The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-12-25

| and poor, tired John tried not 10 look bored
as the fellow still fingered. A few moments
| later he growled a sort of goodnight and
took his departure, slamming the door as
| he went.
GAS good and honest soul as ever
| lived" said the husband at last, daring to
break the silence with a hearty laugh.
''You don't suppose he is near enough to
hear me, do you! I'm so sorry he's going
to be gone tomorrow, for l should feel
| perfectly easy about you if he were only
going to be at home. I'll tell you what Phi
| do; I'll stop at Mrs. Otwood's in the morn
ing and tel her if any thing happens up
| here, or if you want her you'll blow the
dinner-horn and let her know.n
80, pshaw, John what is going to hap
pe1l You go and get your kindlings ready
| for the morning, and don't let me hear any
more of this nonsense" and she kissed the
| shade of anxiety off his face and went into
| the little bedroom adjoining.
Long before sunrise the simple house
hold was astir, a hearty breakfast was
eaten, and half an hour later a woman's
| forlorn figure might have been seen stand
ing alone in the road outside the humble
dwelling, in listening attitude, as the oc-
casional sound of beloved voices came back
to her on the still wintry air. Not until the
go into the house. 1t was not long before
the sun rose clear and bright, and soon in
dustrious hands dispelled all lingering
| sense of loneliness.
The usual household duties over, she pro-
ceeded TO prepare a pleasant surprise for
her dear ones. Ere nightfall, from the
rude ceiling overhead depended graceful
| festoons of evergreen; the silvery frost
work of the windows had worthy emer-
aid setting, and the spacious fireplace
| filed with golden light and warmth was
surrounded by a rich mass of green; in
short, the humble little dwelling had been
completely transformed by the magic
| hands of love, and this same touch had lair
| ~ TRANSPORTED the face and form of the
occupant until she appeared every inch the
queen of this fragrant, summer bower
At last there was nothing more to be
done. Each stocking-Willie's, Henry's,
yes, Johns, and her own as well-all hung
around the chimney, which was surely am
pie enough to admit the burly form of Kris
Kringle himself if he still kept up his old
custom. And now it was time to prepare
for the night. AS she drew the plain white
curtains together she found, to her surprise,
that each window was nailed fast, and she
| knew that this was the work of dear,
thoughtful John before he went away.
| Why had he been so worried about her, she
| wondered. There was nothing to fear, she
| tried to reassure herself, as she went to the
outside doors and drew the bolts; neverthe-
less, with candle in hand she searched
| thoroughly each room, not neglecting to
lift the bed-valance, and investigate the
proverbal hiding place of thieves and viii
lains. Then she put the candle out and
crept softly into bed. Many times she had
stayed alone thus without shadow of fear
why should she care now! she asked
herself again and again, and trying to be-
lieve that she was only nervous from
fatigue she at last dropped into slumber.
How long had she slept? She could not
tell, but she had awakened with a start,
and was sitting up in bed in half con-
scious state. She could not tell what had
reused her, but she thought it must have
been the striking of the clock, for it was
just telling the hour of twelve with start
ling dstinctnesS; yet there she sat mo-
tionless long after the last stroke had died
away in the oppressive stiffness. The
moonlight was shining through the cur
| tains, casting an uncertain light over each
object in the room. 1t seemed as if some
mysterious presence had startled her. She
listened with painful interest, her gaze
fixed on the window opposite, and, as she
| looked, the dark outline of the easement
seemed to move upward. No, it could not
be. 1t must have been caused by the
strong wind that was blowing; yet, surely
the wind could not move it in that direc-
ton.
She thought of the Indians that Hiram
had seen that day; she thought of the
money concealed under the foot of the bed,
and then Johns charge to her regarding
| the dan tyna1 HaSha5 thro,1Uh har mind
She sprang out of bed in an instant, but the
next moment, to, her dismay, she remem-
bered that she had neglected to bring the
| dinner horn into the house, and that it was
| then lying in its accustomed place in the
woodshed. She would not venture out there
for a kingdom. All her courage seemed to
leave her. Noiselessly she went to the
| window to ascertain to GER
| tainty that it was secure, and as she exam
| ined each one in turn, she could distinctly
hear footsteps on the cracking snow fol-
lowing her, and trying each window as she
approached it. Then the steps seemed to
retreat, and few moments later she heard
the door-latch softly lifted, but she knew
she had nothing to fear from that direction,
| and taking advantage of the moment she
timidly raised corner of the curtain and
looked out. Her fears were all too plainly
ScTlueU, lOT lucr0 III INC DTlPuJ moonlight
was the unmistakable figure of a great
brawny Indian. She could clearly distin-
guish his swarthy features, and, as his
blanket swayed to and fro in the wind she
thought she detected a cleaning knife in
| his belt.
She hastily dropped the curtain and once
more listened with breathlcss anxiety
For a time all was still; then a strange,
| rustling sound was heard, and the next
thing she realized was that a heavy body
was creeping along the roof. Great
heavensl what was the creature going to
do! A noise near the chimney seemed to
be her answer. Already he was coming
down there and, taking i'll the situation at
glance, the courage and strength of des-
peration came to her. To rush into the
room drag out the straw bed and fling it
on the dying embers was the work of
scarcely an instant. Then involuntarily her
eyes followed the upward direction of the
blaze. There, through the thick smoke, she
could plainly see hanging i'll the chimney a
dark form, which appeared to be strug-
Cling, as if trying to extrcate itself.
Wild with terror, and guided now only
by impulse, she few out of the house
reached the wood shed, and grasping the
horn she blew such loud, fran TIC notes that