l had been sitting thus, when l
was suddenly brought to sense of my condi-
ton by a loud peal of thunder. l turned to
the only window in the apartment, and just as
| looked, the heavens were illumined by q
vivid flash of lightning. Although partially
blinded by the flash, was sure saw, pressed
against the window pane, the face of the man
whom l had seen standing in the shade of the
tree. | had thought his observation of me
more than casual before and this incident did
not tend to reassure me. Upon going to the
door l noticed that the loungers were leaving
one by one, and that would soon be left alone
The station agent had gone into his little
office, shut and locked the door, and was prob
ably by this time fast asleep. There would be
no other train before morning, so | knew | was
not likely to see anything more of him that
night. My friend had told me once that he
lived about five miles from l. Station, but
l did not even know in what direction. To
reach his house that night was out of the ques-
tion, SO l resolved to make my way to the
nearest dwelling and endeavor to procure lodg
ing for the night. The wind had commenced
to moan through the branches of the trees, and
black clouds were being driven across the sky;
everything indicated tempestuous night, and
Il
burst upon me before | could reach place of
shelter. My valise, being quito q large one,
impeded my progress considerably, but after
walking about a quarter of mile / came to a
small house by the roadside. 1t was anything
but prepossesSing in its appearance, but l had
no time to look for more promising quarters,
for large drops of rain had already commenced
to fall. Going up to the one door of the house,
l knocked long and loud. The summons was
answered by a woman who appeared to be about
80 years of age. She held child in her arms,
and two others were clnging to her skirts. She
seemed to take in the situation at once and
invited me to come in. A moment after had
closed the door, stepped to it again to shake
the water from my hat, and as | peered out
into the darkness 1 saw figure, apparently
that of man. glide past the ray of light that
streamed from the open door. Thinking it
might be the man Of the house, l said moth
ing about it, but asked the woman if she could
accommodate me for the night.
We'll, really, stranger" replied she, 81 can't
offer you anything extra, but such as I've got
you're welcome to-"
l thanked her heartily, and assured her that
anything would be acceptable. Thinking it
strange that the man had seen did not come
in, asked my hostess if she expected her hus-
band home soon.
"My man has been dead for nigh onto
year." replied she, wiping her eyes with the
corner of her apron; "and every time storm
comes up it makes me think of him, for it was
a night just like this that he was killed"
Here the poor woman broke down and covered
her face with her apron. Soon, however, she
became composed, and taking candle from the
shelf, she offered to show me to my room. Be-
ing thoroughly fatigued, l was willing to fol-
low her.
The room was small and the bed looked
rather hard, but it was clean, and was thankful
that | had found refuge however uncouth,
from the storm that was now raging wildly
without. But my mind was not at ease; reason
as l might / could not but believe that had
been followed by the man who had observed
me so keenly at the station.
| bolted the door and made it as secure as
possible, but upon examining the window l
found that it had no fastening of any kind
This discovery added to my uneasiness, as the
window was only about three feet from the
ground and could be opened from the outside
without any difficulty whatever.
Before starting on my journey had pro-
vided myself with revolver, which i now pro-
ceeded to examine carefully and place beneath
my pillow. Removing my shoes l lay down
upon the bed fully determined not to go to
sleep, but only to resi- my weary limbs. The
next thing remember is being awakened out
of my sleep by loud noise. i was ON my feet
before / was fairly awake, and as soon as /
could collect my thoughts l lit the candle and
looked around the room for some explanation
of the noise that had heard. The first thing
/ noticed was that my valise was missing, and
that there were tracks across the floor. Upon
going to the window found a stick of wood
lying against the wall.
1t was now very clear to my mind what had
happened. The man who had followed me to
the house had entered the window during the
night, stolen my valise, and while getting out
of the window he must have knocked the stick
out from under it, making the noise that had
aroused me from sleep.
AS soon as it was day I set out, and soon sue
ceeded in finding man to drive me to my
friends house. He was greatly surprised at
seeing me, and said that he had not received
how many letters he had found at the Office the
day before. After some hesitation the boy ad-
mtted that there had been two letters and
postal card, but upon reaching home he had dis
covered that the card was missing. All at once
it REQUIRED to me what l had written on the
card, and i could not refrain from iudulging
in hearty laugh.
When my friend had invited me to make