Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-08-14
Try the key!" whispered the pris.

Oner.
He %conjectured rightly that the esd
eaPlng thief had not stopped to possess
ed swiftly his fingers over the rough
boards, found it and turned it in the
lock. Then, as the door opened, he
felt an eager Inadvertently a wom-
an's-grasp his arm.
"Hurryn' she said, dragging him
away ~ las gone for the Dunfry
boy n they may be here any min
Don't be excited" SAID Moses
Cradlff, laying hold of her arm in re-
tnrn' and speaking in his natural tones
OF voice. ''Wait till 1 lock the door
again. This is Mrs. Ferris, 1 believer"
UNI" she screamed, struggling to
escape. II thought"
You thought l was Joe;" he finish
ed the sentence which she abruptly
broke Oft. ':It has been a night Of
plumbers. but some are beginning to be
explained"
"Oh dear! dear! let me go!" she
pleaded, overwhelmed with confusion.
IL don't know what I'm here for-I
must be crazy! Do let me go!"
81 shan't hinder you" replied the
farmer. Only Ican't think of letting
you go alone through the woods at
this time of night; I'm too polite a
man for that. And I guess I'd better
get a lantern and let my wife know.
Keep your Ratchet, Mrs. Ferr;s!"
He ledher, reluctant and beseeching,
to hM own house. and into the kitchen,
where good Mrs. Cradliff was mar
%velously amazed at seeing such a visi-
tor at such an hour.
With her guilty Ratchet still in her
hand, and hiding her face in her hood,
the wretched woman was protesting
her own and her husbands innocence
In one breath, and in the next pleading
poverty as an excuse for their wrong
doing, and begging to be let go; and
MI. Cradliff wa pulling on his boots,
preparatory, as he said, to ''beauing
her home," when voices at the barn at
tracted his attention, and looking out,
he saw Cyrus coming with his COM
panions, one of whom he recognized
by the lantern-light as Joe.
"Come in! come in, all of your he
cried. ''There are some things that
need explaining.
Il should say SOL" exclaimed Cyrus.
sAfter you shut me up in the granary,
the real thief came, and I shut him up.
Where is hep"
'When / went to let you out" said
the father, she knocked me over and
got away, shutting me up"
cit beats all the mixed-up messes I
ever saw" laughed merry Joe Ferris.
How did you get out?"
CHATS the strangest part of it ALL"
said Mr.. Cradliff, ushering the men ~
to the kitchen. THE robbers wife
had somehow got word that he was
locked in the granary, and she came to
his rescue. But that was after he got
away, and she kindly released me in
stead. Here she is, with her hatchet!"
And in the shame-faced creature hid
ing in the corner Joe Ferris .recog-
nized his own devoted Jane. He had
missed her on his way home, where he
had just arrived and learned of her
absence from their Oldest girl, when he
was called out by Cyrus and the Dun
fry boys. In going with them he had
been fearful that they might fall in
with her, and he was congratulating
himself on escaping that peril, when
hereyshe was with her Ratchet!
The tone of his forced and brazen
laughter changed with surprising sud-
denness, and thrown off his guard, he
made no attempt to deny his guilt.
This was afterward abundantly con-
irmed by the discovery in his house of
many purloined articles, which his
neighbors recognized as some they had
lost during the past few months. The
wife being let off for the sake of the
children, the family disappeared from
the town about the time Joe was sent
to work in the Penitentiary, and the
worthy Cradlif family had no more adj
ventures with robbers. z. Irow-
bridge, IN YOUTHS Companion.