The Penn's Grove record., 1885-12-19

| Now run away and play" l said. But
all the same, I was not at all as assured
as l seemed; and there are few things
more unpleasant than to be convinced
that there is a way Of getting into your
house of which you know nothing.
The next day my wife said that real
Iy something must bedone. or we should
fnd that the cost of our living at this
out.of-the-way rustic spot would be
considerable more than we were accus-
toned to spend In town; the victuals
went as fast as before, although, since
the tap of the beer-cask had been re-
moved for safe custody, the rats had
not INDUCED in moist wood as they had
hitherto done.
So l was resolved that Round Robin
should be got rid of, for it was very
evident that he, and no one else, was
responsible for these mysterious pro-
ceedings. l called him into the study"
Robin" l said, 81 gave you fair
you would continue your depreda.
tions.v
"My what, sir?" said the injured in
~nocent. any dil~apidationsp / haven't
broken a single thing, sirl"
mo, ne; | mean your Well to
put 1T in plain language, your larcenies, "
| said impatiently.
"My largeness, sir2 1 can't Help it,
sir; IL I don't carry my largeness, sir, l
don't know who Mould," he answered,
with the utmost simplicity.
swell | think you had better live
with your friends III the village,"I
said; ''my servants are quite sufficient
for our wants."
every well, sir,n he said; 'syoull
find that things will go OH Exactly the
SAME when Pm gone; and then you'll
say, Poor old Robin, | treated him I'M
common bad, and I'll ak his pardon
Howsomedever, sir, Pm off," and, with
a profound salute he left the room.
Robin had been gone a week, yet the
disappearance of viandS continued.
Evidently / had been unjust to him,
and 1 sent to the village to find him out
but nobody had seen him.
1--WE held a council of war; the SER
wants were called up, and said unani-
mously that nobody could get to the
larder without their being aware Of it.
The larder itself was examined, and
the only possible means Of ingress for
the leanest of cats-supposing it could
have climbed a perpendicular wall some
twelve feet high-was by q small grated
window near the roof. The village
1ocksmith examined the bolts and locks
of the entire establishment, strengthen
ed some, and put in new ones. In fact
we did az, SO we thought, that could
be done to render the house impregna-
Bile.
One night there was a violent storm
of wind and rain. My 'sstudyn abut-
| ted on the long gallery, and in my med
| itative moods | used often to stroll up
and down amidst the pictures. at
about eleven O'Clock. when the storm
as at its height, / was startled by a
femendous crash. II ok my reading
amp to see the cause, and found that
me of the large pictures, hung but a
fjeW inches above the floor, had fallen
fR0e downwards. / placed the lamp on
tNe floor, and stopped to raise the pic.
tdfe, when / felt u piercingly cold
draught of air. Bringing the lamp to
the panelling, l examined 1t, and saw
what was evidently the crevice Of a
door Immediately behind where the
picture had hung. Examining it fur
Their, / saw a very small iron knob,
scarcely noticeable amidst the orna-
mentation of the woodwork. Pressing
this, the door flew inward, a rush of
cold air came in, and, peering before
me, l beheld a flight of steps leading up
and down into utter darkness.
I began the descent. and, to my hor-
ror, / had hardly taken three steps
when the door by which l had left the
gallery closed gently behind me, and to
all appearance | was literally walled up.
However, / thought the steps must
lead somewhere, SO l continued my de-
scent.
/ went straight down for a long time,
and then came a sharp turn to the left.
Evidently leads out into the garden"
I thought. Suddenly ! was face to face
with a blank wall. | was about to re-
- IL - AVA nnrT0ht ANAL holt